ISBN: 0345483170 How to Be Lost: A Novel Authors : Amanda Eyre Ward Manufacturer:  Ballantine Books  Tell A Friend:   List Price:  $13.95             Your Price:  $11.16

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Sometimes an off-key phrase in a soulful song can wrench at the heart, nay, the soul and send one off into that same far-away place that a great book can take you to. Amanda Eyre Ward's second novel, How to Be Lost, provides for the reader with a finely-tuned ear, a nicely wrought, syncopated, octave-changing story. Featuring a hard-living, almost down-on-her-luck narrator, How to Be Lost isn't lost at all when it comes to telling a literary mystery wrapped in the arms of a strong woman's tale. Ward's story bounces between New Orleans and New York, taking her protagonist, Caroline, into steely encounters with her somewhat-estranged family, especially her older sister and mother, as they continue, many years after the fact, to deal with the wrenching effects of the unresolved disappearance of Ellie, the youngest of the Winters family. Readers may find uncanny similarities between the eerie tone and dark nature of Deborah Schupack's The Boy on the Bus but won't be disappointed at all with the story that unfolds and the clever, darkly humorous nature of Ward's pitch-perfect voice. --E. Brooke Gilbert   Customer Reviews   Bad ending... Rating:  Easy read with likable characters. I loved the whole story line but the ending stinks. It needed another chapter at the end to help sort of the confusion... Mediocre writing slightly redeemed by interesting story Rating:  I might be one of the few who liked the ending. Actually, I hated the book in the beginning and thought it got better as it went along. There is a fairly good plot in here but the execution is marred by too many cliched situations, as well as inconsistencies in character development and in the timeline. There is a lack of attention to detail that bothered me: For example, the main character goes for a walk in the woods with a potential boyfriend. We are told that the ground is snowy and that Caroline's sneakers are soaked. But then the boyfriend whips out a blanket and a picnic basket and they have a long romantic picnic, complete with makeout session, in the woods. Um, what happened to the snow? Anyway, this is not great literature, but it's entertaining enough for a weekend at the beach. No Ending to this book Rating:  I gave this book two stars because I thought the story was great. The ending was the worst I've ever read. I thought someone had torn the last couple of pages out of the book. I'm sorry I read this and won't read anything else by this author for fear of wasting my time.

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