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Where'd You Go, Bernadette

A Novel
Semple, Maria (Book - 2012)
Average Rating: 2 stars out of 5.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette


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When her notorious, hilarious, volatile, talented, troubled, and agoraphobic mother goes missing, teenage Bee begins a trip that takes her to the ends of the earth to find her.

Alternate Title: Where did you go, Bernadette
Imprint: New York - Little, Brown and Co
Pages: 330
Edition: 1st ed
ISBN: 9780316204279, 0316204277
Language: English
Statement of responsibility: Maria Semple
Characteristics: 330 p. ;,25 cm
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This book was such a treat! Funny, searing, and at times, epic. I stayed up late turning the pages voraciously.

Apr 09, 2013
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  • macierules rated this: 4 stars out of 5.

Great satire - thought Bernadette was a wonderful heroic character. Enjoyed this read.

Mar 27, 2013
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  • jeanner222 rated this: 4.5 stars out of 5.

Bernadette Fox hates Seattle. She cannot stand the residents. Gnats, she calls them. She is sick and tired of the crunchy granola, who-cares-about-style lifestyle of the city. She is so tired of it that she hires a personal assistant to do her errands, with the exception of dropping off and picking up her daughter, Bee, to school. Bee is an eighth grader and the narrator of our story. Sort of. It is an epistolary novel, which includes emails, handwritten notes, police and hospital reports, and the narration of Bee. Through these papers, Bee tells the story of her mother’s disappearance. To reveal anything else would spoil the plot for the reader. Read it, laugh, and enjoy the ride. Bernadette is hilarious, and the author’s take on Seattle is really amusing.

Mar 26, 2013
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  • JCLWinsor rated this: 4 stars out of 5.

Sharper than a drawer full of Ginsu knives, "Where'd You Go, Bernadette" is one of the most pleasurable books I've read in recent memory. Semple, a former TV writer, centers this story around school-aged Bee, a student at a Seattle private school, her Microsoft exec and TED-talker dad Elgin, and brilliant but troubled mother, Bernadette. The novel is written in mostly epistolary form, so Semple gives you peeks at this strange but loving family in the margins of school bulletins, internal Microsoft emails, and gossipy texts between the parents of students. Delightfully full of twists and turns, anchored by the rollicking snark of Bernadette, this is a surprising and seriously funny novel. A must-read.

Mar 07, 2013
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  • lmcshane rated this: 5 stars out of 5.

I enjoyed the book and breezed through it - worth your time and a great little escape. May even appeal to teens.

Mar 01, 2013
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  • sablegirl rated this: 4 stars out of 5.

Initially the book really grabbed my interest. It was quirky but in a good way. I enjoyed the way the books was written and could realate to Bernadette and her daughter. I was anxious to find out what happened but was disappointed with the end. It was a bit draggy and I skipped through most of the last two chapters to get to the end. I recommend this book.

Feb 17, 2013
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  • elag24 rated this: 5 stars out of 5.

Too funny! Ms. Semple captured the frantic mommys of Seattle to a tee! I laughed at the characters so hard because I saw myself and my friends reflected in all of them. If anyone wants to know what life in Seattle is like, read this!

Feb 16, 2013
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  • GuyN rated this: 4 stars out of 5.

From private school helicopter parents to blackberries, from Microserfs to ecoarchitects, from digital assistants in India who are actually xxxxx (spoiler deleted) to 5 way intersections on Queen Anne, this book is hilariously Seattle, at least for the first half or so. The humor is rarer in Antarctica, and the plot is improbably pumped up in the last part of the book. I don't know if this book would be as funny to someone without moss growing on their north side, but Wet Coasters may laugh out loud at their wealthy neighbors, or even themselves. If you are not a plot junkie you can quit when it starts to get too maudlin, as it doesn't get whackadoodle funny again at the end.

Feb 09, 2013
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  • bowenshea rated this: 3 stars out of 5.

Very funny first half, with its wry observations of the inhabitants of the Pacific NW. But the structure is odd and starts to feel forced. Final third of the book goes off the rails. Fun beach read, but I wanted more.

Jan 26, 2013
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  • leapyrtwins rated this: 5 stars out of 5.

VERY funny book. Cleverly written. Keeps your attention. Hard to put down. I loved it.

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