Most Fun We Ever Had (Lombardo) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
A rich, engrossing family saga, spiked with sisterly malice… [rendered] with such skill and finely tuned interest that it feels like a quiet subversion of the traditional family saga.
New York Times Book Review


Ambitious and brilliantly written.
Jane Smiley - Washington Post


If ever there were to be a literary love child of Jonathan Franzen and Anne Tyler, then Claire Lombardo’s outstanding debut, which ranges from ebullience to despair by way of caustic but intense familial bonds, would be a worthy offspring…. This is a novel epic in scope—emotionally, psychologically and narratively. Combining a broad thematic canvas with impressive emotional nuance, it’s an assured and highly enjoyable debut.
Guardian (UK)


An assured first novel…. The fun—well, that’s in the reading of the novel, which nicely blends comedy with pathos and the sharp- with the soft-edged.
Wall Street Journal 


[A] remarkable first-time novel offering such an intimate picture of people’s interior lives I feel as if every one of these characters is now a close friend. Lombardo has the remarkable ability to delve into people’s minds so deeply that the most quotidian moments become utterly fascinating.
Ruth Reichl - Los Angeles Times


A wonderfully immersive read that packs more heart and heft than most first novels…A deliciously absorbing novel with—brace yourself—a tender and satisfyingly positive take on family.
NPR


The big family saga of the summer, unfurling the fallout of a long-buried secret and persisting rivalries between four sisters across 50 transformative years.
Entertainment Weekly


This juicy saga spans more than four decades…You’ll be glad this loopy family isn’t yours, but reading about them is a treat.
People


[I]mpressive…. Lombardo captures the complexity of a large family with characters who light up the page with their competition, secrets, and worries. Despite its length and number of plotlines, the momentum never flags, making for a rich and rewarding family saga.
Publishers Weekly


Unfortunately, the author's attempt to flesh out these tropes makes the story bloated and overstuffed. [Although] the novel would have benefited from fewer characters and a tighter plot, readers of women's fiction… may delight in the episodic approach. —Pamela Mann, St. Mary's Coll. Lib., MD
Library Journal


A family epic…. It resembles other sprawling midwestern family dramas, like Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections (2001)…The result is an affectionate, sharp, and eminently readable exploration of the challenges of love in its many forms.
Booklist


Lombardo brews all seven deadly sins into a fun and brimming tale…. Characters flip between bottomless self-regard and pitiless self-loathing while, as late as the second-to-last chapter, yet another pleasurable tendril of sisterly malice uncurls.
Kirkus Reviews