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Lucky Us: A Novel by Amy Bloom
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Lucky Us: A Novel (original 2014; edition 2014)

by Amy Bloom

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
8828924,290 (3.31)64
Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ? NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND O: THE OPRAH MAGAZINE ? Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader??s Circle for author chats and more.
??My father??s wife died. My mother said we should drive down to his place and see what might be in it for us.?
So begins this remarkable novel by Amy Bloom, whose critically acclaimed Away was called ??a literary triumph? (The New York Times). Lucky Us is a brilliantly written, deeply moving, fantastically funny novel of love, heartbreak, and luck.
 
Disappointed by their families, Iris, the hopeful star and Eva the sidekick, journey through 1940s America in search of fame and fortune. Iris??s ambitions take the pair across the America of Reinvention in a stolen station wagon, from small-town Ohio to an unexpected and sensuous Hollywood, and to the jazz clubs and golden mansions of Long Island.
 
With their friends in high and low places, Iris and Eva stumble and shine though a landscape of big dreams, scandals, betrayals, and war. Filled with gorgeous writing, memorable characters, and surprising events, Lucky Us is a thrilling and resonant novel about success and failure, good luck and bad, the creation of a family, and the pleasures and inevitable perils of family life, conventional and otherwise. From Brooklyn??s beauty parlors to London??s West End, a group of unforgettable people love, lie, cheat and survive in this story of our fragile, absurd, heroic species.
Praise for Lucky Us
??Lucky Us is a remarkable accomplishment. One waits a long time for a novel of this scope and dimension, replete with surgically drawn characters, a mix of comedy and tragedy that borders on the miraculous, and sentences that should be in a sentence museum. Amy Bloom is a treasure.???Michael Cunningham
??Exquisite . . . a short, vibrant book about all kinds of people creating all kinds of serial, improvisatory lives.???The New York Times
 
??Bighearted, rambunctious . . . a bustling tale of American reinvention . . . If America has a Victor Hugo, it is Amy Bloom, whose picaresque novels roam the world, plumb the human heart and send characters into wild roulettes of kismet and calamity.???The Washington Post
 
??Bloom??s crisp, delicious prose gives [Lucky Us] the feel of sprawling, brawling life itself. . . . Lucky Us is a sister act, which means a double dose of sauce and naughtiness from the brilliant Amy Bloom.???The Oregonian
 
??A tasty summer read that will leave you smiling . . . Broken hearts [are] held together by lipstick, wisecracks and the enduring love of sisters.???USA Today
 
??Exquisitely imagined . . . [a] grand adventure.???O: The Oprah Magazine
 
??Marvelous picaresque entertainment . . . a festival of joy and terror and lust and amazement that resolves itself here,
… (more)
Member:EEDevore
Title:Lucky Us: A Novel
Authors:Amy Bloom
Info:Random House (2014), Hardcover, 256 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:**1/2
Tags:None

Work Information

Lucky Us by Amy BLOOM (2014)

  1. 00
    Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan (Ciruelo)
  2. 00
    Rules of Civility by Amor Towles (rocks009)
    rocks009: Diverse cast of characters revolving around two central female leads, in pre-war America.
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» See also 64 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 89 (next | show all)
I was somewhat disappointed--too much of the plot seemed totally improbable. Yes, the characters were vivid. I suspect that knowing that the book had to do with 1940s Hollywood attracted me but the Hollywood part of the book is nugatory. ( )
  monicaberger | Jan 22, 2024 |
Sweet, interesting and fun. An easy weekend read with a historical backdrop. The characters never get completely fleshed out, but it kept me engaged. ( )
  Venarain | Jan 10, 2022 |
The narrative of Lucky Us is a hard to follow in places and the sudden shifts in perspective, time, and place only added to the confusion. Setting those problems aside, Bloom's tale of perservance, adventure, and the bonds of a makeshift family is rather good. ( )
  mbellucci | Apr 10, 2021 |
Door het overlijden van ma kon ik me maar moeilijk concentreren op dit boek. Het is knap en afwisselend geschreven maar ook war vreemd. Misschien was het in het Nederlands beter tot me doorgedrongen. ( )
  elsmvst | Dec 15, 2020 |
This was an ok read. Although it started strong, it jumped around too much and was confusing to follow and didn't hold my interest. ( )
  baruthcook | Aug 26, 2020 |
Showing 1-5 of 89 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
BLOOM, Amyprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
RAZUM, KathrinTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
SYRIER, Paulsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
For my sister, Ellen.
First words
My father's wife died.
Quotations
It's good to be smart, it's better to be lucky.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ? NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND O: THE OPRAH MAGAZINE ? Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader??s Circle for author chats and more.
??My father??s wife died. My mother said we should drive down to his place and see what might be in it for us.?
So begins this remarkable novel by Amy Bloom, whose critically acclaimed Away was called ??a literary triumph? (The New York Times). Lucky Us is a brilliantly written, deeply moving, fantastically funny novel of love, heartbreak, and luck.
 
Disappointed by their families, Iris, the hopeful star and Eva the sidekick, journey through 1940s America in search of fame and fortune. Iris??s ambitions take the pair across the America of Reinvention in a stolen station wagon, from small-town Ohio to an unexpected and sensuous Hollywood, and to the jazz clubs and golden mansions of Long Island.
 
With their friends in high and low places, Iris and Eva stumble and shine though a landscape of big dreams, scandals, betrayals, and war. Filled with gorgeous writing, memorable characters, and surprising events, Lucky Us is a thrilling and resonant novel about success and failure, good luck and bad, the creation of a family, and the pleasures and inevitable perils of family life, conventional and otherwise. From Brooklyn??s beauty parlors to London??s West End, a group of unforgettable people love, lie, cheat and survive in this story of our fragile, absurd, heroic species.
Praise for Lucky Us
??Lucky Us is a remarkable accomplishment. One waits a long time for a novel of this scope and dimension, replete with surgically drawn characters, a mix of comedy and tragedy that borders on the miraculous, and sentences that should be in a sentence museum. Amy Bloom is a treasure.???Michael Cunningham
??Exquisite . . . a short, vibrant book about all kinds of people creating all kinds of serial, improvisatory lives.???The New York Times
 
??Bighearted, rambunctious . . . a bustling tale of American reinvention . . . If America has a Victor Hugo, it is Amy Bloom, whose picaresque novels roam the world, plumb the human heart and send characters into wild roulettes of kismet and calamity.???The Washington Post
 
??Bloom??s crisp, delicious prose gives [Lucky Us] the feel of sprawling, brawling life itself. . . . Lucky Us is a sister act, which means a double dose of sauce and naughtiness from the brilliant Amy Bloom.???The Oregonian
 
??A tasty summer read that will leave you smiling . . . Broken hearts [are] held together by lipstick, wisecracks and the enduring love of sisters.???USA Today
 
??Exquisitely imagined . . . [a] grand adventure.???O: The Oprah Magazine
 
??Marvelous picaresque entertainment . . . a festival of joy and terror and lust and amazement that resolves itself here,

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