Chilly Scenes of Winter (original 1976; edition 1991)

what an excellent piece of fiction. though it's possible that it resonated more with me than it would for others because it explores a difficult relationship with the protagonist's unstable mother (always interesting to me). also the things that pete (the crazy mother's boyfriend) says were so unintentionally hilarious that i laughed out loud on the bus more than once. ( )

A group of friends get together and discuss their life, their missed goals and opportunities and the things that have gone on in their lives.

There is family problems with attempted suicide, stays in the hospital and alcoholic relatives.

A solemn story with characters that never made me very interested although the writing was well done. ( )

Even though I can acknowledge that Beattie is a good writer, I didn’t feel a particular connection with this story or her characters. What frustrated me most about these particular characters is that, although they are all deeply unsatisfied and unhappy, they don’t make any effort to change. Instead, they just repeat the patterns of their unhappiness. I guess that is the point, but it doesn’t make for a very uplifting read. ( )

Malaise. Days of malaise. Daze of malaise. ( )

This book was a bit melancholy as a whole, but it was interesting to me. You'd only like it if you are fascinated with the way people live day-to-day, what kinds of food people eat, how they spend their free time, or even how one thought leads to another. It is a book about wanting someone you can't have.

I enjoyed that this book was written before I was born (copyright 1976). I glimpsed how my parents may have seen the world in their prime. ( )