Object Lessons

by Anna Quindlen

Book Overview

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR "Elaborate and playful...Honest and deeply felt....Here is the Quindlen wit, the sharp eye for the details of class and manners, [and] the ardent reading of domestic lives." THE NEW YORK TIMES It is the 1960s, in suburban New York City. Maggie and her family, are in the thrall of her powerful grandfather Jack Scanlan. In the summer of her twelfth year, Maggie is despertately trying to master the object lessons...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394569652
• ISBN13: 9780394569659
• Release Date: April 1991
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 262 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

My Favorite

This is the best book I have read in a long time. Many of my friends complained that it moved too slowly, but I attribute that slowness to the development of the characters. Although Maggie is the main character, I think of her as a catalyst to telling the "real" story: that of the metamorphasis of her family. Everyone comes to the point in their lives when they realize that their family is the the epitome of perfection, and this is the point in time when Maggie realizes this for her family, her friends, and herself. This is one of the few modern books I will keep in my personal library.

One of my favorites . . .

Every now and again, we may come across an author whose writing style really touches us. And, every now and again, we may come across a story that stirs in us some indescribable, inexplicable, deep emotion within the core of our very soul. I believe I have found that author and that book. Anna Quindlen would be that author, and Object Lessons would be that book.The first book I had read by Anna Quindlen was Black and Blue, which I had borrowed from my sister. Black and Blue was a highly captivating book because there was a lot going on with the plot of the book, but it was a bit sad at the same time. Black and Blue dealt with an abused woman who ran away with her son, and changed her identity so her husband wouldn't find her. As a result, that book was a bit on the darker side. Object Lessons has a total different feel to it. In this book, it's about an Irish-Italian family named the Scanlan's. This book centers mostly around Tommy Scanlan, and his Italian wife, Connie, and their 12-year-old daughter, Maggie. The couple has three other boys who are mentioned, but only in passing. The other three children are just background characters. Many a time, there's too many characters in a book, and in this case, it's very obvious that Anna Quindlen had an objective to focus on only a few main characters.Tommy had married Connie when she became pregnant, and his Irish family -- his father, John Scanlan, in particular -- didn't approve. Since then, Connie had felt like an outsider with the other wives, and more than put out by her controlling father-in-law. John Scanlan was one of those larger-than-life characters, as he made a drama about most everything, and felt he had to control his sons, and only daughter, Margaret. Margaret escaped by going into the convent, but Tommy, as well as his brothers, found that John would take control of their lives by putting them in the family business, or buying a house, or sending their children to private school. John had such control over Mark, one of Tommy's brothers, that he prevented him and his wife from adopting children, as Mark had difficulty getting his wife pregnant. John Scanlan even had control over his wife, Mary Frances, making her drift into the background like faded wallpaper. Without much warning, John Scanlan became gravely ill one day when he had a stroke, and the family started changing. Maggie, Tommy's and Connie's daughter (and John Scanlan's favorite grandchild), was going through a tough growing-pain period. She was about to enter her teen years, and she was having a hard time coping with the things that were happening around her. Her relationship with her best friend, Debbie, was changing when Debbie started hanging around other kids who had a negative influence on her. Maggie's parents always seem to be distant or fighting, and now her grandfather was sick and she was seeing how her family was changing. This wonderful story takes

WOW! A REMARKABLE BOOK!

This book has literally changed my perspective on life. I had to read this as a summer reading right before my junior year in high school and not only was this book fascinating, the characters that Anna Quindlen portrays are so true to life as are the situations. If ever you want to just curl up and read a book, this is the one. Literally, I tell all of my friends about this book. I can relate so much to Maggie's character and her journey through adolescence and maturity...

Maybe the best coming of age novel ever

I read this when I was just about the age of the main character and I loved every minute of it. The detail, the plotline, and the vividness not only of the characters but of their emotions and confusion make it definitely worthwhile. This may not be the best book ever written, but it is the closest to my heart.

Quindlen's BEST

I read this after reading 'Black & Blue' and 'One True Thing'. I identified with these characters and found the storyline engaging. I would have to disagree with the reviewer who said it takes place in the summer of 1963. How could it when there is a reference to the fact that John Kennedy is dead? I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down