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Caroline Leavitt

Author of Pictures of You

27+ Works 2,691 Members 204 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

Caroline Leavitt has written several books including Girls in Trouble, Coming Back to Me, Living Other Lives, Family, Jealousies, Lifelines and Pictures of You. She won First Prize in Redbook Magazine's Young Writers Contest for her short story, Meeting Rozzy Halfway, which grew into the novel and show more the 1990 New York Foundation of the Arts Award for Fiction for Into Thin Air. Her essays, stories, and articles have appeared in numerous publications including New York magazine, Psychology Today, Parenting, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Chicago Tribune, and The Washington Post. She is a book critic for The Boston Globe and People and a writing instructor at UCLA online. Leavitt is the author of the bestseller, It this Tomorrow. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Includes the names: Caroline Leavitt, Carloine Leavitt

Also includes: Leavitt (2)

Works by Caroline Leavitt

Pictures of You (2011) 534 copies
The Prince and the Pooch (1997) 395 copies
Robinhound Crusoe (1997) 319 copies
Is This Tomorrow (2013) 300 copies
Girls in Trouble (2004) 276 copies
Cruel Beautiful World (2016) 263 copies
The Haunted Clubhouse (1997) 227 copies
Coming Back to Me (2001) 115 copies
With Or Without You (2020) 79 copies
The Kids' Family Tree Book (2005) 45 copies
Into Thin Air (1993) 24 copies
Living Other Lives (1995) 23 copies
Meeting Rozzy Halfway (1981) 18 copies

Associated Works

Tagged

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Common Knowledge

Birthdate
1952-01-09
Gender
female
Places of residence
Hoboken, New Jersey, USA

Members

Reviews

Interesting story about a couple. The woman ends up in a coma and the focus is on how she is when she recovers.
 
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shazjhb | 8 other reviews | Dec 3, 2023 |
Cruel Beautiful World by Caroline Leavitt has been difficult for me to review. I finished it a few days ago, and since then, I’ve been ruminating on it.

In its essence, Cruel Beautiful World is a novel about family and love. But the horrible underside of humanity is afoot as well. Yes, it takes place during the same time as the Manson murders, but that isn’t the true specter that hangs over the characters’ psyches. The true roots of the novel’s conflict lie in the question: How well can we really know the ones we love?

The climax and denouement of Cruel Beautiful World answer this question two ways. Without giving you any spoilers, I’ll say that one represents the beautiful and one represents the cruel.

Plot-wise, Cruel Beautiful World kept me guessing, but it also made me think. The prose is full of detail and texture. Leavitt uses concrete imagery to convey a strong sense of time period and setting.

Check out this section of character description to see how Leavitt deftly weaves history into the narrative:

“Not only did he support the antiwar movement, but he’d marched in Boston a few months ago and even got to talk to Abbie Hoffman, who was there giving a speech. William wore a Not-So-Silent Spring button on his jacket lapel, a dot of yellow imprinted with an upraised red fist that held a sprig of greenery. ‘Hey, hey, LBJ. How many kids did you kill today?’ he chanted, and then he told them the answer, writing on the board the Vietnam death toll for 1968—16,899—a number so staggeringly high that the kids shifted uneasily in their seats, because they knew there was a draft. The boys could be called up one day. Their lives could end, just like that. ‘Not if you resist the draft,’ William assured them. He draw a map of Canada on the blackboard and tapped the chalk on it. ‘Or go here,’” (Leavitt).

Holy characterization, Batman!

Over all, Cruel Beautiful World is not a book of easy answers. There is no good without the bad (and sometimes vice versa?). I recommend this book to readers who enjoy family novels with a tinge of darkness. Cruel Beautiful World is full of emotion. I think I cried at least twice, and my heart is as black as my coffee.

Disclaimer: I received a digital ARC copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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beckyrenner | 70 other reviews | Aug 3, 2023 |
This book was a perfect read! It brought out so many physical feelings in me that kept me wanting more!

Imagine being in a wonderful marriage with the love of your life and after a night of partying with your husband you end up in a coma for months. When you come out of the coma things are more different than you had ever thought. Not only to the person in the coma but also to your closest family and friends.

The character development in this book was spot on and told from 3 POVs. It was heart wrenching, uplifting, inspiring, mysterious and just flat out AMAZING!!

You do not want to miss out of this book! One of my favorites this year!
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GeauxGetLit | 8 other reviews | May 27, 2023 |

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Statistics

Works
27
Also by
9
Members
2,691
Popularity
#9,546
Rating
3.8
Reviews
204
ISBNs
93
Languages
4
Favorited
1

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