Comments on: The Book

By: wildflowercat

wildflowercat — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:23:45 +0000

Absolutely loved this book. Will read it again for the great descriptions and images. Just had to find out how it ended. As a social worker, I believe anyone can be redeemed but not all are. I will never forget Truit and Catherine.
Question: are the quotes in the book ascribed to “the poet” from Walt Whitman or the author.
I loved the one on page 221. “It seems to me that everything in the light and the air ought to be happy. Whoever is not in his coffin and the dark grave, let him know he has enough.” Thank you so very much for this reading experience. I,too seldom write authors but could not resist on this one.

By: mightyquinn66

mightyquinn66 — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:57:36 +0000

I live in a rather small Wisconsin town and found “A Reliable Wife” quite by accident one day…I’ve always loved reading and have devoured book after book over the years, but for the past 6 months or so I’ve struggled to find anything that holds my interest. I was actually starting to worry a bit! Then I spotted this book and bought it without a second thought. As I read it, I kept thinking of a book I stumbled upon (again, accidentally) years ago in our little library and have since taken out numerous times, “Wisconsin Death Trip.” When I finished the story, I came upon Beholden and nearly fell out of bed! You were the only other person I’d ever encountered that read that book. To know you appreciated it enough to be inspired to write this amazing book made me feel a little less odd for loving it myself. And I’m glad I took time to find you online and read comments by others who also liked it. Rarely does a book move me to seek out the author, no matter how much I’ve enjoyed it! Thank you.

By: drvixxen

drvixxen — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:39:48 +0000

I am haunted. I want to start over again and truly understand. The Power of love and forgiveness.

By: rosechimera

rosechimera — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:36:35 +0000

It’s a struggle to decide between languishing in the prose or rushing to see what happens. Goolrick is a talent that has been hidden for too long, and I’m so anxious to read his next effort.

By: Lynn

Lynn — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:59:46 +0000

I cannot wait for Robert Goolrick’s next book. I am a retired English teacher, and I have recommended this book to other teachers. His luxurious descriptions are magical and moody; transforming and transfixing. Hooray!

By: Donna M.

Donna M. — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 00:57:13 +0000

Wow. I just finished A Reliable Wife, which I enjoyed immensely. Not at all what I was expecting when someone suggested our book club read it. As I was reading this book, I constantly thought of a book that I read in my AP History class in 1978, Wisconsin Death Trip. It is the only book I remember from that class (there were many) and have referred to it often over the years. The wide-eyed insanity chronicled in those photos haunted me for years. My mother-in-law and best friend are from Racine Wisconsin and when I visited there, I could picture the desolate winters on the farm. I almost fell out of my chair when I read the Beholden section. How cool to finally know that someone else had been greatly impacted by that book. I will have to find it to give to my daughter who is a history major in college.