return to home  
Join   |  Gift   |  Member Login   |  Library Login
BookBrowse Mobile
Follow Us: 
   Reader reviews of All He Ever Wanted

Read what people think about All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve, and write your own review.

All He Ever Wanted

All He Ever Wanted
by Anita Shreve
Hardcover: Apr 2003,
320 pages.
Paperback: Jan 2004,
352 pages.

Publication information
Author Information
Critics' Opinion:   
Readers' Rating:  
About BookBrowse Rankings
Share: 
Buy This Book
Page 2 of 2 There are currently 10 reviews
for All He Ever Wanted
Select your view:
Order Reviews by:
Click Here To Write Your Own Review
Rated 3 of 5 of 5 by shirley r. ottenstein
I have just finished reading "All He Ever Wanted" and found the book rather disappointing. The theme has been done before, If you read "A Man of Property" by John Galsworthy and study the relationship between Soames and Irene, it is the same as between Van Tassel and Etna, two women who truly do not wish to wed the man that they do marry and how disappointing the relationships turn out. John Galsworthy does it better than Anita Shreve. "All He Ever Wanted" is well written and very easy to follow. I have rated this book "3" though it was disappointing, one does want to see what happens. Nicholas turns out to be a rather weak character and Anita a cold woman with secrets. You truly cannot like any of the characters.

Rated 4 of 5 of 5 by Morag Sutton
A new approach for Shreve. Writing in the first person as a male from 100 years ago, she weaves the poignant life story of Professor Van Tassel and his love for Etna Bliss. Van Tassel is a stuffed shirt, a snob and a man consumed by his only real passion, Etna, and his position at Thrupp College. His love pushes him to the edge in a tale that explores human nature's darkest corners. This book reveals the depths of feeling that are in people who seem devoid of emotion.

Rated 5 of 5 of 5 by Melanie
I have read all of Shreve's books and this one did not disappoint. She had an interesting way of telling yet another compelling story. The characters, plot and setting are all very strong. As always, what isn't said, is just as intriguing as what is said.

Rated 2 of 5 of 5 by PAT
VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS BOOK. LOVED FORTUNE ROCKS, SEA GRASS, THE LAST TIME THEY MET, THE WEIGHT OF WATER, PILOTS WIFE, BUT THIS ONE DID NOT DELIVER. SHE IS A GREAT WRITER AND I WONDER WHAT WAS DRIVING HER IN THIS BOOK? WOULD LIKE TO READ ETNAS STORY......

«  prev   1 2

Lists of books with similar themes


Read-Alikes


Other books by Anita Shreve
Buy This Book:

Become a Member
Click Here
Editor's Choice
  •  May 18 
  •  May 16 
  •  May 15 
The Woman Upstairs
Claire Messud

The Woman Upstairs Jacket

The riveting confession of a woman awakened, transformed, and betrayed by passion and desire for a world beyond her own.
How to Create the Perfect Wife
Wendy Moore

How to Create the Perfect Wife Jacket

Stranger than fiction, blending tragedy and farce, How to Create the Perfect Wife is an engrossing tale of the radicalism, and deep contradictions, at the heart of the Enlightenment.
Happier Endings
Erica Brown

Happier Endings Jacket

A wise and affirming meditation on living fully and preparing for death, written by a highly regarded spiritual teacher.
Click Here
   Most Recent Blog Entries
Jewish Young Adult Books That Are Not About The Holocaust
Books to Give This Mother's Day
A Short History of Chechnya
rss  RSS   rss  subscribe
Recent Reader Reviews
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Fowler
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight... read more
Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on... read more
The House at the End of Hope Street by Menna van Praag
Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read... read more
RSS RSS feed More...  
Most Viewed This Week
1. Half the Sky
Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn
2. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
William Kamkwamba
3. Because of Winn-Dixie
Kate DiCamillo
4. Eagle Strike
Anthony Horowitz
5. Gone Girl
Gillian Flynn
More...
Book Club Recommendations
The Gods of Gotham
by Lyndsay Faye
Paperback (Mar/13)
Forgotten Country
by Catherine Chung
Paperback (Mar/13)
Philida
by André Brink
Paperback (Feb/13)
Gone Girl
by Gillian Flynn
Hardback (Jun/12)
More...
First Impressions
Members read and review books often months before they're published. See what they think in First Impressions!
A Dual Inheritance
by Joanna Hershon
Four Stars            (May/13)
The Sisterhood
by Helen Bryan
Four Stars            (Apr/13)
The Laws of Gravity
by Liz Rosenberg
4.5 Stars            (May/13)
More...
  Latest BookBrowse News
U.S. ebook sales up in 2012, but rate of growth is slowing (May 16 2013)
In 2012, trade book sales (i.e. non academic book sales) rose 6.9%, to $15.049 billion, and e-book sales continued to grow, although the rate of growth... Full Story
rss RSS feed More...
 
BookBrowse Poll
Q: Do you mainly read newly published or older books?
Mainly newer books
Mainly older books
A mix of new and old books
Search: Title or Author
Free Newsletters
Bring Up the Bodies

Online Book Club
More about
Five Days
Join the discussion!


Win This Book!
The Pigeon Pie Mystery


Enter To Win Now!

wordplay
Solve this clue:
"I I M B T Give T T R"

and be entered
to win....
frame top
New Author
Interviews
Menna van Praag
Erica Brown
Helga Weiss
Kate Morton
frame bottom
HOME Book Submissions | Advertising | Library Subscriptions | Reviewing for BookBrowse | Contact Us