Getting Mother's Body: A Novel Audiobook

" Your mother is buried with what you think are valuable jewels, and suddenly you're in need of some quick easy money. Great characters, wonderful voices, and a quick bouncing read. The audiobook I listened to had "mother" singing songs between chapters that illuminated the underlying themes of the book. "

" a bit too cornball for me "

" It took me a while to get into this, but enjoyed it once I did. I like the style, pared down to the very basics without a lot of frilly, lyrical language. Each chapter is told from the first person perpsective of one of the characters, but what's interesting is how many interesting gaps there are in what you know given all the different inside perspectives you get. And a very interesting character in Dill. "

" The story was told through the eyes of many characters, which I enjoyed as the author did a good job of seamlessly drawing their voices together into one strange, dysfunctional story. It was a slow read and then a fast close and for that I was not impressed. "

" I loved the way the book started, it was very honest and an interesting introduction. The plot and characters are very original and I can still remember now a few years later the story and the visuals I imagined from Park's cool literary style. The book is gritty and deep. "

" I did not really love actually reading this book, but it was one of the best book clubs we have had! We laughed until we almost cried! "

" Suzan Lori Parks is a Pulitzer Prize winner, which I guess just goes to show. I am somewhat baffled as to why the NACCP has not risen up in arms about this novel, which recounts the mishaps of a group of poor blacks who get involved in a project of traveling from Texas to Arizona to dig up the body of the mother of the main protagonist (for lack of a better word), because the grave is about to be bulldozed into a shopping mall parking lot, and the protagonist, Billy Beede, is a pregnant teenage girl badly in need of money so she can get an abortion and there is an old legend that the mother (who was no better than she ought to be, as my grandmother would say) was buried by her lesbian pig-farming partner while wearing her diamond ring and pearl necklace. The account is told in a series of small chapters from the point of view of different characters (and also, unfortunately, with a phonetic attempt to imitate their collective illiteracy as well as their lack of understanding of the world around them). The characters should have been more interesting than they were, including Billy’s uncle (a self-taught preacher who has lost his faith) and aunt (a one-legged woman who was left with the baptizing preacher when her family was on the way to California), a teenaged boy who lusts for Billy (and who eventually turns out to be smarter than he appears to be), the traveling salesman who made Billy pregnant, his long suffering wife, and a host of other Beedean relatives they meet along the way. I suppose the intent was to show us what it was like to be a resident of the south in those times. Frankly, William Faulkner did the same thing a lot better in As I Lay Dying. "

" My Book Discussion Group picked this one. It was certainly not one of my favorites. In fact, I thought it was horrible. "

" This was a uniquely written novel. The dialect threw me sometimes; however, I enjoyed the story being told from a multitude of viewpoints. "

" I had the opportunity to see Parks read at Bookpeople in Austin on July 16, 2003. She said,"I am willing to write not well because I like writing so much." "

" I absolutely hated this book. The writing style was bizzarre and unreadable and the plot was no better. How this ever got published is beyond me. I would avoid this like the plague. "

" Their Eyes Were Watching God meets As I Lay Dying. "

" A young African American girl find herself pregnant by a man who claims to want to marry her. When she learns he's married with a bunch of kids, she makes plans to go dig up "treasure" that was buried with her mother to "take care" of the baby. "

" What a disappointment! As a novelist, Suzan Lori-Parks is a brilliant playwright. With short chapters and constantly shifting narrators with indistinguishable voices, I felt like I kept hitting my head against the wall (like how I felt when I was reading The DaVinci Code, oddly enough.) "

" Great. I loaned it out to my neighbor months ago. How do you ask nicely that you want your book back? "

" Good, very narrative driven, a fast read. A little tense - hard to read about the era at times. Not at all happy with the ending, though! "

" Good read. Dialogue was great. I was struck by how well the author made characters with whom I had nothing obvious in common, and in whom I could see few redeeming qualities, come alive and even become likeable. "

" This book is excellent, and Parks is an amazing writer, but the ending seemed a little like she just wanted to wrap it up in a nice little bow. Very dissatisfying ending, but overall a good book. "

" Thoroughly enjoyable novel... way better than her play Venus. I really liked the style of the novel and how everything connected. Not the most cheerful novel but it depicts life very well and provides a sense of rawness "

" Heard about this book from Carol. Got it because of the author's bio and Pulizer link. Also waiting on Ted Kennedy's book to arrive soon. "