The View from Mount Joy: A Novel

by Lorna Landvik

The View from Mount Joy, Lorna Landvik’s delightfully quirky and intensely moving new novel, is about a man, a supermarket, the roads not taken, and the great, unexpected pleasures found in living a good life.

When hunky teenage hockey player Joe Andreson and his widowed mother move to Minneapolis, Joe falls under the seductive spell of Kristi Casey, Ole Bull High’s libidinous head cheerleader, the kind of girl a guy can’t say no to, even when saying yes guarantees trouble. Joe balances Kristi’s lustful manipulation with the down-to-earth companionship of his smart, platonic girlfriend, Darva. But it is Kristi who will prove to be a temptation (and torment) throughout Joe’s life.

Years later, having once dreamed of a career in pro hockey or as a globetrotting journalist, Joe can’t believe that life has deposited him in the aisles of Haugland Foods. But he soon learns that being a grocer is like being the mayor of a small town: His constituents confide astonishing things and always appreciate the value of a hard-to-pass-up special, a free toy for a well-behaved youngster, a pie for the best rendition of “Alfie,” or simply Joe’s generous dispensing of the milk of human kindness. For Joe, everyday life is its own roller-coaster ride, and all he wants to do is hold on tight.

The path Kristi has charged down, on the other hand, is as wild as Joe’s is tame–or at least that’s how it appears to the outside world. But who has really risked more? Who has lived more? And who is truly happy? As Joe discovers–in this dramatic, heartbreaking, and hilarious novel–sometimes people are lucky enough to be standing in the one place where the view of the world is breathtaking, if only they’ll open their eyes to all there is to see.

The View from Mount Joy is truly glorious: a warm, wonderful picture of life as seen from the deepest places in the heart.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Fiction, Book Club, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Humor, Romance

368 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 4, 2007

About the author

Lorna Landvik is a mother of two and wife of one. She is the author of eight novels, including the best-selling ANGRY HOUSEWIVES EATING BON BONS, PATTY JANE'S HOUSE OF CURL and OH MY STARS. Also an
actor and playwright, Lorna has appeared in many stage productions. She is a new and passionate neophyte to the practice of yoga, which is a fine antidote to her long established practice of lounging.

Reviews

[Beth F · Rating 2 out of 5]

The scope of this novel was ambitious. We meet Joe Andreson, the narrator, at the beginning of his senior year of high school and 300+ pages later, the story ends at a surprise 50th birthday party for Joe’s wife.

To borrow the most overused first sentence ever in primary school book reports across the land: “This book was about…” Well, this book was about one person’s life.

Joe was born and raised in a small town in northern Minnesota. When Joe was 14, his father was killed in a plane crash and after a couple years of struggling financially, Joe’s mother made the decision to move to Minneapolis, where she accepted a position teaching music at a junior high school.

The reader was there to watch Joe struggle to find his niche in a new school. Form a platonic friendship with an artistic female student named Darva Pratt. Develop a crush on Kristi Casey, the head cheerleader. Make the hockey team. Go to pep rally’s. Get a job at the local grocery store as a stock boy. Get a blow job. Get several blow jobs. Go to college. Lose his virginity. Date some crazy girls. Go on camping trips. Experiment with pot. Experiment with acid. Play in an informal band. Graduate from college, and so on and so on.

By the time he is in his 50’s, Joe is married with three children. He still works at the same grocery store he’d worked at as a teenage stock boy but as an adult, he is now the owner, having inherited it from his former boss who had died of complications due to multiple sclerosis. As the owner, Joe decides to make shopping at the grocery store an exciting, feel-good experience by hosting surprise contests. For example, any children who can remain quiet for two minutes solid get to choose the toy of their choice from the toy aisle. Anyone who can recite a Walt Whitman poem by memory wins a box of books. Anyone who can name the provinces in Canada wins a bathroom remodel. The contests become the glue that create a community and bring people together. Everybody say it together now, “awww!”

Overall, the book reminded me of an episode of Full House. Even the parts with that heinous bitch, Kristi Casey (who certainly soured the story and kept it from being too sweet) couldn’t drive away the feeling that Uncle Jesse was going to walk in any second and do an Elvis impersonation.

Random comment alert! I think it’s unfortunate there was no mention of snake-handling in this book. If you’re going to write about a slutty head cheerleader who turns into one of those televangelist super Christians, there should have been some snake handling, right? Plus, I could absolutely imagine Uncle Joey and little Michelle engaged in a rousing bit of snake-handling. You got it, dude!

As a native daughter of the fine state of Minnesota, I appreciated reading a book set at home. Landvik referenced several familiar people, places and things like Lake Nokomis, Lake Harriet, Stub and Herb’s, the North Stars (RIP), the Coffman Union, Macy’s Marshall Field’s Dayton’s, Taylor’s Falls, Grand Marais, Lake Superior and Cedar Ave. And I think most of us (especially those of us who live east of the Mighty Mississippi—whatwhat St. Paul repre-ZENT!) would also find humor in Joe’s “Banana Square” reference to the historically important but ultra lame Bandana Square in St. Paul.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my third Lorna Landvik book and probably the one I liked the most. I read Angry Housewives Eating Bon-bons because my dental hygentist told me I would love it. The Second one I read was Patty Janes House of Curl which I read because my mom wanted to know what I thought of it. I had pretty much decided to not ever read another Lorna Landvik when the book club I decided to join picked this as the first read. *sigh* I know - Poor me. :)

So this one is the story of Joe Andreson. We tune into his life when he is a mere seventeen years old and it's the 70's. Joe and his mom are forced to move to the Twin Cities from some random small town because Joe's dad died in a plane accident and they just can't make it where they are living anymore. They move to The Cities and Joe's mom gets a job at the school as a music teacher and Joe procedes to live the American Teenager Life. He joins the Hockey team and is elevated to star status in the school. He hangs with the art hippy. He gets blow jobs from his girlfriends best friend in the AV office. You know - typical stuff.

We follow his life through the struggling college years - these chapters drip with "What should I do with my life??? I don't know! But it has to be BIG.". He still works at his highschool job - at the local grocery store. The manager is a good friend and when his M.S. gets too debilitating Joe is there to help out. Good old Joe. His Manager friend dies and leaves Joe the store. He is working there feeling all restless when his hippy art friend from high school (Darva)shows up with baby in tow. They all live together and although they love each other they don't LOVE each other. We follow their lives together for a time and then Darva dies and Joe becomes Dad to Darva's baby Flora. He is sad for a few years and has some thoughts and does some stuff. Then the love of his life walks in the door. More stuff happens. People die and people make babies and get married.

Thankfully this book also had a contrast character in Kristi Casey - The blow job princess I mentioned a paragraph or two back. She is the only true complex character in the book and kept this from being a book one could liken to milk toast. Her motivations are mysterious and she is the only chaotic element in the book. She brings much needed tention and drama into this story.

The other things that sort of bugged me about this book (which sort of goes with the last paragraph/rant) is that Joe is such a feelings driven cry baby that I seriously wondered if he was going to come down with some sort of disease diagnosis at the end of the book. I have to wonder if a man reads this book what his thoughts would be on the character of Joe. Does he strike anyone as a woman's fantasy rather than a credible character?

All that aside I found the book to be an easy read and it wasn't nearly the chore I thought it would be when I committed myself to reading it. And the local references are always fun in a novel.

[Beth Brekke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Lorna Landvik novel covering a lengthy time span and a varied cast. We follow the main character, Joe, his mother and the other women in his life, his mentor and friends-all who have an impact on his life in one way or another. It's the kind of story that is hard to classify as anything other than general fiction although it has elements of romance and certainly coming of age themes. (I would not recommend it to anyone under the age of 15.)

I'm hoping a couple of the errors were corrected in later editions as it's beyond me how no one realized that a store managers' name changed from Don to Dan (more than once within the same chapter). This is still a minor ding to my rating which is stuck at about 4.5 stars only because it just didn't quite have the "pow" that has to hit me just right to go full 5.

A couple relatable and profound quotes like, "But life rarely makes the same plans you do." and, "The business of life forces you to stay afloat when grief would just as soon as let you drown" makes you stop and ponder them for a moment (and irritate you with the error). What elevates my rating the most is Joe's relationships with the other characters. He learns acceptance, experiences loss and parental love, distinguishes platonic friendship from superficial/physical relationships and real love, and how he grows through it all and understands how they shaped his life and eventually becomes content.

[Alina Borger · Rating 4 out of 5]

So usually Katie and I agree on like 1/10th of the books we read. And that's okay because mostly we swap charmers and beach reads as needed for a tough week or a fun vacation. I'll love one that she thinks is just okay and she'll adore one that I think is so-so.

But when we hit on those books we both find delightful, it's always a treat and we're glad we shared the other nine to arrive at that one.

The View From Mount Joy is one we both agreed on. It's not going to win any awards or make any splashes on my favorites lists, but it's a little parable, a morality tale told as sweetly as such tales often are. One man chooses love, and finds his simple life managing a grocery store is full to the brim; one woman chooses fame and adoration, and finds a life full of accolades that only makes her smaller and meaner and more selfish.

Love wins. Love always wins.

A Caveat: As Katie warned me, so I warn you: there is a bit of "gratuitous high school sex" in the opening chapters. Not sure the sex itself is exactly gratuitous, as it's part of developing the characters and their relationships, but the phrase does as good a job of any at explaining that the scenes are read a bit more like a bodice-ripper than morality tale.

[Pat Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. It follows a young man from high school and his family and acquaintances through his late forties. The story has a lot of different characters and personalities to give it an interesting tone and some spice as well. The first half of the book moved a little slowly but as you move on it goes a little quicker. I think a lot of people would find that more enjoyable anyway but I just finished a history book and am reading a landscaping book so I am craving some fast action lately. I think the best thing about this book is the way it keeps to normal living kind of like "Tuesdays With Morrie". Sometimes it's nice to kick back and read one like this. Also, the characters are beautifully described and developed from front to back and their development doesn't stop either. The tale starts in the early seventies and follows for about 30 years. I would recommend this to an avid reader who is a thoughtful person who enjoys dramatic art.

[Mandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not all books that even the most skilled author writes can be winners, and "The View From Mount Joy" is proof of that.

Now, if this book had been written by Iris Johansen, I probably would have given it four stars. But Lorna Landvik? Come on, you can do better than this.

I'm going to copy-and-paste the second half of the jacket summary here because I have a comment on it. Don't worry, it's short.

"Years later, Joe can’t believe that life has deposited him in the aisles of Haugland Foods. But he soon learns that being a grocer is like being the mayor of a small town: His constituents confide astonishing things and always appreciate Joe’s generous dispensing of the milk of human kindness. The path Kristi has charged down, on the other hand, is as wild as Joe’s is tame. But who has really risked more? Who has lived more? And who is truly happy? As Joe discovers, sometimes people are lucky enough to be standing in the one place where the view of the world is breathtaking, if only they’ll open their eyes to all there is to see."

I laughed as I read this summary, because I would have actually been surprised if the answer to those three questions had been "Kristi." I knew that the character who stayed on the straight and narrow would be the happy one. Landvik may take some risks, but her stories tend to have happy endings for the protagonist.

Joe and Kristi's relationship starts out as a crush that Joe--along with a large chunk of the male student population--has on Kristi, who is a sexy blond cheerleader (sigh). She performs oral sex on him between classes sometimes, and they start an awkward, "sex buddies" sort of relationship.

Look, Kristi is not a terribly nice person. She hates other women, she comes onto Joe even after he marries, and she's homophobic to boot. I know that. And I admit that I am biased as a feminist. However, Kristi's portrayal is just one more characterization of blond, sexually active women as cheaters, homewreckers, and manipulators. This really isn't anything new, and I would have thought that Landvik would be above such blatant stereotyping.

Landvik tries to make Kristi complex. She has moments of clarity, even wisdom. That's one reason why Joe continues to be friends with her, even after finding that she's been sleeping with married professors. It's clear to me that Kristi suffers a lot because she's insecure and very aware of how fake she is most of the time. She's estranged from her family, and burns more bridges than she builds. She's manipulative and selfish, but she's also a victim of abuse (unless you consider her to be lying, and one of Joe's friends does).

The rest of this review contains spoilers.

I think Landvik had a good story going, but she sort of chickened out near the end. It really looked like Kristi was set up for redemption when she was gravely injured in a shooting, and she admitted to knowing that her husband didn't really love her; he'd used her as a shield when the shooter began firing. Later, however, he sees that she's still with her husband and will apparently continues to support him as he runs for president. It's at this point that Joe turns the TV off and decides that he's not going to let her be part of his life anymore.

I thought that was too harsh. The narrative, in my opinion, made it clear that it wasn't that she was being a phony; rather, her husband was intimidating her into staying with her. It seemed wrong of Joe to cut ties with her at this point after staying with her for so long. I know that sometimes you just have to remove toxic people from your life. But by now, Joe has a loving family and is in no danger of being manipulated by Kristi. He's abandoning her at her most vulnerable, and that just didn't sit well with me.

I have another nitpick with this book; once again, gay men are treated like they're women. A gay man calls into Kristi's evangelical talk show (yeah, she gets religion about halfway, two-thirds through the book, although it's implied that her faith is as fake as every other part of her personality) and asks, "What have you got against me and my sisters?" Look, I know there are gay men who talk like this, but Landvik is straying into stereotype territory once again. And you can have a campy, effeminate gay man in a story without having him refer to himself as a literal woman. Come on, Landvik.

There were good things about this book, too, of course. Most of Landvik's characters were still three-dimensional, including Kristi and her brother, neither of whom I was crazy about (even though the brother was Joe's best friend). The idea for contests at his grocery store was an interesting one, and there were genuinely heartwarming moments in the book.

The lack of resolution disappointed me, however. Landvik is usually good at wrapping things up in her stories, so I don't know what happened here. I suppose that after "Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons" and "Oh My Stars," she wanted to try out something different. It's not like the ending was terrible, but it left me feeling uncomfortable. Maybe the point she was trying to make was that there isn't always a happy ending. Sometimes people are so wrapped up in their own facade that they just give up trying to connect to others or help themselves in ways that don't hurt other people.

I also liked that Joe refused to sleep with Kristi when he was married. I've seen too many portrayals of unfaithful spouses who agree to a sex act, only to whine about how the other person "seduced" them and act like they're the victim, rather than the person they cheated on. (It's even worse when the reader is expected to sympathize with them.)

In the end, this book just sort of fell flat for me. I'm afraid I can't really articulate how it could have been better, but I feel like there could have been a less stereotypical portrayal of Kristi. Maybe if the book had focused less on her sex appeal and more on her manipulative behaviors, plus not made her a blond cheerleader, I would have liked it better.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome - little prejudiced cuz I'm from Minnesota but I'd really love to shop at Hauglands! Love that Joe is in tune with his sensitive side and was surprised that his life took him back to his "home town". Really lovely story!

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Lorna Landvik's writing but the plot of this book didn't grab me as much as others of hers. It has its sweet moments and is kind of about living an ordinary life. I wanted to keep reading for the writing but not as much for the story.

[Eileen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned here that Lorna Landvik can write in the first person and that person is a male character, all to well! Joe Andreson is the character, and he is the main protagonist of "The View from Mount Joy".
It's basically a coming of age story that starts the last year of high school in the early 70's and brings us up to the current date with Joe realizing his true 'view of mount joy'. It is a great story, great characters and i like how Landvik brings up 'Patty's house of curl', which is her first book, in this one as being the local hairdresser in the story.
Joe isn't always the most likable character, but she wrote the character so deeply, and we really felt for him.
I applaud the author for her writing and this is only the second book of hers i have read. The last book club I was in, i picked 'Angry housewives eating bon bons' by Landvik, and my sister in law recently told me, (and this was over two yeara ago) that "Angry...." was the best book the club ever read. now that is a true reason to read her books!!! she is an awesome writer and i love her characters.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love Lorna Landvik. One doesn't just read her books; one crawls into them. Her characters are so ordinary that you could easily know them, but their lives are so richly detailed. She makes the every-day things of life - work, family, friends - extraordinarily beautiful. This book was a little different from her usual fare in that her main character was a boy. He told the tale of his life from high school through adulthood/mid-life. His life was greatly shaped by the women in it, which brings it back to typical Landvik territory. Her stories are a lot about how women shape their worlds and the people in them, and the strong, colorful women in Joe Andreson's life certainly have an effect on the man he becomes. Just completely delightful.

[Lyz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unfortunately, stories like this are a rare find. Each of Lorna Landvik's characters in The View from Mount Joy are realistic representations of people we may love and/or love to hate in our own lives. She moves deeper than the superficial goofy, pimply kid or the hot, jock hockey star. Each of the characters have history and depth and their own complexities. While the storyline reflects the ups and down, highs and lows of the characters lives, it's not depressing. It's a story of Faith, Hope and Love. Love among friends and family. Love for those who are often unloveable. Love for those who are loveable. It's funny and quirky and surprising and a wonderful story of how love can make the worst times bearable and the best times rewarding.

[Kristel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lorna Landvik is one of my favorite Minnesota authors but I wasn't impressed with this book. I listed to the audio and read this book for a game my local library is doing. The protagonist is a man. I am used to female protagonists from this author. The story starts in highschool and is told through the male voice as we follow him through the years and his infatuation and friendships in high school, college and adult years. The author seems to be trying to cover all the issues in this book; drugs, sex, homosexuality, etc. I did enjoy reading a book set in the time period of my coming of age in Minnesota and in many of the places I am familiar. It's not her best book but it was a quick read.

[Lorie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just ok for me. I was really drawn in by the characters in Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons, but the characters in this novel left a lot to be desired. Joe, the main character, was kind of wishy-washy and seemed like he was always crying about something, and I kept trying to figure out why he indulged Kristi and her off-the-wall antics through the years. She was one of the most selfish and unlikeable characters I have ever come across in a book. The book did have some feel-good moments though and that's what kept me from totally hating this story.

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I began the book I was startled to discover that the narrator and central character was male (since it's Lorna Landvik, I don't even bother to read the book jacket ... I just know I want to read it). Never fear, the character of Joe was thoroughly likable and readable, as were the rest of the characters. I also was transported instantly back to my days in "Stan's Red Owl" as a cashier and baker. Wonderfully enjoyable book that, despite sad events, left me feeling very, very good when I finished.

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fast read and enjoyable, because the novel takes place at the same time I was experiencing high school. It brought back thoughts of my high school classmates and of the fun we had during those years.

[Melissa (Distracted by New Grandbaby) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet, quiet story about a man from a small town and the choices he makes in his life.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

She is a good writer. Creates wonderful characters and even if the story is sometimes a bit "pat", it is a good read and I didn't want to put it down.

[Marian Cottrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok

[Slip! · Rating 4 out of 5]

Touching. I cried. I really did. Great ending, good characters...Books don't normally touch me like this one, but.... :)

[Anne Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a story about friendships that last lifetimes. Joe Anderson moves with his widowed mom to Minneapolis. He is a likable high school student who plays hockey, is the roving reporter for the school newspaper, and is enchanted by the cheerleader and most popular drum player, Kristi Casey. After high school, Joe continues to play hockey, dates, works at the local supermarket, and even jams out some music with the store’s owner and a bagger, Kirk, who happens to be Kristi’s brother. The thing that’s great about Joe is he likes everyone...no matter if they’re popular or not, older or younger. As the years go by, and high school becomes college, and life happens, such as a hockey injury that puts him in the hospital, Kristi still comes in Joe’s life for a visit and updates him on what she’s been doing, for the most part.
Darva, a friend of Joe’s from high school, comes back from living in Paris with her baby daughter, Flora. Both Darva and Joe, only friends, live and raise Flora together. Flora is raised in a happy environment, and with Joe’s mom remarried to Len, and his Aunt Beth out of the closet with her girlfriend, Tuesday dinners with the family are a lot of fun. Joe has made a good life for himself, inheriting the supermarket, and making it his own with random contests for the customers (many rigged to give the neediest customers the prizes). When Darva dies in a car accident, Joe is left to raise Flora, whom he adopts.
Joe finds the girl of his dreams, Jenny, by rigging one of the supermarket contests. He remembers Jenny from a musical performance that his mom put on, being she was a music teacher. They raise Flora, as well as two sons, buy more supermarkets around the country, and are a happy couple. Kristi becomes an evangelist, heard on the radio and eventually getting her own show on TV. Joe sees her every now and then, but feels bad she was not close to her mom or her brother. Eventually Kristi gets married to another supposed evangelist and they try to run for President and Vice President.
Overall, a cute story with its twists and turns, life, death, mistakes, and successes.

[Amanda Sexton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give the first half of the book 2 stars and the second half 4 stars, so it equals out to 3.

This is the third book by this author I've read, and I'm glad I finished it, because the second half fits nicely in with her writing style of bringing the characters to life in an in depth look at average America. The first half was very different, in that she focused on the sex life of a teenage boy, and that pretty much was the entire beginning. While I understand boys can be primarily focused on that one idea, I really felt it was out of the author's style to carry it on for as long as she did....it made the first half drag on, and I almost put the book away without finishing it, other than the fact that I hate not finishing a book.

The main characters are likable, and they leave the reader feeling the warm fuzzies by the end. The 'bad' character is exactly that, and e more you read about her, the less likable she becomes. I like the idea of "bloom where you're planted" that the author tried to express through this story, that life might not turn out the way you thought it would when you were young, but in appreciating the blessing you have been gifted with, you might just discover that life is better than you could have ever dreamed up.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book on the shelves of the 3rd floor lounge at the hernia clinic in Toronto I've been confined to for the last couple days. I had just finished "Secret Daughter" (which was a very good read I might add) and was desperate for some more good reading material. Boy did I hit the jackpot. Never having read any of Lorna Landvik's work before, I wasn't sure what to expect. Maybe it was just the right book at the right time (hernia surgery begs for a bit of humour in your day), but I absolutely adored this book. A great story start to finish, laugh out loud funny (which isn't necessarily a good thing with 15 staples in your groin), witty, amazing characters that you get to know through dialogue that felt spot-on throughout with some great insights about everyday people living everyday lives. It made me want to fill my life with people just like those Landvik created. Maybe they don't really exist in our world anymore but I wish they did and if they do, I want them in my life. Just a pleasure to read. In some ways I wish it were twice as long, but actually the ending was just where and how it should have been. It's hard to imagine I'll read anything as rich and engaging for a long while, but I defintely be checking out more of Lorna Landvik's books.

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the writing in this book a lot more than I did the story, especially in the beginning. I didn't like Joe much in the opening chapters in this book, not much at all. I almost abandoned the book while Joe was still in high school. But I've been wanting to read a Lorna Landvik book ever since I first heard the name Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons (which I think is one of the coolest titles ever but I have never been able to find it at my local libraries and I don't want to spend the money to buy a book I'm not sure I will like), so I decided to keep reading, and I guess I'm glad I stuck with it. Joe grew on me, especially during the chapters with Darva (I'm pissed off that Landvik fridged her, to be honest) . It was nice to see a male character who was actually able to experience emotion and who responded to that emotion in appropriately human ways. Kudos to Landvik for that, at least.

But I also really disliked Kristi, an opinion that did not change as the book went on. I find it hard to believe that no one in her home town went to the Enquirer to dish about what a hypocrite she was, given everything she did in high school and college. But other than the awful and tedious recountings of her radio show, she basically disappeared for long swathes of time, and that at least made her bearable.

Finally, I'm getting tired of audiobooks with male narrators who try to pull off female character voices. They all seem to be so shitty at it.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed three of Landvik’s books before reading this one – Chronicles of a Radical Hag, Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons, and Oh My Stars. This one, published in 2007, could have easily been written today, especially given the political bent toward the end. Narrated by Joe, it begins with his senior year in high school and all the antics you might expect senior boys to get into (and some you might not!) It was an overall sweet story and a realistic portrayal of current-day life in the Midwest, and I found myself rooting for Joe, and a happy ending. And even though her character was a bit exaggerated, doesn’t everyone know a Kristi?! It helps that Joe would only have been a couple of years older than me in this story and his character and all the supporting characters were well-developed and relatable to me. The first half of the book moves kind of slowly, but the second half moves in leaps and bounds and there were times it took a hot minute to realize that time had jumped ahead. I very much enjoyed this one and will likely read other books by Landvik.

[MaryAlice · Rating 1 out of 5]

If Lorna Lanvik's novel, The View from Mount Joy, was not due back at the library, I might have continued reading it.

I lost interest around page 79. "What is this about," I thought. Title might have been Teenage Boy Gets Blowjobs from Most Popular Girl in High School.

Somewhere along life's highway I read that a fiction novel starts with a problem and at the end of the novel the problem or conflict is solved. The only problem or issue I see in the first chapters is that the main character's (boy getting blowjobs) father died when he was young and this created an unnatural attachment or unhealthy to his mother.

Perhaps if I kept reading I would discover that the teenage boy moved to a place named Mount Joy, but I would have rather known what the view from Mount Joy had to do with the story early on.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up

This novel was okay, but nothing stellar. I wasn't that keen on the story overall--I wanted to like it, but it just missed the mark by a bit. Two of my GR friends who normally likes this author thought that this wasn't as good as her other novels, so I've added a higher rated one to my want to read shelf.

Joe was okay, but there were so many issues and things crammed into this and I could not understand why he stayed friends with that horrible Kristi so long and didn't bother outing her hypocrisy or why no one else from their town did. She was as shallow and selfish of a human being as there is. That said, I did like his love for his wife and the ending where he was holding her was sweet.

[TJ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked this book out because I read, "Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons" and really enjoyed it.

I can't say that I enjoyed this story as much. Story of a boy, who is basically infatuated with a very, morally loose young lady and it's just about him growing up.

Even the ending was so abrupt that I felt a little stunned.

I kept waiting for him to have some huge revelation or maybe for the morally loose young lady to change or grow-up, but that was it, I just never felt satisfied with the story and I also felt a little offended to how a Christian minister was portrayed.

[Kristal Stidham · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first impression was disappointment as the book started out with a snippet from a religious radio show, but that story line did eventually take a satisfying turn. The radio hostess is just one of the many interesting women in Joe's life -- Joe being our narrator. Covering about fifty years of his life, this a masculine version of the women's fiction books that bore me to tears, but the different POV was refreshing to me and kept me interested.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very entertaining book of "boy meets girl, boy meets sexier girl." The story starts in high school and continues into the adulthood of three characters. And one comes to realize that one can't always be the star hockey player or the exciting cheer leader and that sometimes it's the normal daily existence that help us appreciate our lives!

[Kimberly Westrope · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this coming of age story for the most part. It was set in roughly the same time period I grew up, so I related to a lot of it, but most of the things that happened are things that almost anyone can relate to. The story flows well and has some interesting characters. I especially liked Joe, the main character and his boss, Ed.

I didn’t like this one as well as some of the others by this author, but it was an enjoyable read. I laughed, I cried, I got involved with these characters.