Order our The Most Fun We Ever Had Study Guide, teaching or studying The Most Fun We Ever Had. My reaction: 3 out of 5 stars. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast . ", Lombardo's sweeping family drama, fueled by power plays between spouses and between sisters, is operatic in both good ways and bad. From the outside, the parents marriage seems flawless. 876 Likes, 43 Comments - @lovelylonghaired on Instagram: "How was YOUR day? Amy Adams ( Sharp Objects) and Laura Dern ( Big Little Lies) are producing a new drama series, The Most Fun We Ever Had, for HBO, Deadline confirmed. However, it is based upon a deep and abiding love that seems to be unattainable to their four daughters within their own lives. PQ Titles: Study of Anatomy, Trophy Hunt, Zealot of the Blood God, A Helping Hand. This secret (which Ill talk about next) is what the book pretty much revolves around. ( Reading Goldfinch was not challenge, it was long and all those amazing sentences needed to absorb slowly like sipping a cold, splendid, special drink which burns down your throat and awakens all your senses! I listened to the audio on a staycation so I'll remember it for a while as the book that kept me company, especially since the audio wouldn't end. Wendy offers to take in Jonah, but the two hid the pregnancy from their parents so they must tell David and Marilyn about Jonah. I've had a day of bliss at @thehausofvenom with my partner. Wendy also has a knack for speaking her mind and exhibits no shame in any of her actions. FAMILY LIFE & FRIENDSHIP. Claire Lombardos dbut, The Most Fun We Ever Had, chronicles the life of a family over the course of a year, yet it passes as quickly as the pages turn. Want to keep up with breaking news? THE MOST FUN WE EVER HADBy Claire Lombardo. It's really hard to believe that 'The Most Fun We Ever Had' is a debut novel. The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo. The narrative alternates between flashbacks and the present, such that the former gives much-needed context to an otherwise convoluted and detail-packed story. THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD By Claire Lombardo The big family secret is revealed almost immediately in Claire Lombardo's engrossing debut novel, "The Most Fun We Ever Had," which. [This review contains spoilers - heads up!] The Most Fun We Ever Had? Not only do I get to read about the perspective of one sister, I get to read about the thoughts and emotions of all three sisters, their parents AND Jonah. Violet also makes amends with Jonah. Some of them bothered me as well, but a lot of the problematic things the characters say and do I took as criticisms of them; I dont think the author was using horrendous digs at less fortunate people out of a place of ignorance, but as a way of showing how privileged and ignorant her characters are. Fortunately, I had a good time reading it, though I cant say it had much else going for it. The seasons become symbolic for the various life cycles described within the work. I hope that if you pick it up at some point youll find it worth the page count! I don't have to like the characters to appreciate family dramas but I need to like something about this book. Now Jonah is back in town, engaged to Jenny, and working at the local high school as Claras teacher. The Most Fun We Ever Had is a well-structured story that shares the characters' backstory adroitly, never all at once, but in reveals that feel well-timed, well-placed. Grace confesses her lie and returns home to live with Marilyn and David while she contemplates her next move. Front-loaded with drama, the story leaves plenty of room for the mother and daughter to unpack their feelings and decide whats next. DNF 55%. Flashbacks describe Marilyn and Davids early marriage in Iowa, where Marilyn becomes pregnant and drops out of school. Theres four of you? he asked. 91% Upvoted. Author Claire Lombardo writes every sentence with precision. This book give you unlimited access to everything, all the time. The title really makes little sense and is only a bland reference to one scene that comes late in the book. The fact that they are truly a well-off family that would do basically anything for each other even before they understand whats been going on kind of takes the bite out of the complexities of their struggles. Jonah is the character that I was backing and rooting for. hide. It was definitely a fun read for me even though I was wishing for a bit more thematic depth. By 2016, they have four radically different daughters, each in a state of unrest. Thank you! The work begins with Marilyn Sorensons perspective as she reflects on her four daughters, Wendy, Violet, Liza, and Grace. Liza asks Gillian if she ever slept with David. , Ah, Im glad youre enjoying the family focus this year! But all the small secrets from misremembered slights to misplaced bedsheets are uncovered patiently, skillfully, precisely, in service of the novels central mystery: How do you love? 2. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest: Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator-turned-stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt when the darkest part of her past resurfaces; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a Sometimes we dont get to know about a characters childhood or sometimes we dont get to know about a secondary characters thoughts or emotions. This was quite a delightful debut. Liza is considering how to help her boyfriend when she becomes pregnant with his child and decides that the best way to deal with that is to cheat on him with a coworker. The class calibrations are divine even as the utter apolitical whiteness of the Sorenson world becomes hard to fathom. This big, chewy, multi-generational tale rings so true, handles multiple characters so deftly, and moves back and forth through its own history with such assurance that one would expect Lombardo to have half a dozen practice runs under . Ridges deafness doesnt impede their relationship or their music. How do gingkoes function as a symbol in the book? I love books that make me feel. A family of six subsisting on one doctors salary didnt exactly equate to the lap of luxury for the four girls while growing up (which isnt to say they wanted for anything), but most of them were able to improve their circumstances even further as they reached adulthood- their own children are well-situated indeed. But despite the thorough setup, the books commentary barely dips below the surface of the expected. She finds out after the fact that Ridge already has a long-distance girlfriend, Maggieand that he's deaf. Shepherd is a community of 7,000+ authors sharing their favorite books with the world. Lombardo, a Chicago native and recently minted University of Iowa MFA graduate, has crafted an intricate multigenerational saga about the vicissitudes of a passionate but not perfect marriage over a 40-year span. Beneath it all, the daughters share the lingering fear that they will never find a love quite like their parents. J. Characters flip between bottomless self-regard and pitiless self-loathing while, as late as the second-to-last chapter, yet by In any case Im glad its mostly family year because thats one of my favorite topics in fiction. But this book? For me, they were a bunch of pretentious rich people with little love for each other (again the kids). Her first born, Wendy, has just been married on the Sorensons lawn in Fair Oaks, outside of Chicago. We get it. Lombardo shows how menial things can be misinterpreted resulting in decades of bad blood. The "shining unfathomable orb of their parents, two people who emanated more love than it seemed like the universe would sanction," sets a powerful but daunting example for the couple's children. What did last years picks look like? Synopsis (from cover): When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all thats to come. Copyright 2023 Kirkus Media LLC. Lombardo flings a full deck of narrative cards at us all at once, which she spends the next 500-plus pages patiently putting in order. I was cautiously optimistic about this years list at first since so many of the titles surprised me- I was hoping that Id find some hidden depths to these titles that I hadnt been expecting, but unfortunately its not turning out that way. Prior to writing The Most Fun We Ever Had, she spent several years doing social work in Chicago. I just noticed how long this book is. Also, nothing was happening for me. Those three paragraphs are all you need to read. . Don't Threaten. Hoover is a master at writing scenes from dual perspectives. The main action of this notably apolitical, all-white, all-straight novel takes place over four seasons, beginning in the spring of 2016 which finds just about every member of the Sorenson family in turmoil. Grace, the youngest, is living in Oregon after graduating college, hoping to get into law school. We all desperately want your life and we all know well never have it, the third-oldest, Liza, confesses in a moment of truth. By 2016, their four radically . Some of those remarks are challenged a bit on the page, like the daughter who says her mom is in schizoid mode is berated for it right after by other characters present. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. This thread is archived. I do think Lombardos a good writer- I loved seeing how well she fleshed out all of these characters, how the four very different sisters personalities tracked across decades of their lives and how they all interacted with each other. this imperfect story realistically captures the essence of the imperfect complexities of marriage, parenthood, sisterly bonds, and familial ties. A room without books is like a body without a soul., [This review contains spoilers heads up!]. Clara dreams of being an actress and has a crush on Miller, who plans to go to film school, but her father doesn't approve. There are much better family sagas out there with better stories and fewer pages. At 544 pages, you get to know them, along with their struggles and joys, pretty well. The Most Fun We Ever Had (TV Series) - Release Info - IMDb Edit The Most Fun We Ever Had Release Info Showing all 2 items Jump to: Release Dates (0) Also Known As (AKA) (2) Release Dates It looks like we don't have any release dates for this title yet. Claire Lombardo's The Most Fun We Ever Had probably won't be the most fun you'll ever have (I hope not, for your sake), but it's a wonderfully immersive read that packs more heart and heft than most first novels. Moving on. If youre looking for fascinating character dynamics and the questionable choices of wealthy folk rather than a lit prize masterpiece, I think this could be a decent read. But while I thought a lot of those details were just characterization tactics and a critique of wealthy white suburbia, it is definitely understandable that they would be unpleasant to read anyway. On the heels of Wendys birth, Marilyn becomes pregnant with Violet and the tumultuous child-rearing years begin. But heres the thing Lombardo renders that obsession with such skill and finely tuned interest that it feels like a quiet subversion of the traditional family saga, a new way for the past to bless or poison the present and an unexpected engine for the revelations about being human that she delivers so beautifully. I cared and cringed and chuckled and cried with each of the four sisters and their parents (and then theres the third gen of kids). Still getting used to this book reviewing deal. ISBN-13: 9780385544252. Im with you on this one having a lot of interesting thematic potential that sadly goes largely untapped. The adopted boy has, by a bad stroke of luck, spent most of his life in the foster care system, and his sudden need for care provides a rude awakening for the sisters whove grown up with two loving parents in a big house with adequate income. Hoover is one of the freshest voices in new-adult fiction, and her latest resonates with true emotion, unforgettable by Newcomer Lombardo brews all seven deadly sins into a fun and brimming tale of an unapologetically bougie couple and their unruly daughters. I had a good time with this book, I really did. A frightened Jonah witnesses it and runs away to Graces apartment. But Ridges lingering feelings for Maggie cause heartache for all three of them. It will reel you in and not let you go from the moment you read the first word till the last; Lombardo's powerful depiction of her characters, of . The author of this novel is an old soul. When Wendy, the oldest, sets her sights on a mate, she made sure she left her mark throughout his housesoy milk in the fridge, box of tampons under the sink, surreptitious spritzes of her Bulgari musk on the sheets. Turbulent Wendy is the novels best character, exuding a delectable bratty-ness. This Study Guide consists of approximately 52pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - lot of improvement of the loot were (and for lot, are still) possible. A Type A overachiever, Violet is accustomed to being the good girl to Wendy's monster and is deeply uncomfortable whenever their roles reverse. In painting this luminous portrait of a familys becoming, Lombardo joins the ranks of writers such as Celeste Ng, Elizabeth Strout and Jonathan Franzen as visionary chroniclers of our modern lives. He stumbles on his grandparents flirting in the kitchen and pauses to examine these people who consciously chose to talk about weeds with their crotches touching. A very accurate description of enviable long-term commitment. Ryan leaves Liza. The Most Fun We Ever Had Quotes. Their long-infatuated parents watch on with a combination of love and concern. A marathon of instability and hair products. Thus begins a story bristling with a particular kind of female intel. That was the feeling I had with The Most Fun We Ever Had and it was spot on. Everyone got a completely different character, which you wouldn't necessarily have had if you had just picked "whoever I retired for". [ Claire Lombardo describes how she arrived at the Iowa Writers Workshop with a very messy, 813-page draft. ]. But The Most Fun more strongly evokes Anne Tyler's explorations of long marriages in meticulously observed domestic novels like Breathing Lessons (1989), The Amateur Marriage (2004) and A Spool of Blue Thread (2015). Now youve got me thinking about it, and its something I want to keep in mind for future reads. Shepherd is a community of 7,000+ authors sharing their favorite books with the world. At its core, The Most Fun We Ever Had isnt much more than an entertaining drama about four sisters and their futile competition to prove themselves most worthy of their picture-perfect parents- and each other. This did not need to be 530 pages long, but man it was. The Most Fun We Ever Had Claire Lombardo, 2019 Knopf Doubleday 544 pp. Violet feels as though she is losing her husband Matt, and struggles to accept Jonah into their lives. In Part Four, Winter, Violet continues to struggle to accept Jonah. But flashbacks to exhausted, fraught times make clear that the Sorensons' relationship hasn't been as smooth as it appears. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. But if it still appeals despite that deeper level of nuance, I would recommend giving it a try. Retrieve credentials. If this book were a meal it would be a 10-course dinner with quite a few savory morsels, but settle in because youll be cutting through a bit of fat and gristle and theres going to be a lot chewing. Definitely a bit longer than it needs to be, though it wasnt a slog for me. But I expect more from the Womens Prize than a simple good time, and I didnt find any standout depth or technical skill here. The Most Fun We Ever Had is a family saga that spans decades and closely follows multiple POV characters. Change). THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD by Claire Lombardo RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2019 Four Chicago sisters anchor a sharp, sly family story of feminine guile and guilt. The only thing that the daughters have over their parents is sisterhood. Lombardos novel is divided into 34 chapters, with dated flashbacks interspersed throughout in order to provide deeper exposition on the relationships between characters. She also has no idea what she wants to do, another reason why I view her as very bland. I think there are actually some similarities to Fleishman in this book, especially with characterization and marriage commentary, so Im not sure youd enjoy this one much! #haunted #haunting #ghost #mystery #strange. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are in a state of unrest. They're so vain. Violet finally speaks to Wendy and learns that Jonah is in foster care as his adoptive parents died in an accident when he was young. The Offspring. I was aware that An American Marriage won last year, but I didnt know it was up against a lot of pretty strong works. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The item is very worn but continues to work perfectly. share. Title: The Most Fun We Ever Had: Author: Claire Lombardo: Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2021: ISBN: 0525564233, 9780525564232: Length: 640 pages: Subjects: The Most Fun We Ever Had: A Novel Hardcover - June 25 2019 by Claire Lombardo (Author) 4,877 ratings See all formats and editions Kindle Edition $13.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook $0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover $36.95 40 Used from $12.35 3 New from $26.47 Paperback $22.72 16 Used from $15.13 17 New from $16.99 "The Most Fun We Ever Had" is an ambitious and brilliantly written first novel, sometimes amusing and sometimes shocking, but its unrelenting nature and lack of context is ultimately. Every page contains vital information that contributes to the story. She makes you want to yell at the book and throw across the room. This surprise, about which I'll only say that it introduces another convincingly complex character, brings out the best and worst in various family members and leads to the most moving scenes. Extra points for Lombardo. That said, the characters are not immune to the human condition. Im excited to see everyones wrap-ups and predictions this year. If all of Lombardos future writing reach such a sprawl, however, we may (unfortunately) have to wait a while for her next novel. Ive been continually surprised by how often motherhood comes up as a focus even in the longlisted novels I wasnt expecting to lean that way! Jonah lives with Wendy and then moves to his grandparents house, but never lives with Violet and her family. Art & Auctions Print Edition Books & Arts Books Bookshelf 'The Most Fun We Ever Had' Review: An Assured Debut Claire Lombardo's first novel gives a sympathetic but unsentimental look at. I dont like to think that the author is being ignorant, but there are other books Ive read where I seriously just wasnt sure. Theres four of you? he asked. Claire Lombardo Lombardo's novel is divided into 34 chapters, with dated flashbacks interspersed throughout in order to provide deeper exposition on the relationships between characters. The oldest daughter is an erratic alcoholic racked with grief; the second is a control freak who doesn't want to meet the son she put up for adoption 15 years ago; the next is pregnant and falling. In truth, I dont think theres anything at all to learn here. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. I love listening to family dramas but this one had too much needless drama to my taste. Violet has sisterly assistance in bringing about additional anxiety and messiness in her life. However, compared to her sisters struggles, Grace is not quite on the same level. 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