Describe Based On Books Ellen Foster (Ellen Foster #1)
| Title | : | Ellen Foster (Ellen Foster #1) |
| Author | : | Kaye Gibbons |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 126 pages |
| Published | : | May 3rd 1990 by Vintage Books (first published January 21st 1987) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. American. Southern |
Kaye Gibbons
Paperback | Pages: 126 pages Rating: 3.78 | 27691 Users | 1599 Reviews
Relation In Favor Of Books Ellen Foster (Ellen Foster #1)
"When I was little I would think of ways to kill my daddy. I would figure out this or that way and run it down through my head until it got easy." So begins the tale of Ellen Foster, the brave and engaging heroine of Kay Gibbons's first novel, which won the Sue Kaufman Prize from the American Academy of Institute of Arts and Letters. Wise, funny, affectionate, and true, Ellen Foster is, as Walker Percy called it, "The real thing. Which is to say, a lovely, sometimes heartwrenching novel. . . . [Ellen Foster] is as much a part of the backwoods South as a Faulkner character—and a good deal more endearing."Identify Books To Ellen Foster (Ellen Foster #1)
| Original Title: | Ellen Foster |
| ISBN: | 0375703055 (ISBN13: 9780375703058) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | Ellen Foster #1 |
| Setting: | United States of America |
| Literary Awards: | Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction (1988), Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for Fiction (1989) |
Rating Based On Books Ellen Foster (Ellen Foster #1)
Ratings: 3.78 From 27691 Users | 1599 ReviewsColumn Based On Books Ellen Foster (Ellen Foster #1)
When there's an Oprah Book Club logo on the front of a book published in the late 80s and early 90s you know there's bound to be some tough stuff ahead. And young Ellen Foster is no exception. When her mother dies from an overdose of prescription drugs in which her father played some part, she is left in his end-stage alcoholic care. Or, more acurately, he is left in Ellen's care. This book is all Ellen's. And her "voice" is remarkable. She is white southern, obviously on the wrong side of theMixed. Very good in parts, and in other ways it just didn't all hold together. I didn't fall in love with the main character, Ellen, because despite her matter-of-fact narration and perspective on her own tormented childhood, she didn't feel like a real person to me. She had a voice I couldn't imagine a real 11 year old using, even one who had gone through what Ellen had. And at times she seemed far too adult to be plausible, while at others she seemed strangely naive (not knowing her new mama's
I've read lots of reviews of this book that were really positive. All the quotes on the book itself are of course glowing with praise. It was an Oprah's Book Club selection. It got published. A friend chose it for book club. Many people apparently think this is a really amazing book. I'm not exactly sure what I'm missing here. I didn't hate it, but I was just kind of bored and not impressed. The good thing is that it was a very short and easy book to read so I didn't feel like I wasted a lot of
This is a short but powerful and a lot of the time a painful story . Ellen Foster is a precocious eleven year old girl whose courage and strength and infinite wisdom carry her through things that no child should bear .I wanted to pull Ellen out of those pages and take care of her , get her away from her alcoholic father who for the most part has abandoned her and her miserable grandmother who takes her in for a period of time. But ultimately it's Ellen who pulled me up from the despair I felt
This would make a great book club pick. Its a quick read and simply told, but with a lot of depth, and a powerful opening line that is a real attention grabber. Ellen Foster is only 11 years old but is an old soul and there is a lot to be learned from her character. The story is told through her voice and the author really gets into her head giving a sense for all she is thinking and feeling. I felt it softened the tone coming from her perspective, but it really makes you think about the
"Ellen Foster" is one of those books I have to re-read every few years. The understanding of a pre-pubescent and otherwise unlucky girl as she deals with the insanity of adult reality in the flatlandish southern US speaks of a seasoning beyond her years. Her transparent naivté is obviously predicated on the awareness of the writer herself, but then, the book is using the disingenuousness natural to a child to make observations about the adult world. This device, hardly new to the world when Kay
I give it 3 1/2 stars. The most engaging aspect of this book is its protagonist's voice: clear, unadorned, unsentimental. Her tale is truly heartbreaking--and therein lies what seems to me the book's primary flaw: the book is too short. I want to know in greater detail about Ellen's parents and the tragedy that befell her mother. I want to know more about the various homes she migrated through before finding her "new mama." I want to know more about her friend Starletta and her family. And the
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