Rise and Shine

As I read the last page of Rise and Shine, I couldn't decide if I was more disappointed in Anna Quindlen for writing it or in Amy for recommending it. To be fair, I must give Amy some wiggle room...I'm not certain she RECOMMENDED it, but as I handed her The Thirteenth Tale which will probably be the best book she will read all year, she handed me Rise and Shine and didn't say, "Just in case you need more weight in your suitcase or need a gift to give to someone you don't really like."

I have loved everything I have read by Anna Quindlen since One True Thing which left me spent and weeping at the end. So to say my expectations are high would be accurate. Rise and Shine felt to me like an opportunity for Ms. Quindlen to use a bunch of observations and thoughts she had in her notebook and wanted to use in a book. There are great moments about New York City, people talking on bluetooths while walking down the street, being fake at parties (well, parties that she would go to...I don't travel in those circles) and the omnipresence of the "black car". And I really liked her impression that the Jamaican people have probably just about had it with the ubiquity of "No Woman No Cry" (which SHE says isn't that great of a song...a point I would happily argue).

That being said, the plot was not particularly compelling...a morning show host, Meghan Fitzmaurice, "falls apart" on the air. Sorry, but I would call her behavior at worst a career-endangering faux pas, hardly a breakdown. Her sister Bridget, from whose perspective the story is told, deals with the fall-out while holding down her own career helping women who are victims of domestic violence or homelessness. As each character is introduced and described, I felt that I already knew what was going to happen with that character...Evan (Meghan's husband), Leo (Meghan's son) and Irving (Bridget's non-live-in significant other) all ended up doing exactly what I expected them to do because they weren't incorporated to be a compelling character but to move the plot to its conclusion.

Could it be that I was on a great fiction rush after reading The Thirteenth Tale? If I had read it after The Stolen Child would I feel completely different? I don't know. But I'm afraid Anna Quindlen gets just one star for this effort and Amy is back on probation for book recommendations.

Comments

[Susan Helene Gottfried]

I've heard the EXACT same complaint about this book -- that falling apart on the air isn't such a horrible thing or compelling enough to propel a book.

I've yet to read any Quindlan, but I think that when it comes to this one, I'll pass.

[Joy]

I'm reading THE THIRTEENTH TALE now. I'm just under 50 pages and am looking forward to more. :) Glad to hear that you loved it.

I do believe that coming from a "high" does affect our next book, but then again so does coming from a "low". But...so does where we are in our life at the time (our mood, our day, our plans, etc.). Some books just hit at the right time and others don't. Well, then there's the component of bad writing, but I won't go there. :)

["amy"]

How Diane's Book Blog Has Changed My Life:

Diane and I used to write letters to one another post college, because Long- Distance (haley, have your mom explain it to you) was just too expensive. Then we got married to wealthy men (hah!)--well, then we got married and had dual incomes, which meant we could call each other. Once email and cell phones arrived on the scene, we began a more frequent correspondence.

my point being--at NO TIME during all the years of friendship and sharing of books have i EVER been dissed PUBLICALLY for my book suggestions. Excoriated in letters? absolutely. have i ever heard her say "what were you smoking when you read that book?" on the phone? many times. However, it's always just been between me and diane, a lone suburban housewife and her college friend--i've made some stellar suggestions (The Sparrow) and some that she's disliked intensely (A Winter's Tale).

Then there's a matter of A Prayer For Owen Meany, or should i say A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY. DIANE KEPT INSISTING I READ THIS BOOK AND I JUST COULDN'T GET PAST THE FACT THAT EVERYONE IN IT WAS SCREAMING ALL THE TIME. But she persisted, and i found my way past the caps and ended up loving the book. NOT ONCE did i disparage her to my wide network of book loving friends. I simply took the good with the bad and moved on. Have i disliked some of her other suggestions? Intensely. but you'll never know about it (if you're still reading this incredibly long-winded post) because it's between me and my FRIEND, and also because i don't have a blog because if i did our house and my family would implode.

But here. Here in blogworld, my every suggestion is held up before the scrutiny of thousands (though from lack of comments, one could think only few) of bleaders who come here daily (or in my case, hourly) to scan for new books. And there, before hundreds or thousands of pairs of eyes, i find myself on probabtion yet again. A more timid soul than i might give up at this point, never to mention another book again. Perhaps you, dear bleader(s), are hoping that's true. lucky for those who hope it's NOT true, i am anything but timid. i may be bowed, but i am not broken. like the phoenix, i shall rise again. but not until i have checked my suggestion with anyone i meet on the street, at the bookstore, at the library, at my book group, in the pages of bookmarks, entertainment weekly and the New York Times Book Review. only when i am assured of a stellar review will i dare whisper the title into diane's ear and then anxiously await her verdict.

people-are you with me?

alias amy

[Vicky]

As one of the few, or perhaps thousands of bleaders who check Diane's blog daily and as a newbie friend I must say that I am a little nervous about making a book recommendation myself! I proposed one of my favorite authors to Diane via e-mail and she has asked if I have a copy of whichever title is the best to begin with. This presents a quandry. If our intrepid Book Blogger does not care for my suggestion, I am faced with (because this is my first recommendation)permanent exile as a good book resource and potential public humiliation as being such, or perhaps even worse...my recommendation being relagated to the stacks (as seen in the pictures) of the "not yet read books." I hear you, Amy!

[amy]

Vicky,

what can i tell you? you've seen the all too horrible resutls of recommending a "bad" book. But still i say...take the chance. If it's good, you'll be exalted before the thousands and then you can retire on your reputation alone! Consider my small trajectory--I went from probation status on Stolen Child to redemption on Children's Blizzard. I shoud have stopped there...but no, i had to hand off the Anna Quindlen book. My bad.

Recommend the book and go for it. Life is too short not to take chances, and i have found that in all cases except those with old college friends, Diane is incredibly fair and balanced. As well as intellectually brilliant which means she'll be the perfect person to evaluate my daughter's college essays...but i digress.

Don't be put off by my bitter apples Vicky. She'll be loads nicer to you.

amy

[Bellezza]

The only book I've read by Anna Q. is Black and Blue, which was so terribly real it was frightening. I'm glad you enjoyed the Thirteenth Tale so much; I loved it until the end, which I felt was very anti-climatic. Until then, I agree with what everyone's been raving about. I just wish it had an astonishing, overwhelming, knock your socks off ending (like Rebecca, or Possession). I'll be looking for more Anna Q. though.

[Di]

I was going to post a comment in response to this very interesting repartee...but as I started typing, I decided it needs its own post, its own day, all to itself! So look for it!

[Susan Helene Gottfried]

Amy, I'm now in the hot seat with The Stolen Child. Maybe if you're nice to me and hang around my blog (which is mostly fiction, anyway), I'll feel the way you did about it and then you can suggest books to ME and I'll meet my New Year's Resolution to Read Less Crap?

Don't give up; this little war between you guys makes for compelling reading!

[Les in NE]

I am one of the few readers who did not love The Thirteenth Tale. Recommending books has always had risks. I love it when my friends love the books I love and have a hard time not taking it personally when they don't (see my blog entry about From the Corner of His Eye where I discussed this issue). Having said that, I think I'll pass on this book of Quindlen's. The plot simply doesn't appeal to me. Thanks for the honest review, Di. That's the challenge when it's a book that comes highly recommended by a friend (who reads your blog!).