You or Someone Like You (P.S. Series)

Sounded Good...

...but didn't live up to its promise. From the description, I thought this book would be a compelling read. Instead, I found myself struggling to get through it, even putting it down for a week and then picking it back up again. There's nothing wrong with the plot itself; it's an interesting story. But I found the characters to be stereotypes, and not written well enough to make me care about what happened to them. I give it 2 stars for the plot.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is a very thought-provoking character driven tale

Jewish Howard Rosenbaum and Christian Anne Hammersmith met at Columbia when both were Ph.D. candidates in literature. They moved to Los Angeles when he became a movie producer and they have a son Sam. Both still love books, but in LA-LA land everyone seems to have "disdain for the written word" except in a script or an exposé bio.--------------

Dreamworks CEO Stacey Snider hires Anne to compile a book list for a book club. She selects classics that reflect how she sees her life especially her relationships. Soon everyone who is in wants Anne to pick their next book to read as she becomes more popular in the literary realm than Oprah. Sam goes to Israel to study, but is rejected by the rabbi in charge of admissions as being "unclean" because his mother is a gentile.------------

This is a very thought-provoking character driven tale that will have readers admire and emulate Anne with reflection on our lives. Interestingly as Sam turns deeply into his father's religion, Anne feels like an outsider kept from the tent by her spouse, her son, and the rabbis in American and Israel; she feels at best second class. YOU OR SOMEONE LIKE YOU is a fabulous deep contemporary that uses literature as an entrance into the soul of Anne the narrator.------------

Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Who we really are

I picked this book up because the idea of a book club in Hollywood was intriguing, but that is really just a wonderful plot device. The ideas this book raises about culture, identity, and being true to oneself sort of blew the top of my head off by the end.

It's not an easy read, but it is a rewarding one.

Pretentious

This novel is pretentious, ignorant, and downright insulting. The main character is extremely cold, and, by the end of the book, insulting to a entire religious group. The author should have given us the point of view of some of the other characters. Constructing an entire book around this bitter, unlikeable character was a huge mistake.
Also, it is glaringly obvious that the author is bitter about things that happened in his own youth, and decided to channel his feelings through this character and write a novel about it. That was a waste of time, and I advice against anyone wasting their money on this piece of junk.

Very thought provoking

I really enjoyed this novel for several reasons. It seemed very adult. The choices, decisions and actions of the characters seemed considered and realistic; never maudlin or overwrought. The literary components were stimulating and the word choice often challenging. Lastly, as a non-religious person, many of my feelings were echoed in Anne's character.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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