

" This is one of my mom's favorite books, I loved the story about a dysfunctional family and how they get through hard times. No one is ordinary and Guest is a gifted storyteller who won't leave you dissatisfied. but in the end you will definitely know people like them. Many universal themes touched on along with a deep and rich woven plot of family dysfunction. " Oh, upper-middle-class suburban nuclear family woe. but it was a wonderful movie and it had a deep meaning. " I had to watch the movie in Psych at the movies. It offers such different perspective, as books often do, and reveals a lot more about the characters of Calvin, Beth, and Conrad.


I only wish that I had thought to read the book ahead of the watching the film. And you will be pleased to know that Guest's novel was well adapted to the big screen in a critically acclaimed film, based on the book. Definitely something you want to check out. " A quick, haunting, and wonderfully therapeutic read.

They say that life is a marathon and it is, but not one is which we race against each other. In all honesty, we shouldn't compare ourselves to others at all, in my opinion. There's a great quote from someone (not from this book) about happiness coming with not comparing our rough drafts with other people's highlight reel. There is a timelessness to the book as a lot of it focuses on the need to present a confident/happy/content front to the world around us. It is the very definition of people leading lives of quiet desperation. I absolutely loved the film by Robert Redford. This is the story of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances-and the lengths they will go to put their lives together again. But when a terrible accident takes the life of one son, their lives begin to fall apart. Cal and Beth Jarrett are ordinary people: a happy couple living with grocery bills, taxes, barbeque dinners, and orthodontist appointments for their two sons. The heart-wrenching book that inspired the critically-acclaimed movie.
