I'll Take You There: A Novel

I was disappointed by this book - I've always been a big Wally Lamb fan. I guess it's his foray into the supernatural that got to me, even though we had some mutual memories of growing up in the '50s and '60s that I enjoyed.

I second what another reviewer said...WHO WROTE THIS? It is so far below the Wally Lamb books that I know and love. The chapters did not flow together, there seemed to be no reason for why this story was told.The fact that the book just ended without making us understand its "reason for being" was extremely disappointing for a writer of this caliber. The characters were not fleshed out, and I was left feeling cheated of a Wally Lamb book. At what I assumed was the halfway mark of the book, I looked down at the percentage read, and it showed 96%. I could not believe it. The ending was abrupt, and unsatisfying.

Do not waste your money if you are looking for the usual exceptional Wally Lamb experience.

Wally Lamb is a writer who grabs the reader emotionally, taking them on a heartfelt journey in each book that he writes. I first discovered him in She's Come Undone, which I read at work. I cried so hard, people would stop by and ask me if I was OK. That's the kind of writer he is.

When I began his latest novel, I'll Take You There, I got a different kind of vibe, a lighter tone. Felix Funicello, cousin of 1960's star Annette Funicello, is a divorced dad of Aliza, a young woman working as a writer for New York magazine.

I loved the interplay between Aliza and her dad. Felix teases Aliza about her coarse language (an unfortunate side effect of living in NYC) and is supportive and encouraging in her career. Kat, Aliza's mom and Felix's ex-wife, is a strident feminist, and Felix and Kat still get along well even though they are divorced.

Felix runs a Monday movie night club at a old theatre that used be a vaudeville theatre. He has heard talk of ghosts that inhabit the place, but hadn't seen any until one day he is accosted by the ghost of Lois Weber, who made her name as a female director of films of the silent era. Lois tells Felix that she is going to show him a film of his life, starting when he was ten years old.

Felix actually enters the film and he becomes the young boy he once was. We meet his older sisters, Simone and Frances, as they are going to the theatre to see a movie. We learn about Felix's family and their relationships to each other.

The story deepens midway, when Frances faces some issues that she has been unable to deal with. The entire family is affected by Frances's problems, and the children learn some secrets that threaten the family's cohesion.

I grew to love I'll Take You There. I enjoyed the nostalgic look back at 1950's Brooklyn, and the history lesson of the Miss Rheingold beer competition that the Funicello children became personally involved in when their former babysitter was a finalist.

Lamb tugs at the heartstrings of the reader in the latter half of the story, with a tale that brought tears to my eyes. (Damn you Wally Lamb, you did it again!) The Funicello family worms their way into your heart and you love and identify with them. (Fans of TV's wonderful new show This Is Us would love I'll Take You There. It has a similar sensibility and blend of humor and pathos.)

Aliza is given the task of writing about the Miss Rheingold competition, which galls her since she was a Feminist Studies major in college. But she learns something interesting, and Lamb ends the novel with a blog post written by Aliza to her mom about the new generation of feminists that will particularly enlighten feminists of my age who may not quite recognize the feminists of today.

I'll Take You There features a grown-up Felix, whom we first met as a young boy in Lamb's sweet Christmas novel Wishin' and Hopin', and while you don't have to have read that book to appreciate this one, those who have read it will enjoy it on a higher level. I highly recommend I'll Take You There, and it would make a great gift for the literary feminist on your list.

Unfortunately, this wasn't Wally Lambs best work. I knew I should have jumped ship after the first chapter, but had a sick compulsion to keep going. It seemed so unlike the author's early work, that I hope he is well. Not every work can be excellent, but this book wasn't ready for printing or should have been kept on the drawing board. There was never a reason given for the horrendous gimmick employed, characters came in and out without making sense, and I'm mad I wasted reading time.

Thought provoking and timely in many different ways, especially now. Where we once were forward-thinking and moving, the US is being plagued by the current administration’s desperate attempt at rolling the country back to the 50s. Excellent writing and a great read.

This book was well written and was an interesting read. The four elements of the plot are a family's history, movie history, the history of the Miss Rheingold contest, and an account of feminism. The story of the family's history was fascinating, but unfortunately it was told through the intervention of ghosts in a movie theater. I felt this aspect of the plot could have been left out. It read as hokey and somewhat silly to me. The inclusion of the Miss Rheingold contest at first seemed superfluous, but that thread of the plot gets tied up later in the book. This tying up of loose ends of plot happened a bit too often, and that prevented me from giving the book five stars. All in all, a good read that teaches the reader quite a bit in the long run.

Wally Lamb is one of my favorite authors, and this is definitely one of his best. He takes on feminism through recent history in a thought provoking way. I will be following up by reading books and watching movies he made reference to.

Whether you've never read a Wally Lamb novel before, or you're a diehard fan, this selection will not disappoint. I've enjoyed everything I've ever read from this author and look forward to his next book. His characters are well-developed, plots move quickly, and the dialogue is natural and believable.

I'm so disappointed! I LOVE Wally Lamb and couldn't believe my good luck when i spotted a new Wally Lamb novel in the library. I kept reading it hoping it would get better. It didn't. Then i went to the store.com to see what other readers had to say. Uh oh. Poor reviews. It's not me. Feel badly and embarrassed for Lamb. What's happened to his writing??

I was a little disappointed in this book. Wally Lamb has long been one of my favorites. This book was entertaining, but rather anti-climactic. To be honest, I'm not sure what the point of it was. I feel like it had a lot of potential that was not fully realized...