|  | Author: Kathryn Stockett
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $9.95
as of 11/23/2009 17:20 CST details
You Save: $15.00 (60%)
New (79) Used (30) Collectible (3) from $9.85
Seller: the_book_lady
Rating:  1159 reviews
Sales Rank: 6
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 464
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.7
ISBN: 0399155341
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780399155345
ASIN: 0399155341
Publication Date: February 10, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: HARDBACK with pristine dust jacket, clean and unmarked . BOOK CLUB EDITION. 5 star seller with 99% positive feedback. I ship daily in padded envelopes to protect your book. 5 Star Seller.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 26-30 of 1159
Best book I have read in a long time November 18, 2009
Pam Gersh (Louisville, KY)
The Help is a wonderful, compelling, disturbing book. I read it in three days, I just could not put it down. I cannot believe that this is the author's first book. It is destined to become a classic and a book everyone should read. I cannot believe that this happened in my life time and that we have come so far - and yet - we still have so far to go when it comes to accepting people who have a different color skin. It's truly a story of deep love and deep hate and the fine line that separates the two. Now I know why black women are so strong and won't take any crap from anyone! I lived these characters as I was reading this book - they are so human and so powerful, but power can come in different ways and that is what Kathyrn Stockett shows us is this book. I will never forget Abileen, Minny and Skeeter. I will always love them and they are now a part of me. Parting was such sweet sorrow!
 annoying but worthy of reading November 18, 2009
N. Bagley (western North Carolina)
I just finished reading The Help last night, after having ordered it back in August. Why did it take me so long to read? The first time around, I picked up the book, read perhaps seven pages, and became overly annoyed with the author's heavy use of "deep south vernacular" for two of the main characters, as well as by the stereotypical depiction of southern "white trash" and country club young women. I grew up in Montgomery, Alabama during the tumultuous 50's and 60's, and was not exposed to the black/white discrepancy issues that were so blatantly depicted in the novel. Yes, we had a housekeeper, but she came once a week to help my mother with ironing and cleaning, and did not spend every day raising white children at my house; no, I did not grow up on a cotton farm or plantation, nor did I belong to the holy country club. We treated Mavis with respect and affection, and the notion of building a separate bathroom for her was never a consideration. I don't know Ms. Stockett's age, but from the photograph on the book's sleeve, she seems to be much younger than someone who would have been a young child in the early 60's, someone who would have truly experienced the deep south of this time frame; this assumption of mine made her authenticity a bit more difficult to swallow.
All of that being said, I picked up the book again last week when I found it on top of the stack by my bed, and read it to completion within the week. Towards the end, I had become quite attached to Aibileen, and enjoyed Ms. Stockett's thorough development of her staunch character. This, in turn, helped me to overlook and forgive the stereotypical portrayals of Skeeter (enlightened country clubber) and Celia (white trash ignorant woman), as well as that of Minny (saucy, dissing black woman who bakes a good chocolate pie).
Of course this will be made into a movie. Of course it will. All the movie trappings are here: main character gains wisdom and strength enough to better her life, bad southern women come off looking even more evil, good overcomes bad in the end. And some wonderful cake baking and coffee sipping mixes with clandestine late night meetings behind curtains closed with clips. Hollywood can't go wrong.
If you want a truer portrayal of the south for this time period, complete with wide open accounts of southern prejudices and hates, you'd spend better time reading (if you haven't, already) Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (my favorite novel - and movie - of all time), or Sena Jeter Naslund's Four Spirits - both very accurate, clear eyed depictions of the sorry state my South was in, back then (and now, to a degree).
 The Help November 18, 2009
Stretch (Upper Michigan)
True picture of the times during the 60's. It shows how we have over come the prejudical feelings of the times. Good descriptions of people and how they felt about"THE HELP"
INCREDIBLE STORY -- BEST I'VE READ IN YEARS November 18, 2009
angiesoo (CA)
I am usually too lazy to write book reviews, but this book is just so exceptional that I am compelled to write one. If I could give this book 7 stars, I would. This book is written from the point of view of three women who lived in the deep South in the 1960's during the civil rights movement. Now, don't be thinking th...at this is some boring historical novel about a time that no longer concerns us. (Although this book did help me to understand what African Americans had to deal with at that time--the prejudice, the poverty, the dehumanization--all on a personal level, in a way that I could relate to.) More importantly, though, it makes us reexamination ourselves to see if there are any subconscious lines that we draw today, any biases that we unwittingly harbor toward those who are different than us--not just in terms of race, but perhaps religion, lifestyle, or anything else that makes people different than us. My favorite quote from the book is: "We are just two people. Not that much separate us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought." I love books that teach me a little about the past, a lot about myself, and makes me laugh, cry, and think about things that are higher and nobler than me. This book does all that, and more. Read this book; you won't regret it.
Wonderful Book November 18, 2009
Wilma H. Miller (Normal, Illinois)
This is a truly wonderful book. It is engaging and thought provoking. The characters came alive, and I was truly sorry to finish reading the book. I cannot recommend it highly enough, and I will remember it for a very long time. My congratulations to the author!
Showing reviews 26-30 of 1159
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