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Big Brother
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
21 posts | 36 read | 23 to read
Big Brother is a striking novel about siblings, marriage, and obesity from Lionel Shriver, the acclaimed author the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin. For Pandora, cooking is a form of love. Alas, her husband, Fletcher, a self-employed high-end cabinetmaker, now spurns the toxic dishes that hed savored through their courtship, and spends hours each day to manic cycling. Then, when Pandora picks up her older brother Edison at the airport, she doesnt recognize him. In the years since theyve seen one another, the once slim, hip New York jazz pianist has gained hundreds of pounds. What happened? After Edison has more than overstayed his welcome, Fletcher delivers his wife an ultimatum: Its him or me. Rich with Shrivers distinctive wit and ferocious energy, Big Brother is about fat: an issue both social and excruciatingly personal. It asks just how much sacrifice we'll make to save single members of our families, and whether it's ever possible to save loved ones from themselves.
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LiseWorks
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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#WinterGames TeamReindeerGamers I love Big Brother. I have watched this show for years, so of course I'm watching the Christmas Special. 1st two episodes down. @StayCurious @Clwojick

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Clwojick
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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Puddles has been obsessed with my belly since 6weeks pregnant, and he‘s not showing signs of stopping any time soon. He just melts my heart. ❤️ Off to get some puglove before I nap, and then plan to spend a few hours reading this evening for #WinterGames

Jari-chan This is just too cute🥰 the cats of a friend of mine never left her side when she was pregnant 😻 11mo
SheReadsAndWrites ❤️🐾 11mo
AmyG This is just the sweetest. 11mo
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ElizaMarie A Puddles knows you are growing a human! They are gonna be best of best friends! 11mo
Yuki_Onna Oh my goodness, I'm melting...💕 This is so so so sweet and beautiful 💗💗💗 11mo
JessClark78 ❤️ 11mo
dabbe Puddles is going to be the BEST big brother! 🖤🐾🖤 11mo
MartinaLove Congratulations!! 11mo
Ruthiella So cute! 🐶❤️ 11mo
AnnR So sweet! Congrats! 11mo
Cupcake12 💕❤️🐾🐶 11mo
Lizpixie He probably was the first to hear Benjamin‘s heartbeat! A boy needs a dog, they‘ll be great buddies guaranteed. My grandson Jaxon(who lives with us)is inseparable with Ruby Tuesday, our boxer. It‘s so cute to see them digging up rocks in the garden & chasing each other around the backyard🐶🏃🏼 11mo
Clwojick @Lizpixie I‘m sure they‘ll get into tons of trouble together! ❤️ 11mo
66 likes13 comments
review
Cinfhen
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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Pickpick

#SoaringScores Finished this book the other day. Lionel Shriver has a knack for creating characters who are completely human with all their flaws and not too pretty personality traits. This book sees Edison, a once svelte talented musician #LeavingPort(ly) behind as he grows morbidly obese. Enter his sister Pandora, who makes it her mission to reverse Edison‘s weighty situation. Sharp & insightful writing. Wasn‘t thrilled with a certain twist😲

Centique I love “leavingport(ly)” 😂😂 5y
Cinfhen Hehehehe 😂thanks @Centique 5y
KarenUK Clever! 😂💕 (edited) 5y
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Cinfhen Thanks @karenuk 😘all good by you?? 5y
KarenUK @cinfhen all ok.... stressful time with hubby‘s health ... but heading out to my homeland as we speak.... in line at check in! 💕 5y
CrowCAH The names of the characters are interesting choices too. 5y
Cinfhen True @CrowCAH Pandora is never a subtle choice 😆 5y
Cinfhen @KarenUK safe travels my friend xx you deserve a little R&R. I‘m sorry P is still dealing. I was hoping he was on the mend 5y
Reviewsbylola I keep meaning to read more Shriver. 5y
90 likes9 comments
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Cinfhen
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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Started this book late last night/ it‘s really good!! I love the way Lionel Shriver creates nuanced characters that are completely human in all their faults and fragilities.

BarbaraBB I read this one recently too. I agree about Shriver, she always writes completely different books 💕 5y
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Cinfhen
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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#RedRoseSeptember I REALLY need to read the tagged book!! It‘s been on my shelves longer than Litsy😬A story about siblings / and one happens to be morbidly obese #HeAintHeavyHesMyBrother

arlenefinnigan I've still never got round to We Need To Talk About Kevin. So Much For That was really good though. 5y
Cinfhen Would like to read the book you tagged @arlenefinnigan and I LOVED 5y
Cinfhen @BarbaraBB That one was excellent too‼️‼️ I also have this one unread that‘s meant to be very good (edited) 5y
Suet624 @arlenefinnigan I second So Much for That. My favorite of hers. 5y
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BarbaraBB
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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Mehso-so

A sister takes care of her morbide obese brother while neglecting her own family. Because siblings are inseperable and should take care of eachother. I don‘t know if I agree and under what conditions. I could connect with Pandora herself and her conversations with her adolescent (step)kids but the whole sibling thing left me uneasy and a bit uninterested.

#ReadingUSA2019 #Iowa

Cinfhen I have this one but I haven‘t read it yet 🤷‍♀️now I‘m certainly not in a rush 6y
Kaye You must be one who‘s able to keep reading even though you don‘t like the book much ? I‘m not able to do that. Sometimes I wonder if I miss out on any good reads by doing that. 6y
BarbaraBB @kaye Well she writes good and it‘s an easy read. I wanted to know where it would all lead to but ended up disappointed! 6y
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Librarybelle Sounds like this one tackles some tough issues 6y
NatalieR Good review and beautiful picture! ⛵️ 6y
Hooked_on_books Interesting. I have this one, so maybe I should give it a go, though I suspect I‘ll have a similar response. I do still need to check off Iowa, so we shall see. 6y
BarbaraBB @Hooked_on_books It‘s the only reason why I read it now 😀 6y
82 likes7 comments
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NovelGirl82
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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8 years ago today, 3 weeks after we lost our dad, I lost my big brother Jeff at the age of 42. I just wanted to share his sweet face with my other family.

Tamra 💜 7y
DGRachel {{hugs}} 7y
Christine11 💗💜💗 7y
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Bklover What a great smile!!!💕💕💕 7y
RebelReader Looks like he was a fun guy! 💕💕💕 7y
AmyG I‘m so sorry. 7y
LeahBergen 💕💕💕 7y
Crinoline_Laphroaig 💕💕💕 7y
kspenmoll Hugs to you- 💕💕💕 7y
Cinfhen 💙💙 7y
LauraBrook How devastating! I‘m so sorry. Distance and time can only do so much. 💖💗💖 7y
LauraBeth ❤️❤️❤️ 7y
Eggs Aww so sorry ❤️❤️ 7y
26 likes14 comments
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Clwojick
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Another great audiobook.

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Tuppence123
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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ReadingRover
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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Check me out at BookExpo with Derrick the winner of Big Brother season 16! #BEA17

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Cinfhen
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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#MarchintoReading I'm pretty sure these are #alliterationtitles 🤓I'm in the middle of Septembers of Shiraz (Im enjoying) the other two are from my #MountTBR It's a gorgeous sunny day and I've got my #RooftopReading ready to go ☀️

RadicalReader @Cinfhen mount TBR will always be conquered with such ferocity 8y
LeeRHarry I loved Septembers of Shiraz! 💕 8y
ApoptyGina69 I just finished Big Brother this evening. 8y
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Cinfhen How was it @ApoptyGina69 ??? I haven't seen too many reviews. Is it anything like 8y
Cinfhen @LeeRHarry I JUST finished Septembers, I loved it but the ending felt a little rushed (edited) 8y
ApoptyGina69 I don't want to give too much away-it is not AS horrifying as Kevin, but it did get my hackles up. Most of the time I didn't know who I was rooting for, if anyone. I found Shriver's writing a bit annoying at first, but I eased into it. I'm giving it a "pick" here, 4 stars on GR. 8y
Cinfhen Thanks for sharing your thoughts @ApoptyGina69 I'm looking forward to reading this one. 8y
101 likes1 stack add7 comments
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Oryx
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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#lovetohate #17booklove I love to complain about how much I hate the ending of this book. No spoilers, but grrrr #cheated Even literary pup looks appropriately disgruntled @jess.how

EvieBee Oh my! Your dogs looks a lot like mine! 8y
Oryx Yeah she really does @EvieBee84 😀 That's Daisy 8y
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EvieBee Daisy is gorgeous! Mine is Dottie. I adopted her two years ago but have no idea about her "lineage" lol. She's a poodle mix. Do you know about Daisy's parents? Maybe you can shed some light. ? 8y
Oryx She's half poodle half golden retriever (goldendoodle). Maybe Dottie is too? She is too cute 😀 8y
kspenmoll Beautiful pet! 8y
8 likes6 comments
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Cinfhen
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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My BookOutlet order from way back when finally arrived!!! But check out Big Brother...guess that's why it was $2.99! I'm ok with that! There are 2 other books but my daughter snagged them and I'm ok with that too😊#sharethejoy and the Steve Berry book belongs to hubby and you know...I'm good with that 😜#familyreads

8little_paws Delicious Foods.... When you read that one, remind yourself it's based on a true story. 8y
Cinfhen Thanks @8little_paws I've heard mixed reviews on this title but didn't know it was based on a true story 8y
8little_paws When you are finished reading it, Google "Bulls-Hit farm" 8y
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Cinfhen @8little_paws you know I want to google it right now!!! 8y
Suet624 Have you read other Shriver books? 8y
Cinfhen Yes, only one but I loved it, which is why I purchased this one! The book was 8y
Gleefulreader The spine on my copy is the same. Is driving me nuts! 8y
Cinfhen Did you buy it from BookOutlet @Gleefulreader ?!? 8y
Gleefulreader @Cinfhen No - I found it at a thrift store. I meant to look at copies in the bookstore next time I'm there to see if they are all the same. 8y
Cinfhen @Gleefulreader I will need to check to, I assumed it was just a bad copy run 8y
95 likes10 comments
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Minervasbutler
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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Pickpick

This is laugh out loud funny in places, but is also a carefully observed study of familial and marital relations as well as making astute points about the emptiness at the heart of much modern life. The "baby monotonous" dolls were hilarious. And a final twist I certainly didn't see coming.

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Minervasbutler
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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"I wondered if that wasn‘t the answer to the mystery, countrywide. It wasn‘t that eating was so great—it wasn‘t—but that nothing was great. Eating being merely okay still put it head and shoulders above everything else that was decidedly less than okay. In which case I was surrounded by millions of people incapable of deriving pleasure from anything whatsoever besides a jelly doughnut."
Beyond the laughs this book makes some important points.

Cinfhen Just bought this for $2.99 from the Book Outlet...I loved 8y
63 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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Minervasbutler
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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Minerva, for whom I am butler, in characteristic ladylike pose ;)#catsoflitsy

Laura317 She is obviously a laid back kind of girl. 8y
tpixie Butler! Ha! Pretty kitty!! Basking in her wonderful life! 8y
Coleen Looks just like my Juneau. 😊 8y
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AnnieReads Minerva is gorgeous!! 8y
DebinHawaii So pretty! 🐱❤️ 8y
Zelma She looks pretty happy with herself. 😻 8y
Fandomlyla_Pottercy Awww😍😍❤ 8y
108 likes8 comments
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Minervasbutler
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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I'm loving this book. VERY different to "Kevin"

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stacybmartin
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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Best animated movie - yes please to the library.

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BookishMarginalia
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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The problem with wandering down #uglycover lane: you keep findings places to stop!

BookHermit That's a horrible cover. I found the book quite an interesting read, though. 8y
HeathHof 😂😂😂 8y
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aeeklund That...is truly impressive... 8y
MrBook 😳😆 8y
Zelma It's awful and yet almost perfect for that book. 8y
104 likes2 stack adds6 comments
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MelodyJones
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
Pickpick

Shriver is an incredible storyteller. The subject matter goes beyond brother/sister and obesity - it's the dynamics of personalities and their flaws. Hang in there if your having trouble getting started - the end is worth it.

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shawnmooney
Big Brother: A Novel | Lionel Shriver
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$5 book sale find #16:
Yes, I'm aware the author is a woman. And that's about it!

ramyasbookshelf I started reading her other book but it was way too heavy a read that I put it away to continue later.. Will wait to see what you think of this one. 8y
7 likes2 stack adds1 comment