All Shall Be Well; And All Shall Be Well; And All Manner of Things Shall Be Well: A Novel Audiobook

" Good. But sad. Very sad. "

" I like the characters, and I like the book, but it wasn't quite as funny or as moving as I'd hoped. Still, Burt's foibles, flaws, and general freakiness are entertaining. A quick, enjoyable read. "

" I always fall for the lousy guys... not necessarily the big bad wolf just those pathetic no good can't help themselves type. maybe because i'd think those are the faults that i can imagine i'd do as well. well, this guy is one of them though he's also funny in a dry sort of way. it's those small comments or opinions he throws out once in a while that makes his sorry story feels entertaining. only, somehow... i'm thinking maybe this book is too short. i was still trying to picture how his n his wife's life together, and i just couldn't. we know he has done unforgivable thing on her dying days to his family, we know how they met, but despite the whole length of the book dedicated to rumination of it, i still feel there's a gap there, i just couldn't imagine it; i can't imagine what kind of person his wife was. i especially didn't get that bit that was being kept a secret by the mother in law, really not working for me in establishing her character. "

" Excellent book. Manages to be very funny and sad at the same time with cooky characters who have staying power. No easy feat, great debut. "

" I read about this on a list of first novels that had been nominated for . . . something . . . and it sounded charmingly eccentric. Essentially it is, but it runs deeper than that. It centers on a grieving widower in the process of falling apart, but he is a hard-core medieval reenactor, devoted to Hildegard von Bingen and home-brewed mead. Despite this, it manages not to veer into the overly cute, as it too easily might have, and it doesn't because Wodicka makes Bert a very real character. "

" A nice little book about living in the now. And not. "

" I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. A lifelong slacker throws himself in to his hobby as a medieval re-enactor, so deeply involved with it that he's barely aware that his wife is dying of cancer. After her death, he sells the family inn and goes to Europe for the 900th birthday celebration of some obscure saint. Too many forced "wacky" characters, too many "madcap" adventures. "

" Kind of a disappointment. It was supposed to be funny, or so I gathered, but I could never quite get into it. "

" I had gone into reading this book expecting it to be funny, and there were funny elements to be sure, but overall I found it to be fairly tragic and on many levels. Much, much fodder for discussion with this work, and I look forward to book group. "

" Seemed to stagnate about halfway through after a promising setup. Neat premise, more or less original. "

" Am I the only one panning this book? Sorry, I didn't see the humor at all. I saw pathos and two dysfunctional adults who were part of a larger dysfunctional family. I grabbed it because of the reenactor angle, but ugh. I really can not recommend this book to anyone. "

" Filled with some of the most unusual, startling descriptions I've ever read. A truly beautiful piece of work. "

" what an odd little book...at various turns hilarious and tragic, but all the while, a very well-written story full of interesting characters. "

" A rather uneven first novel, with some very high highs, but also odd, unsatisfying turns in the narrative. Any time spent away from the protagonist is wasted. A strange piece of work, occasional very compelling. "

" Somewhat dissappointing. It's a good story, but the characters don't really take me anywhere. No resolution, no change, no epiphanies. Just the glimpse of a sad man's life from one point to another. Nothing to write home about, much less write an entire book. "

" Interesting story line, but I kept waiting for the main character to become interesting. Instead he remained weird and unlikeable. Good writing style, except for some grammatical errors. Or is "bare witness" supposed to be a play on words? "

" Ugh! I was not into this book and will not be finishing it. I did not like or identify with any characters and the story was not interesting enough for me to continue. "

" this hit the spot. <br/> <br/>excellent book for this retired librarian! "

" Not exactly what I'd call a comic novel. At least, no more comic than any other mopey &quot;literary&quot; book out there. A few sentences caught my eye for their beauty, but overall this was kind of a boring book. "

" I'm going to marry the author. Srsly. "

" More tragic than comic; not as much closure as I would have liked. However, the spectacle of a drunken, 60+ year old medieval re-enactor was engaging. "

" I really enjoyed this one so it's a solid three stars. While this first novel has moments of overreaching the story really has heart and is often funny. "

" Filled with some of the most unusual, startling descriptions I've ever read. A truly beautiful piece of work. "

" Ugh, couldn't finish. Depressing AND boring. "