Customer Reviews:
 The complexity of family life September 27, 2003
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Remember Ordinary People and it's stunning debut into the literary world? Well, here's author Judith Guest again with Errands, another great book about the complexity of family life. This time it's a young Midwestern family facing the death of the father. The family is so undone as their lives crumble that at times I was tempted to stop reading. If you are, too, gear up and stick with it; you'll be glad you did. Slowly, slowly, Guest allows us to watch their gradual return to a level or normalcy.
Judith Guest has a particularly good ear for dialogue, and in this book she reveals this talent best when siblings are fighting.
Great read.
 Realistic November 15, 2002
This book is based on Judith Guest's paternal grandparents. Judith Guest's grandmother never admitted that her husband was ill and he died when he was young. In ERRANDS, Annie Browner turns to her sister for support, just as Guest's grandmother turned to her sister for support. I have been reading many of the reviews and I can see that a lot of people find this book very realistic. As you can see, this is the reason why. I found this information in an article when I was doing research on her for a Minnesota Author project.
 Very realistic November 5, 2001
I liked this book because it was so realistic, and the characters so ordinary (I like plain and ordinary things). I especially liked the ordinary-ness of the adult romantic relationships, such as the portrayal of sex between loving married partners with 3 active kids. However, this book lacked the "oomph" that would make me go back to it again and again. There is no deeper message to it than simple storytelling. It's a good read for passing the time, not for discovering humanity.
Life's Errands August 27, 2001
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When so many novels scoot by on waves of glitz and style, Judith Guest's "Errands" moves slowly, deliberately through the daily life of a family in Michigan. There are no movie stars, power brokers or politicians here. The characters are, as her previous novel was titled, "ordinary people" living ordinary lives.
The critical event of the novel is the fatal illness of Keith, husband to Annie and father to Harry, Jimmy and Julie. Annie is strong, so strong that she cannot let herself be taken under by the grief and anger that well up inside her. So she holds herself straight, takes a job, snaps at her children, and keeps going. Meanwhile, the children fall apart, each in his or her own way. Annie's sister, Jess, watches the family's ordeal. And she steps in when she is needed, while trying not to push too hard. She has her own problems, emotionally thrown by her intense love affair with a married man.
In the hands of another writer, Annie would be a very unsympathetic character - cold and aloof, demanding from her children the same stoic strength she requires of herself. Yet Guest is able to show us the suffering inside Annie, and how she tortures herself more than anyone else as she tries to hold on to sanity in the only way she knows.
This book is not a quick read, but a thoughtful, powerful and moving experience. The beauty of Guest's writing lies in her willingness to look at everyday life and accept it, believe in it. She shows that how we face and deal with the real challenges of life is what matters in the end.
A wonderful story! October 23, 2000
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I had first picked this book up at the library because we had to do an old-fashion book report in my Honors English class. I finsihed the book in three short days! The story was so amazing and such a tear-jerker. I hadn't cried over a book ever since Patricia Hermes' books. This books shows just how long it takes to get over grief. I loved that Ms. Guest wrote from the kids' as well as the widow's point of view. You really felt for every one of the characters. I recommended it to everyone I know.
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