You or Someone Like You

by Chandler Burr

Book Overview

"Chandler Burr's challenging first novel is many things: a glimpse into Hollywood culture, an argument about religious identity, a plea for the necessity of literature. This is a roman that needs no... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061715654
• ISBN13: 9780061715655
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Ecco Press
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Food For Thought

I love good food and I love good books. Not the kind of food that is fast and mass produced but the earthy, ethnic real nourishment that feeds both my body and soul. I guess the same could be said for the written word. It needs to nourish me. Chandler Burr's recent creation is an exotic change for my reading appetite. It is unusual, not a shake and bake or hamburger helper quick fix, but a mid east combination of flavors with many spices that leaves me tasting recipies with ordinary rice and vejetables and knowing they are not what I have ever had before. They are complex. The book You or Someone Like You is a mosaic. It presents conundrums, difficult complex issues that do not give up their secrets to the ordinary palate. I sat reading, not terribly crazy about the beginning of my meal/read but understanding the main course was not presenting itself yet. The central theme's of this book are dilemmas that left me questions to ponder long after the final page was read. I like a good read. I like to stimulate my mind with issues that are important in the world today. I like this book and I hope you or someone like you reads it soon!

Understanding Who You Are

Burr, Chandler. "You or Someone Like You", Ecco Books, 2009. Understanding Who You Are Amos Lassen Every once in a while a book comes along that seems to speak directly to me and Chandler Burr has written a book like that. I wept when I read it because I saw so much of myself in it--so much in fact that I was startled several times while reading. Let me start off by saying that Burr is a brilliant writer--he is erudite, he is concise and scattered at the same time but more than anything else he makes you accountable to yourself and that is not an easy thing to do. He can play with words and because of that each and every sentence is loaded with meaning. This is his debut novel which is not just a book but a piece of literature and Burr takes on subjects that many others will not touch. The novel is many different things--"You or Someone Like You" is a look at the culture of Hollywood, it is an argument for religious identity and against the hypocrisies of Judaism and Burr pleads for more literature. It is perfectly crafted as it deals with Hollywood and the social and religious issues of America today. Burr celebrates the mind and the intellect and then examines the personal decisions that we make as to whether escape or embrace who we are. Burr questions religion and in doing so he gives us a provocative novel which shows us that good literature still exists. The basic idea of the book is that people who live in Hollywood do not read. Burr creates a situation by which literature becomes the mode, the new trend and Anne Rosenbaum, the wife of a major studio nabob begins an exclusive book club that has members of the industry doing what they can to become members. We become acquainted with the Jews of Hollywood who run the town and our main characters Howard and Anne Rosenbaum and their 17 year old son, Sam. When Anne's book club becomes a craze, Anne is heralded by "Vanity Fair" as a new guru but at the expense of her family disintegrating right before her eyes. Burr spends time looking at the Jewish obsession with "racial purity"--his main character Anne is a gentile. When Sam visits a yeshiva (a religious Jewish institution of study of Torah) during a spring-break trip to Israel, he is not allowed to stay because his mother is not Jewish and Judaism is transmitted through the mother--therefore he is not Jewish either. This causes Howard to go through a crisis of faith and he decides that it is time to seriously embrace his religion even though he has not been inside of a house of worship in years He leaves his family and Anne, now highly esteemed by the who's who of Hollywood tries to win him back. I now know that the character of Sam is based upon the true experiences of Burr himself and it caused quite an impact--he was considered to be racially impure. What I find particularly interesting is that it was not until I was deeply into the book did I realize that this book is not at all about what I thought it was going to be. When Sam decides to

Scott Frankum

This is a great read with an aura of Insider-ness, Hollywood royalty and the frisson of an important breakup. It is layered with the great books set against a backdrop of how America is a microsom of recent wars. Told with the detail of a reporter and scent writer we expect from Chander Burr. In defense of reading..I couldn't put it down. Read this book.

Simply Wonderful

Chandler Burr's You or Someone Like You is just a terrific novel of ideas--a thought provoking and well-written book that succeeds on a number of levels. The narrator of the novel, Anne Rosenbaum is a transplanted British woman married to a Hollywood insider, who starts a book club at the behest of other Hollywood insiders. Anne is an English Ph.D. and, while reluctant at first, is ultimately thrilled to have a platform to share her ideas about literature. The book club is a terrific success and gives Anne Hollywood power she never anticipated. While the book club, which is more a literature seminar than a book club as most of us experience, is flourishing, her family life begins to fall apart. She begins to contemplate, and fold into her book club, the nature of tribalism in American culture. Her ruminations are fascinating, provocative and certain to offend some readers. The novel itself is so entertaining; Burr is a wonderful writer. He writes with a rare clarity and precision. I think You or Someone Like You would be a terrific selection for a book club that can focus on the book. There is much to discuss, ponder and argue about in this novel--a must read for all thoughtful readers. Enjoy

Great selection for a book club!

This novel will make a great book club selection. First, because it's beautifully written. The language alone kept me turning the pages. If you've read any of his previous books, you know that Chandler Burr can write. His non-fiction reads like fiction and his fiction like poetry. Second, because there is so much that can be discussed. Within the story of Anne Rosenbaum and her book club for Hollywood executives, Chandler Burr manages to weave in many very relevant themes that will encourage great discussion. There is politics, religion, literature, all tied to the question of whether literature can help us deal with the issues of our daily lives. Burr makes literature accessible, fun and relevant. You will learn more than you can imagine reading this novel. It made want to pick up some of those classics that have been collecting dust on my shelf. Be sure to check the website [...] for a great reading group guide.