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She's Come Undone
She's Come Undone
She's Come Undone
Audiobook18 hours

She's Come Undone

Written by Wally Lamb

Narrated by Linda Stephens

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

()

About this audiobook

In this New York Times bestselling extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years.

"Mine is a story of craving: an unreliable account of lusts and troubles that began, somehow, in 1956 on the day our free television was delivered...."

Meet Dolores Price. She's thirteen, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly up.

In this extraordinary coming-of-age odyssey, Wally Lamb invites us to hitch a wild ride on a journey of love, pain, and renewal with the most heartbreakingly comical heroine to come along in years. At once a fragile girl and a hard-edged cynic, so tough to love yet so inimitably lovable, Dolores is as poignantly real as our own imperfections. She's Come Undone includes a promise: you will never forget Dolores Price.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateMar 15, 2011
ISBN9781442342538
Author

Wally Lamb

Wally Lamb is the author of five New York Times bestselling novels: She’s Come Undone, I Know This Much Is True, The Hour I First Believed, Wishin’ and Hopin’, and We Are Water. His first two works of fiction, She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, were both #1 New York Times bestsellers and selections of Oprah’s Book Club. Lamb edited Couldn’t Keep It to Myself, I’ll Fly Away, and You Don’t Know Me, three volumes of essays from students in his writing workshop at York Correctional Institution, a women’s prison in Connecticut, where he has been a volunteer facilitator for two decades. He lives in Connecticut and New York.

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Reviews for She's Come Undone

Rating: 3.8490454062220127 out of 5 stars
4/5

4,243 ratings148 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    She did not waste her life or her happiness. Some of these reviewers did not get that.

    3 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    While reading Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone back in the summer of 2003, there were two things that I just couldn't stop thinking about: The Guess Who's classic song, and the Lee Philips-directed film, The Girl Most Likely To (1973).

    A remarkable novel, She's Come Undone is a coming-of-age, heartstrings-tugger about a girl named Delores who grapples with childhood obesity, and the maltreatment she endures from others?including her wayward mother?as the result of it.

    Delores undergoes quite a bit in her life. And I personally loved and felt a great deal of empathy towards her, considering that my own childhood included battling the bulge.
    They all?even her fellow college coeds?mistreat the fat girl, Delores, but all of that begins to change after a distraught and suicidal Delores one day finds herself washed ashore and face-to-face with a beached whale ...

    She's Come Undone is one of the greatest books that I've ever read. And it's no surprise that Ms. Oprah selected it as a must-read for her book club. Five stars.

    2 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Hated the book and the main character. Spent nearly 10 hrs reading it and I gained nothing. Absolutely horrendous. I just didn’t care.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book was a lovely piece of art in which the life of a struggling woman (and girl) unfolds. Although not written my a woman, this book told a tale of feminism and depicted a realistic story of what it is like to be a woman growing up in a society like the one we live in. The main character is unlikable at times but she is also very easy to sympathize with. Loved this book and it will be one id like to reread some time in the future.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I loved the resurrection of a life and the imagery of the whale. I wish that the narrator hadn’t felt it necessary to sing I found that very annoying and completely unnecessary.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Slow but so touching! At times I was thinking to just put it down and the next minute tears rolling down my eyes. Loved the ending!

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved this book. I never reread books, but I have this one. It made we want to read everything Willy Lamb had written.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    a woman undone, picking herself up. a beautiful story. truely deloris price almost feels like myself.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    These characters, especially Delores, will stay with me forever. I am utterly in love with this book.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book really moved me. The only reason I give it four instead of five stars is because I feel Lamb's whale metaphor tries too hard and is much too obvious. (Who actually listens to the sounds of humpback whales on a car radio?!) I get the sense Lamb added the whale metaphor to make his work somehow more literary or intellectual, but his creation would be just as good without a single mention of whales.

    Lamb does a nice job of wrapping up this many-layered story without making things too neat and tidy. By the last page, the story's tone hits just the right note--not an easy task, I would think, given how complex the character of Dolores is.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I absolutely loved this book. To me she was talking about all of us as we are growing up and having to learn the in and outs of ourselves, The people around us, and the situations that we will or might go through. as we are going up. Also learning that we are strong enough to deal with whatever comes our way in life and the strength
    to make it through and come out the side of the situation even stronger. ❤️❤️❤️
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read the book, I liked the book but I cannot even begin to tell you how annoying and depressing the character of Delores was throughout the book.I mean I just wanted to really, you know, slap the eyebrows off her face. Yes she went through some trying times but the negativity was overwhelming, just too much but really, what more can you expect but gosh...SLAP! ok much better.Wally Lamb is wonderful and deserves to be read. But Delores, she needs to come undone with a big 'ole snap out of it slap.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Seemed to lack substance in general and finality in meaning.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Fabulous listen, beautifully written and narrated, loved it! Well recommended!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent narrator. Bittersweet story line. I cheered the heroine one moment, then I found myself saying, “Don’t do it !” It kept me coming back.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    So good and great narration. I love it every single time I read it.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    didn't finish it. Protagonist was loathsome.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I was a little disappointed by this book since I have heard so many good things about it; I guess my expectations were set too high. It was a good coming of age story and I couldn't put it down, but I couldn't connect with the main character that much.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I don’t get the appeal. All of Wally Lamb’s books are cringe-inducing.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I'm on my second reading of this book. It's been about 4 years since I last read it, and I'm enjoying it again. Wally Lamb hooked me with the first sentence, and I'm finding it hard to put this book down, once again. This book is a keeper on my book shelf. I'm sure this won't be the last time I read it. I keep finding things I missed the first time around, and I'm sure I will do the same for each additional reads.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    Listening to the character. Such a bitter,self pitying, negative person to spend time with. Terrible.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    From page 1, I was drawn in. Not into the actual story, but Wally’s prologue about what started this writing adventure for him that was over a 9 year span, who he loosely based Dolores after, and his pen pal relationship with David F. I loved his ease for storytelling and how vulnerable and open he was to this process of novel writing.Dolores Price. Wow. This book goes through her life, as she brings me (the reader) along with her through her sadness, anger, and later, her hope. Prior to buying the book, I read the reviews on Amazon and also read that people had mentioned the same thing to Wally: why didn’t you kill Dolores? Why doesn’t she die? Those 2 questions certainly perked my ears and I soon became even more curious to who this character was and why so many people could relate to her.The story is about 400+ pages, but it’s so worth every bit of it. Not one page is fluff, as every part of her journey is important to her self discovery and self acceptance. It was astonishing to see how one single event changed the course of Delores’s innocent life and how it impacted her parents and their relationship with one another and their daughter. The weight gain is the outward anger she felt, but the book dives into more of the emotional pain she endured.There were times that I laughed out loud, cried silently, and cheered, too. This book chronicles Dolores’ life and ends with her not dying, as some had hoped, rather finally living. I loved everything about this book and have not stopped thinking about Dolores. She gives hope to others…if she can make it, you can too. She also shows that when demons and fears are faced, they aren’t so big and cannot take control over a person any longer.I loved the friendships she made along the way, the crazy love she had for Dante and how her relationship paralleled that of her parents, and how family is who you choose to be part of your life: like Roberta and Mr. Pucci. I can’t forget to mention Dr. Shaw. He reminded me of Virginia Satir, in a video I watched in graduate school. She was helping this young teenage girl work through her eating addiction, with the family involved. Then, there is an after tape, where Virginia is working the family after the young girl takes her own life. I was thankful that Delores didn’t die, didn’t become the whale on the beach, laying lifeless for the world to see. She had done that already, rather she became the whale that emerges from the ocean and sprays her…giving her renewed hope!Back to Dr. Shaw. I loved his relationship with Delores and how he was always trying something different with her, to unlock those chains she had on herself. I loved the baby to teen progression in the pool, and how he became her mother. Then, when Delores had the epiphany and unleashed all the truths about her mom and its impact on her life…wow! I was crying with her and cheering for Dr. Shaw because he was brave enough to follow through with her and not give up on her before her monumental breakthrough. I was just amazed, simply amazed.While much happens before her breakthrough with Dr. Shaw, there is more to her story afterwards. So many times, Delores could have fallen back into old patterns of self destructive behavior. However, she is resilient, outspoken, and learns that in order to be loved, she must first love herself.If you are like me, and are one of the lone rangers who hasn’t read this book, I suggest you read it. If you have read it, read it again. And, if you are feeling exceptionally giving-share this book with others. It’s a great story that uncovers taboos, faces challenges, and gives hope to anyone who feels so lost and alone.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    First Oprah book I read. I related to it so well that I wrote to Oprah's club to be included and was a finalist and they called me to possibly come to the show. I was so excited but I didn't get on in the final cut. However, I found Wally Lamb's book so engaging and related to it so much that I almost felt it was about me in many instances. I hated for it to end!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This was not a great book, but it was a good book. Alot of it was very sad but I found it realistic. It did kinda go on and on though.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Well, I read this back when it was very popular, and I don't remember liking it very much. This always happens to me--those books that seem so meaningful to other readers fall flat for me. But I do remember thinking that the protagonist was just not a very believable person to me. It's a book that supposed to be for women but didn't seem to "get" women--at least, that's how I remember it.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Only because students selected this for our last book club title have I trudged all the way through this. I just really hate the story. There is NO hope, NO humor . . . I'm having a hard time with this. I can't understand how it's earned the average rating it has. Please tell me what I'm missing!!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I read this book last year. I found Dolores as a character, to be nasty, and rude, and sometimes sort of endearing. -sometimes.I must admit to having found her character really frustrating at times. I almost wanted to yell at her just because she kept accepting ridiculous sh*t from everyone, because well she was fat and didn't think she deserved more than what she was offered. The sexual abuse was really difficult to get through. It made me cry. So mr. handsome has to move out, and that's justice!! then it just gets worse. When she meets the other mr. handsome with the picture. That was soooo frustrating to get through. I actually like the ending more than the rest of the book. But the story is really alive and human and is written well, with a very memorable main character. What I dislike tremendously was the focus on her weight and how being slim equates to be happy and being fat means miserable. There are plently of plump, beautiful happy people in this world living pretty extrordinary lives. Apart from that, the story is highly developed the characters are all somewhat annoying and meanspirited in their own ways, including dolores, but interesting to get to know somehow. This was a depressing and frustrating read and I wouldn't read it again. But found the experience interesting all the same.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Phenomenal book for any young woman!
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I actually never finished it. I didn't like the girl's rotten attitude that came from nowhere and I think I've read enough books about rape for a while. Maybe I'll visit it again someday.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I liked this book. A lot of the scenarios are a little over the top, but then again, I like that sort of thing which is why I prefer fiction books over non-fiction. I did like Lamb's other novel better though-- I Know This Much is True.