From critically acclaimed New York Times best-selling author Jami Attenberg comes a novel of family secrets: think the drama of Big Little Lies set in the heat of a New Orleans summer. "If I know why they are the way they are, then maybe I can learn why I am the way I am," says Alex Tuchman of her parents. Now that her father, Victor, is on his deathbed, Alexâ??a strong-headed lawyer, devoted mother, and loving sisterâ??feels she can finally unearth the secrets of who Victor is and what he did over the course of his life and career. (A power-hungry real estate developer, he is, by all accounts, a bad man.) She travels to New Orleans to be with her family, but mostly to interrogate her tight-lipped mother, Barbra. As Barbra fends off Alex's unrelenting questions, she reflects on her tumultuous life with Victor. Meanwhile Gary, Alex's brother, is incommunicado, trying to get his movie career off the ground in Los Angeles. And Gary's wife, Twyla, is having a nervous breakdown, buying up all the lipstick in drugstores around New Orleans and bursting into crying fits. Dysfunction is at its peak. As family members grapple with Victor's history, they must figure out a way to move forwardâ??with one another, for themselves, and for the sake of their children. All This Could Be Yours is a timely, piercing exploration of what it means to be caught in the web of a toxic man who abused his power; it shows how those webs can entangle a family for generations, and what it takes toâ??maybe, hopefullyâ??break free. With her signature "sparkling prose" (Marie Claire) and incisive wit, Jami Attenberg deftly explores one of the most important subjects o… (más)
Meh. Trying to think what the point of this novel is, between the unpleasant main characters and the pages spent on the points of view of some really extremely tangential characters, and what I got is that it’s better to be alone and free than in a relationship. It’s a bit misanthropic, but not nearly so interesting or committed as the work of that queen of misanthropic fiction, Ottessa Moshfegh. ( )
4.5 - I couldn't put down this dark novel about a very dysfunctional family. I know many readers avoid stories about rich people problems and unlikable characters but with sharp writing, I'm here for it. ( )
I loved Jami Attenberg’s All This Could Be Yours. A stunning and refreshing writing style that can take the most mundane situation and make it pop. The story about the criminal Victor and how he impacts his family is a thrilling read. Cleverly Attenberg never reveals any detail about his underworld life, leaving the imagination to do its work on the reader. Makes me want to dip into the catalog of the author’s other novels. ( )
3.5 stars Dysfunctional family story - a portrait of a horrible man and the people who surround him. Set mostly in New Orleans. I think I would have been more interested in the stories of the periphery characters introduced (maybe sprinkled in as counterpoint to the awful main character?). ( )
A novel about a deeply dysfunctional family, centering on various family members' relationships with Victor, who was a criminal, philanderer, abuser, and all-around terrible person, and who currently lies unconscious, waiting to die.
I think my experience of this one was marred by too-high expectations, something that, ironically, was the product of going into the previous Jami Attenberg novel I read with too-low expectations. That one was All Grown Up, and it looked like a very chicklitty sort of novel (which is very much not my thing) about the sort of person I'd likely have no interest in or connection with, but to my great surprise, I loved it. The writing was excellent, the characters felt very real, and it ended up being quite emotionally affecting.
So, naturally, I was expecting a similar experience from this one, which instead was just sort of... not bad? I do like the way Attenberg can casually and chaotically jump around from POV to POV, a practice that normally irritates me, and make it actually work for the story in a way that, for the most part, feels meaningful and right. But while the characters were at least somewhat interesting, they lacked that feeling of realness, and in return I lacked a strong feeling of investment in any of them.
So, it was all just a little bit disappointing, even if I do still think Attenberg is a good writer and am still interested in reading more of her stuff. ( )
From critically acclaimed New York Times best-selling author Jami Attenberg comes a novel of family secrets: think the drama of Big Little Lies set in the heat of a New Orleans summer. "If I know why they are the way they are, then maybe I can learn why I am the way I am," says Alex Tuchman of her parents. Now that her father, Victor, is on his deathbed, Alexâ??a strong-headed lawyer, devoted mother, and loving sisterâ??feels she can finally unearth the secrets of who Victor is and what he did over the course of his life and career. (A power-hungry real estate developer, he is, by all accounts, a bad man.) She travels to New Orleans to be with her family, but mostly to interrogate her tight-lipped mother, Barbra. As Barbra fends off Alex's unrelenting questions, she reflects on her tumultuous life with Victor. Meanwhile Gary, Alex's brother, is incommunicado, trying to get his movie career off the ground in Los Angeles. And Gary's wife, Twyla, is having a nervous breakdown, buying up all the lipstick in drugstores around New Orleans and bursting into crying fits. Dysfunction is at its peak. As family members grapple with Victor's history, they must figure out a way to move forwardâ??with one another, for themselves, and for the sake of their children. All This Could Be Yours is a timely, piercing exploration of what it means to be caught in the web of a toxic man who abused his power; it shows how those webs can entangle a family for generations, and what it takes toâ??maybe, hopefullyâ??break free. With her signature "sparkling prose" (Marie Claire) and incisive wit, Jami Attenberg deftly explores one of the most important subjects o
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