Seating Arrangements Audiobook

" They don't call these people the Chosen Frozen for nothing. The setting is a more or less contemporary W.A.S.P. wedding at the bride's family's summer house on a Martha's Vinyardy island. The kids attended daddy's prep school and are immediately comfortable in daddy's and grandfather's ivy universities and clubs. (Not that they'd ever refer to the rents as "Daddy.") In fact the setting was so familiar to me from my '60s and '70s summers on the Cape that it wasn't until I realized that none of the women were wearing Pappagallo flats and one of the wedding guests was fiddling with her iphone that I was sure the main thread of the story was not a flashback. Of course, these people aren't quite what they seem either. The understated, ever so slightly shabby old home is not the ancestral cottage, and there's a whole lot of striving--sexual and otherwise--underneath the studied causualness. Recommended as a social satire for beach readers. "

" Ehhh. Not sure what all the hype was about. The book often didn't read like satire. At times I felt like the author really believed in her asinine characters. I found myself rolling my eyes as I read further. I continued reading because I was always hoping for more but the story never got any deeper just more & more inane. To those who compared the book to The Corrections - not even close. "

" This is an excellent depiction of a Waspy summer wedding, lots of familial conflict and character study. I enjoyed it... "

" The story of the events of a couple of days leading up to a very WASPy wedding, peopled by self-centered, non-insightful WASPy characters... Meant to be satirical? Ironic? I like character driven novels but I want to like, or at least understand, the main characters; in this book, not so much. "

" Having lived in CT I thought it would be a good book to read. It was a nice summer read but I had mixed feelings reading it. "

" Whenever the storyline focused on Winn Van Meter, I pictured Mitt Romney. Nuff said. "

" A sort of WASP-y version of Meet the Parents. I can't stand books or movies where everything that could go wrong does go wrong. I feared this is where the book was headed, but luckily it ended before getting to that point. Emjoyable enough, quick read. "

" An interesting exploration the social mores of established Eastcoast families. Story takes place over a wedding weekend with some humorous scenes. Not sure I really cared if Winn got into the golf club. "

" Found this book to be rather depressing .... And the main character, Winn, absolutely a pathetic husband, father and human being! "

" Shallow. No true story line. I wonder if it was more of a satire and I just missed it. "

" I wanted to like this book, but the majority of the characters were whiny and obnoxious. The book was way too long, in my opinion, as the story was rather boring. "

" rich east coast people have a wedding, have problems. who cares. read while sick. "

" Poor Winn. Prim east coast, father of the bride, surrounded by the women in his family in the midst of a mid-life crisis as everyone gathers at the coastal family compound. "

" I had difficulty finding any character in the novel that I really liked. In particular, the protagonist is ethically and morally flawed and a pretentious snob. "

" Loved this book! I couldn't put it down. "

" This book might have managed a second star from me if Ms. Shipstead had left out the horribly embarrassingly bad sex scenes. A really terrible book considering the author occasionally shows that she can actually write. "

" Speed skimmed through the last one hundred pages to confirm that the rest wasn't worth finishing. I based my decision to read this only on a fellow painter's high esteemed recommendation that it was the best book that she had read all year. Still scratching my head at this... "

" Fine. Very well written but not a single character is likable so you aren't cheering for anyone. It was a fun concept but overall it was just okay. "

" I tried to like this... but I couldn't. I gave it until page 87 and I couldn't spend more time on it. Nothing happened - the dullest rambling on & on. "

" Beautifully writing but beyond that it left me cold. I kept waiting for something with some real depth to happen, but alas I guess that was not to be with this cold and sterile family. "

" Kept thinking I would like it. Kept thinking something would happen. The cover said "funny!" I waited and waited and waited, and then it was over. Didn't hate it, just thought the characters were ridiculous and couldn't like any of them, which makes it hard for me to like a book. "

" Read this for our book club and found it quite trivial. "