When We Were Bad
Bad is the operative word for this review. When We Were Bad by Charlotte Mendelson is an annoying, not funny, trite read.
The book is described as a humorous look at the lives of a Jewish family in England. The family matriarch, Claudia, is a famous rabbi and believes that she has the “perfect” family with 4 wonderful children and a doting husband. This perfection starts unraveling when her eldest son leaves his bride at the altar and her eldest daughter starts shunning her familial duties and suffers an identity crisis. The other 2 kids are portrayed as total losers throughout the book (they are both in their late 20′s, living at home and their lives revolve around pleasing “mummy”), yet their family continues to dote on them.
I did not like any of characters and found them all to be insipid and uninteresting. There is neither character nor story development, and the chapters just flip between the boring lives of each family member.
Needless to say I am surprised that this book received critical acclaim, and I remember picking it up after seeing it on one of the Best of 2007 links on BGB.
Two big thumbs down.
January 21, 2008 7:44 am 
Subscribe
