A national bestseller—adapted into a movie starring Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon—Anywhere But Here is the heart-rending tale of a mother and daughter. A moving, often comic portrait of wise child Ann August and her mother, Adele, a larger-than-life American dreamer, the novel follows the two women as they travel through the landscape of their often conflicting ambitions. A brilliant … brilliant exploration of the perennial urge to keep moving, even at the risk of profound disorientation, Anywhere But Here is a story about the things we do for love, and a powerful study of familial bonds.
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Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computers, was Mona Simpson’s brother. But he was put up for adoption by Mona’s too-young-to-raise-a-baby parents when he was born. Mona didn’t even meet him until she was 25. Now that that’s out of the way, you should find a short story by her that originally appeared in the 1986 edition of Best American Short …
I’ll always love this book, which I think about every time I see a television show with a teenage girl who’s smarter and somehow more world-weary than her insane parents.
I had a lot of interest in this book from reading the sample pages. The dysfunctional relationship between Ann and her mother Adele was handled well. Adele is that sort of narcissist who’s charming, yet delusional and not really capable of (or interested in) basic stable parenting skills. However, when I approached what I sensed was the end of the …
Another example of a neurotic, self obsessed, abusive mother reeking havoc on her child’s life,
(as well as her family and everyone else she encounters.) Ending was very disappointing, tried to smooth over the craziness of the first 300 pages.