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Title: Never again...
Review: As an English teacher, I've read several of Oates' novels and have always been disappointed. I had hoped that this experience would be different. Not only is the book too wordy, but the entire story was a disappointment. There are so many other great books out there about dysfunctional families that this one pales by comparison. I can't imagine any family as close as the Mulvaney's are at the beginning of the story reacting to the tragedy like they did, namely Corinne and Michael, Sr. Truly loving parents stand by their children especially after a tragedy like Marianne suffered. The other major complaint I have is that it reads like a Russian novel... every character has at least one nickname and sometimes two! This novel could have been edited down to half its size and still have gotten the message across.
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