Viola's husband, Cecil, has shut the door behind him for the last time, and their four adult kids seem determined to send her to her grave with worrying. Paris always comes to everybody's rescue - although she doesn't have a clue as to how to save herself. Lewis keeps landing himself in jail. Charlotte knows she's gotten the short end of the stick for years and would just as soon divorce herself from them all. And Janelle is defensive about the course her life has taken. Meanwhile, Cecil has some ideas for taking his hard ...
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Viola's husband, Cecil, has shut the door behind him for the last time, and their four adult kids seem determined to send her to her grave with worrying. Paris always comes to everybody's rescue - although she doesn't have a clue as to how to save herself. Lewis keeps landing himself in jail. Charlotte knows she's gotten the short end of the stick for years and would just as soon divorce herself from them all. And Janelle is defensive about the course her life has taken. Meanwhile, Cecil has some ideas for taking his hard-working life into his own hands. With her hallmark exuberance and a cast of sassy, resilient characters, McMillan takes us deep into the hearts, minds, and souls of America.
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When I had read it..it had really grabbed my interest! The story was told eloquently...flawlessly! Terry McMillan is rather a very good black author...her ability to write a story seems fearless...she writes as if she's not afraid to jot her words down on paper!
Terry McMillan happens to be rather a no-nonsense type of author! When she writes a book, she writes!
bookboy
Jun 19, 2007
Good but a bit too neat and tidy
I adore Terry McMillan and am proud of the niche she is carving for up and coming Black writers. She has a fresh, breezy and flowing writing style that sucks you in and carries you along through the trials and tribulations of her wonderfully real characters. 'A Day Late and A Dollar Short', following on the disappointing heels of 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back', is one of those magnificent reads.
I won't go into the plotlines of the different characters becasue there's just too much to tell. Essentially, it's a novel about a family whose lives are all seeming to fall apart. For me, and other Black readers I've discussed this novel with, I was amazed at the similarities of the characters to a lot of my own friends and family . . . and even myself!
The novel is a bit hard to get into at first. Each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character (there's six main characters) and the purposeful use of bad grammer and language can, at first, be a bit annoying. However, once you get into it, the novel flows effortlessly and seamlessly.
My only beef is the ending is too tidy. I would have preferred a more realistic, less Disney-ish ending, but it's fiction, good fiction, so I can forgive that.
