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The Splendid Things We Planned: A Family Portrait
The Splendid Things We Planned: A Family Portrait | Blake Bailey
6 posts | 7 read | 6 to read
A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist 'Autobiography' The renowned biographers unforgettable portrait of a family in ruinshis own. Meet the Baileys: Burck, a prosperous lawyer once voted the American Legions Citizen of the Year in his tiny hometown of Vinita, Oklahoma; his wife Marlies, who longs to recapture her festive life in Greenwich Village as a pretty young German immigrant, fresh off the boat; their addled son Scott, who repeatedly crashes the family Porsche; and Blake, the younger son, trying to find a way through the storm. Youre gonna be just like me, a drunken Scott taunts him. Youre gonna be worse. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Blake Bailey has been hailed as addictively readable (New York Times) and praised for his ability to capture lives compellingly and in harrowing detail (Time). The Splendid Things We Planned is his darkly funny account of growing up in the shadow of an erratic and increasingly dangerous brother, an exhilarating and sometimes harrowing story that culminates in one unforgettable Christmas.
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TheSpineView
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TheKidUpstairs Great cover image! 4y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks The cover looks like my life in the past 🤪🤪 4y
62 likes1 stack add4 comments
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gradcat
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#7Days7Covers #CoverCrush Day 1

@Crazeedi Would you like to join in the game? Just post a favorite book cover and tag a friend to invite to play each day for seven days. That‘s all you have to do! No descriptions about the book required. ♥️😂

BarbaraBB Beautiful start! 😍 5y
gradcat @BarbaraBB Thank you!! ♥️ 5y
robinb Cool cover! 👍😊 5y
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Soubhiville Very cool cover art! 5y
KarenUK 😍😍😍😍 5y
gradcat @robinb @Soubhiville @KarenUK Thanks guys!! ♥️♥️♥️ 5y
Crazeedi Yes I'll do, need to think about, I will do later today, on my way to dr!! 5y
gradcat @Crazeedi No hurry! ♥️ 5y
78 likes8 comments
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gradcat
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For #advent recommends Day #5, @emilyrose_x , I humbly submit this memoir by Blake Bailey. I guess I‘m in a memoir state of mind.... This one is the iteration of a fraternal relationship, where one brother was very much in the shadow of another, until the other falls apart. If there was fraternal rivalry, it was displaced once the two came of age. I gave this book to my best friend—she found it quite depressing, though she did ⬇️

gradcat (Cont.) admit that it is a thoroughly propulsive, well-written memoir composed of what one does when one‘s sibling becomes too much to bear. It doesn‘t have a happy ending...life often doesn‘t. Anyway, it really moved me and I‘ll not forget it. (edited) 6y
Trashcanman 👁️ 6y
Kaye I listened to this on audio. Good review. In a way, I thought the book was good, but in another way, it‘s a sad and messed up situation. It‘s definitely memorable though. 6y
gradcat @Kaye It was definitely sad & messed up, I agree...that‘s really how my friend felt about it as well. 6y
73 likes1 stack add4 comments
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gradcat
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What‘s left of my family...what we lack in numbers, we make up for in a kind of twisted understanding of the eccentricities of each other....
I‘m always grateful for them...and happy to see them—I‘ll take what time they have for me and be plenty thankful for it! Happy Thanksgiving, Littens!!
Oh, btw, it‘s my mother, my nephew‘s fiancé, my nephew & my brother...and the cat warrants prime of place...as always!!

bookcollecter Great photo. Thanks for sharing 6y
gradcat @bookcollecter Why thank you! ☺️☺️ 6y
Trashcanman Where are you in this mix? 👀 6y
gradcat @Trashcanman Nowhere! Or, behind the camera, if you like! I cannot stand to have my picture taken and/or posted. It‘s a goal for me with Litsy: I‘m quite comfortable here, so I‘m working up to posting either a selfie or a photo of myself...what a goal, right? 🤫 6y
Trashcanman @gradcat lol, well all in good time. When it happens it happens. Hugs 🤗 6y
108 likes1 stack add5 comments
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Cody
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Pickpick

This dark and heartbreaking work is the result of a master biographer chronicling his own life, and the life of his older brother Scott. As they grow older, both brothers deal with drug and substance abuse issues while their family unravels. His well-meaning father, insatiable mother, and erratic brother all fit into his definition of family, which may look uncomfortably familiar to the reader

MrBook Nice review! 8y
3 likes1 comment