Customer Reviews
Loved it! 
2008-06-11
I loved this book and recommended it to a bunch of friends. I thought the angle of the years where you are sort of amazed you are an adult but have a full fledged family to prove it, was unique and sooo true. I loved her writing style and humor. Its hard to believe two people had cancer in this book becuase its not depressing to read.
Its a great book.
More about Kelly Corrigan than I Wanted to Know 
2008-06-09
Kelly Corrigan tells the story of her and her father's struggles with cancer with no taint of professionalism or objectivity. If she had some major accomplishment in life prior to her illness (i.e. Nobel Prize for Medicine, a position on the Supreme Court, etc.) it would justify the redundant details. Now, I'm sure she and her family are really nice people and I'd probably enjoy meeting them. But as is there's nothing wrong with this book that cutting out a bare minimum of 100 pages wouldn't help.
Being a type-A workaholic I was more irritated with Kelly's younger self. Nepal? Get over yourself, already.
Worse yet, I don't think she resolved a lot of issues involving her father's mortality. Her dad seems like an awesomely great guy. I just wish we'd gotten a clearer view of him.
Refreshingly different memoir 2008-05-29
In a sea of memoirs, Kelly Corrigan's stands out as refreshingly different and positive. Instead of inviting us into a tragic life story fraught with dysfunctional relationships, Kelly tells us about her loving family (specifically her dad) and how they helped her through a difficult bout with cancer. While the drama of her cancer is very real, her story is both delightful and humorous. Beautiful writing engages the reader from the very beginning and keeps the pages turning right through to the end.
FANTASTIC! 2008-05-29
A friend ordered this book for me for my birthday and I read it on a long airplane trip from the east coast. It is a tender and sometimes funny story about love and family. While I did not relate to it personally, I was unable to put it down and highly recommend it to anyone.
A heart warming memoir 2008-05-28
Kelly Corrigan's book, "The Middle Place", takes us to a place that we all pass through. On our life journey, there is a distinct time when we realize that we are between childhood and adulthood. For many, this is the time when we are no longer just the children to our parents, but the parents of our children as well.
For Kelly Corrigan, this distinct time is also when she discovers that she has breast cancer. Her memoir is a heart warming story about family and love. Through her humor and keen observations, she tells of a very special relationship with her father, "Greenie."
"The Middle Place" reminds us of the importance of family and the rewards of laughing along the way.
Loved this book 2008-07-04
I loved reading this book. I read it nearly straight through, as it is very accessible, like talking to the author. The main reason I think we should all read it is that it gives an up-close and candid look at the trauma of breast cancer in one woman's life, allowing us the language to face directly-- verbally -- what faces women with breast cancer.
The strength of the book is in its look at one honest woman's experience lived within a very close family and the strengths and weaknesses of individuals and the system as a whole in dealing with the onset of radically unexpected breast cancer. She does a fantastic job of getting at the implications for one's sense of security, one's inability to protect the people we love. I like the way she takes on the mundane banalities of worrying over looks and diet, how ordinary everyday shallow, thoughtless talk shared between friends becomes really hard to tolerate in the face of the hugeness of this assault on one's body and spirit,etc. And the lonely breakdowns, where really no one can enter.
This is a passionate book. I loved its intimacy, its directness, its vignettes where terror enters, and where love takes over.
Thank You Kelly!!!!!!! 2008-07-02
My husband and I both were diagnosed with cancer this past holiday season in 2007. We, like Kelly and Greenie share a wonderful bond of love and understanding that only two know. There are several years between my husband and I, so I could relate to that bond between Kelly and her Father. Like the Corrigans were also survivors of that dreaded "C" word that plagues so many today. Her book touched me in ways that I cannot describe. I cried, I laughed and I wished that I was part of her family at times. I hope she finds the time to entertain us with more heartfelt stories. Please, Kelly keep writing your families stories. I love them. Thank for the therapy you gave us it was the best money I ever spent.
a pleasant surprise 
2008-07-02
i bought this book without knowing much about it. i had only read other amazon reviews and they were all positive. cancer is not something i love to read about--my mom had it recently, my best friend had it 7 years ago, and i had it also--but i figured i would give it a try. to my surprise, this book was so much more than a book about cancer. it was a great memoir with colorful, real characters who truly came to life in the author's stories about growing up a Corrigan. i read through this book in a few hours because i couldn't put it down. it's a great summer read.
The Middle Place 2008-06-23
RUN ... to get The Middle Place!
This is in my top 5 ... make that top 3 books I have ever read!
Kelly Corrigan is real.
She is smart, funny, honest and human.
It ia a book about life ... for all of us.
Do yourself a BIG favor ... Read it ... and love it,
not much original here 
2008-06-18
Do you love books about lovable Irish-American clans with larger-than-life father figures?
Would you enjoy reading about a larger-than-life lovable Irishman who calls himself "The Green Man" and refers to himself in the third person?
Are you interested in yet another account of battling breast cancer with chemo, radiation, hair loss etc etc?
If you answered yes to any of the above, this book is for you.
If not, don't bother.
I don't mean to minimize the author's experience but it didn't seem that much different from the other breast cancer experiences I've read about. As for the family, I have no doubt about the love the author feels for her father. I just don't see what makes it interesting for anyone else.
