Leaving Home: Short Pieces [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Friday, March 23, 2012

Leaving Home: Short Pieces [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Product Details

Audio CD
Publisher: Brilliance Audio on CD Unabridged; Unabridged edition (October 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 145583145X
ISBN-13: 978-1455831456
Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

By : Jodi Picoult
List Price : ~~$14.99~~
Price : $10.19
You Save : $4.80 (32%)

Customer Reviews

This was an interesting book for me to read. I'm a fan of Picoult's books, although I consider them fairly light. They deal with heavier subjects, but the writing rarely gets deep into character study or anything like that. When I saw there were some new "short" stories to read out by her, I grabbed them and immediate read them.
They are fairly short. On Kindle, it's less than 800 locations for all three stories. I thought this would be enough for the author to get her point across, but I was both disappointed and elated at the same time.
The first story is a story about the loss of a child. Something that I consider the absolute worst thing that can happen to a parent. I cannot pretend to understand what they go through. The fact that she tackled this difficult subject, I think, is commendable. I think she lost me a bit in some of the symbolism. I got it, but I think it was unneeded. I think this may have been a bit of an experiment for her. I don't think it failed, but for what she was doing, it needed more length (even though it took up the first half of this short story collection).
The second piece is a letter she wrote to her son as he left for college. I will admit this chocked me up a bit. What a beautiful letter to prepare for your child that tells them so much. I'm sure as a mother, she must be so proud and I loved her voice here, the "cheering on" without a lot of preaching was really well done. I think I'll just xerox this to give to my kids when they go off into the world (they are still in Elementary school)... I'll just cross out her name and put mine there. laughing Seriously, this was very well done and I loved getting a look into her "real" life.
The third story is a story about a mom that takes a vacation, she just up and leaves the family to fend for themselves. I think all of us have had that urge to get in the car and get away from those people that keep yelling "Mom!" so I was sitting here cheering for the mom a few times. However, I think there was more going on and with the length, it was simply not able to be explored. While I am not sure it could be a whole book, I would like to see more about what was going on, the father mentioned a few things that made me think there was more to it. Having said that, I took away a little message from this piece about my own "hurry up and work work work" attitude. Sometimes you just need to leave it.
Overall, a decent undertaking by this author. I liked the format and it gave me something to read of hers while waiting for a new novel to be released.
Recommended for Picoult fans and other who enjoy short stories.

This is my first kindle single and my first time reading anything by this author. Each short piece was written exquisitely. The first piece is heart-wrenchingly sad and so vivid. The letter in the second piece is not merely written for her son, but for all the world as a message to follow our hearts and dreams and live our lives to the fullest.I personally took alot from this short powerful letter. The third piece was written from the view of a child, which makes it very unique and while reading, you become this child searching for the answers to explain her mother's behavior. Great stuff here, and even thought it is quite short, I found it to be a good deal because of the thoughts you are left with after you have finished. I am going to LOAN this to my mother I am confident a mother would appreciate this work.