From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

An American Marriage

Tayari Jones

Start date: July 15, 2019

Finish date: August 1, 2019

Discussion: Reading List

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Reading List

* The Schedule for July through Dec. 2025
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What Members Thought

Feb 10, 2018 Jenny (Reading Envy) rated it really liked it

Shelves: read2018, reviewcopy, location-usa-georgia, botm

I liked but didn't love this story of a marriage in the newly crowned Oprah Book Club pick (I had started it the day before it was announced!)

Liked - the setting (Atlanta for the most part) and how the characters are products of the complex class system of Atlanta neighborhoods, ideas of the "people you come from" and what that means or doesn't mean, the realistic portrayal of a marriage and what happens when a major challenge comes along, the look at black incarceration and the question of just I liked but didn't love this story of a marriage in the newly crowned Oprah Book Club pick (I had started it the day before it was announced!)

Liked - the setting (Atlanta for the most part) and how the characters are products of the complex class system of Atlanta neighborhoods, ideas of the "people you come from" and what that means or doesn't mean, the realistic portrayal of a marriage and what happens when a major challenge comes along, the look at black incarceration and the question of justice.

How much does a marriage commitment mean? What if you are likely not to even see your spouse for 12 years? What is the expectation of the spouse left behind? It was easy to feel compassion towards all sides.

Less than liked - while I'm usually a fan of letters, I felt the narrative ended up feeling lopsided, resorting to letters and multiple points of view when I'm not sure it needed to. Maybe one but not both. The underlying issues are almost too subtle and mainly come across in conversations, but I mean, one character spends half the book in prison! There are also a few too many overly convenient coincidences.

This is my first book by this author and I would absolutely read another. I can't even think of the last non-dystopian novel I've read that is set in Atlanta. And I agree with Oprah that this makes a good book club novel, because there is a lot to discuss.

Quotes about marriage:

"Marriage is between two people. There is no studio audience."

(hmm, the other one I marked is a spoiler so never mind.)

Quotes about incarceration:

"That's your fate as a black man. Carried by six or judged by twelve."

"You know what they say: if you go five miles outside of Atlanta proper, you end up in Georgia. You know what else they say? What do you call a black man with a PhD? The same thing you call one driving a high-end SUV." (this comes after a discussion about how all black men with expensive cars in the south are treated like drug dealers by the police)

The publisher provided a copy for review through NetGalley, which I appreciate. I also bought it for myself because of the strong reviews, from Book of the Month. Since I read the actual book, I'm quoting from that and not the review copy. Available 6 February 2018. ...more

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Jul 29, 2017 angeleen rated it liked it

Shelves: edelweiss, netgalley

I raced to the end, reading the book in one day, which I never manage to do. There is a lot I really liked about this book, but the last fifth or so of the book disappointed me. The characters I came to care about exhibited choices and behavior that I feel are very much out of character. There were, in my interpretation at least, some disturbing values portrayed in the end too. Jones' writing is often stunning and the dialogue is believable. I have to give her credit for getting the Louisiana sp ...more

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Sep 15, 2019 Loretta rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Yeah, I get and pretty much agree with the rave reviews across the board. This was really good. The voice actors in the audiobook were VERY good. (Although I was very confused as to why the letters written by Celestial weren't read by the voice actor for Celestial but instead by the person doing Andre? It was confusing at first and made no sense to me).

What I like about this, as a portrait of a marriage, is that on the one hand there are no easy answers and no romantic cliches that true love wi ...more

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Jan 07, 2019 SooYoung rated it it was amazing

Devoured this book over the past day and a half. I'm glad to have started the new year with such a stellar book. Set in the present day, it's about a black couple who are starting their lives together only to have it torn apart by a tragic? painful? destructive incident. And the causalities that result. The story is told from the different perspectives of the main characters, which I don't always enjoy, but the author Tayari Jones, made each voice real, so I found myself quite taken with each ch ...more

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Feb 11, 2019 Jade17 rated it liked it

Shelves: female-authors, 2019

I finished An American Marriage in a couple of hours. It was compelling and I liked how it focused more on the crumbling relationship between the couple (Celestial and Roy) instead of the circumstances surrounding his false incarceration.⁣
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‘But home isn't where you land; home is where you launch. You can't pick your home any more than you can choose your family. In poker, you get five cards. Three of them you can swap out, but two are yours to keep: family and native land.’⁣
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The middle part of t ...more

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Nov 03, 2019 Joyce rated it it was ok

Shelves: book-club-choice

Struggled with this one. Found the characters tough to like but I did, at least, think the conclusion was logical.

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Jan 26, 2019 Lee rated it liked it

I only gave this a 3 because I couldn't relate to the characters, especially Celeste. The premise that being in the wrong place at the wrong time is all it takes for a black person to be arrested and convicted certainly resonates, but I thought she was developed as fluffy. ...more

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