Scan barcode
resareads's review against another edition
3.0
This was the first (and last) book I read for my book club. Not that the book was so bad I never wanted to go back to my book club again, I just got tired of having to come up with questions about books for fun when I have to read and come up with discussion points for grad school and then read and come up with acquisitions proposals for books at work. Basically, I'm a little talking about books out by the end of the week and while I still like to kick back and relax with a good novel, I'd rather do it on my own, with books I chose, and write reviews where I can enter into a conversation if I want to.
But that's really besides the point. Back to the review.
As you can tell from the publication date this is a 90s book, and it reads like a 90s book. By chapter 2 I was getting vibes from War of the Roses and that genre of literature. While Paul Rudnick has built up some celebrity for himself over this book and a few of his other works (including plays) this book has not aged well. While the idea of "want" and spending to excess still exist in the 2000s, something about this book just doesn't seem to cross over into the new decades. In other words...this book has not aged well. At all.
Joe Reckler is a Yale graduate who steals things for a living. He's going on a trip to see the leaves change in New England with his mother and his aunts, the notorious Esker sisters. Except the Esker sisters aren't really interested in leaves and nature. They're interested in shopping. And not just shopping. Extreme deal shopping. These women go crazy for a bargain. But Joe's mother has gone one step beyond that, she wants a new living room, and to do that she wants to rob L.L. Bean. After all, they won't miss it.
As the shopping trip continues it turns out it isn't just Joe and his mother that steal, all the Esker sisters get in on the action and the leaves just serve as a nice excuse for their shopping/thieving escapades. Everything is blown out of proportion (just like War of the Roses) in that typical 90s fashion. The Esker sisters are almost too big to be believable...but Rudnick has thrown in enough characteristics that make them feel like your crazy aunts, even by the end of the book you feel like you just might know a woman whose almost like them... I know I could see some of my Italian aunts in this Jewish bargain hunters.
I enjoyed the book to a certain extent, but I couldn't shake that 90s feel. This book is still living in the past, and if that's what you're looking to this book for you'll find everything you want and more. However, there are other books that deal with these same topics in a way that's a little more current and have withstood the test of time better than this one, and overall I finished the book shrugging my shoulders and ready to move on to something else.
But that's really besides the point. Back to the review.
As you can tell from the publication date this is a 90s book, and it reads like a 90s book. By chapter 2 I was getting vibes from War of the Roses and that genre of literature. While Paul Rudnick has built up some celebrity for himself over this book and a few of his other works (including plays) this book has not aged well. While the idea of "want" and spending to excess still exist in the 2000s, something about this book just doesn't seem to cross over into the new decades. In other words...this book has not aged well. At all.
Joe Reckler is a Yale graduate who steals things for a living. He's going on a trip to see the leaves change in New England with his mother and his aunts, the notorious Esker sisters. Except the Esker sisters aren't really interested in leaves and nature. They're interested in shopping. And not just shopping. Extreme deal shopping. These women go crazy for a bargain. But Joe's mother has gone one step beyond that, she wants a new living room, and to do that she wants to rob L.L. Bean. After all, they won't miss it.
As the shopping trip continues it turns out it isn't just Joe and his mother that steal, all the Esker sisters get in on the action and the leaves just serve as a nice excuse for their shopping/thieving escapades. Everything is blown out of proportion (just like War of the Roses) in that typical 90s fashion. The Esker sisters are almost too big to be believable...but Rudnick has thrown in enough characteristics that make them feel like your crazy aunts, even by the end of the book you feel like you just might know a woman whose almost like them... I know I could see some of my Italian aunts in this Jewish bargain hunters.
I enjoyed the book to a certain extent, but I couldn't shake that 90s feel. This book is still living in the past, and if that's what you're looking to this book for you'll find everything you want and more. However, there are other books that deal with these same topics in a way that's a little more current and have withstood the test of time better than this one, and overall I finished the book shrugging my shoulders and ready to move on to something else.
teaandbooklover's review against another edition
2.0
Admittedly, I only made it to page 50, and also went and read the supposedly funny Loehmann"s dressing room scene which was a few chapters ahead.
In all that time, I laughed once. I too, do not think shoplifting, by anybody, is funny. The "Joe said " "Aunt Ida said" "Mrs. Reckler said" "Aunt Pola said" writing bored me to tears.
To put it succinctly, the shtick was worn out long before page 50.
In all that time, I laughed once. I too, do not think shoplifting, by anybody, is funny. The "Joe said " "Aunt Ida said" "Mrs. Reckler said" "Aunt Pola said" writing bored me to tears.
To put it succinctly, the shtick was worn out long before page 50.
the_resa_p's review against another edition
3.0
This was the first (and last) book I read for my book club. Not that the book was so bad I never wanted to go back to my book club again, I just got tired of having to come up with questions about books for fun when I have to read and come up with discussion points for grad school and then read and come up with acquisitions proposals for books at work. Basically, I'm a little talking about books out by the end of the week and while I still like to kick back and relax with a good novel, I'd rather do it on my own, with books I chose, and write reviews where I can enter into a conversation if I want to.
But that's really besides the point. Back to the review.
As you can tell from the publication date this is a 90s book, and it reads like a 90s book. By chapter 2 I was getting vibes from War of the Roses and that genre of literature. While Paul Rudnick has built up some celebrity for himself over this book and a few of his other works (including plays) this book has not aged well. While the idea of "want" and spending to excess still exist in the 2000s, something about this book just doesn't seem to cross over into the new decades. In other words...this book has not aged well. At all.
Joe Reckler is a Yale graduate who steals things for a living. He's going on a trip to see the leaves change in New England with his mother and his aunts, the notorious Esker sisters. Except the Esker sisters aren't really interested in leaves and nature. They're interested in shopping. And not just shopping. Extreme deal shopping. These women go crazy for a bargain. But Joe's mother has gone one step beyond that, she wants a new living room, and to do that she wants to rob L.L. Bean. After all, they won't miss it.
As the shopping trip continues it turns out it isn't just Joe and his mother that steal, all the Esker sisters get in on the action and the leaves just serve as a nice excuse for their shopping/thieving escapades. Everything is blown out of proportion (just like War of the Roses) in that typical 90s fashion. The Esker sisters are almost too big to be believable...but Rudnick has thrown in enough characteristics that make them feel like your crazy aunts, even by the end of the book you feel like you just might know a woman whose almost like them... I know I could see some of my Italian aunts in this Jewish bargain hunters.
I enjoyed the book to a certain extent, but I couldn't shake that 90s feel. This book is still living in the past, and if that's what you're looking to this book for you'll find everything you want and more. However, there are other books that deal with these same topics in a way that's a little more current and have withstood the test of time better than this one, and overall I finished the book shrugging my shoulders and ready to move on to something else.
But that's really besides the point. Back to the review.
As you can tell from the publication date this is a 90s book, and it reads like a 90s book. By chapter 2 I was getting vibes from War of the Roses and that genre of literature. While Paul Rudnick has built up some celebrity for himself over this book and a few of his other works (including plays) this book has not aged well. While the idea of "want" and spending to excess still exist in the 2000s, something about this book just doesn't seem to cross over into the new decades. In other words...this book has not aged well. At all.
Joe Reckler is a Yale graduate who steals things for a living. He's going on a trip to see the leaves change in New England with his mother and his aunts, the notorious Esker sisters. Except the Esker sisters aren't really interested in leaves and nature. They're interested in shopping. And not just shopping. Extreme deal shopping. These women go crazy for a bargain. But Joe's mother has gone one step beyond that, she wants a new living room, and to do that she wants to rob L.L. Bean. After all, they won't miss it.
As the shopping trip continues it turns out it isn't just Joe and his mother that steal, all the Esker sisters get in on the action and the leaves just serve as a nice excuse for their shopping/thieving escapades. Everything is blown out of proportion (just like War of the Roses) in that typical 90s fashion. The Esker sisters are almost too big to be believable...but Rudnick has thrown in enough characteristics that make them feel like your crazy aunts, even by the end of the book you feel like you just might know a woman whose almost like them... I know I could see some of my Italian aunts in this Jewish bargain hunters.
I enjoyed the book to a certain extent, but I couldn't shake that 90s feel. This book is still living in the past, and if that's what you're looking to this book for you'll find everything you want and more. However, there are other books that deal with these same topics in a way that's a little more current and have withstood the test of time better than this one, and overall I finished the book shrugging my shoulders and ready to move on to something else.
More...