I read "Banana" when it first came out some years ago. At that time I thought that Bluh had presented characters and situations of such high camp that I thought of her on the same level as the great social commentator Lenny Bruce.

Upon re-reading the work in its paperback form, I was no less tickled and moved. I found myself again laughing out loud, looking around for someone who was laughing also, but realizing that it was my solitary relationship with the characters and situations created by Bluh that gave me the feeling that my response was being shared by a massive audience. It should be. Its great material for reading and a movie.

Note to Susan Sarandon... a role for you.

I loved the book. The writing is excellent and although I do not want to give the impression that it is just a "woman's" book, I must say that as a woman I could totally relate to the individual characters and each of their experiences. What woman couldn't?

But there is much more than this in the book - you should read it, men - as well as you women.

I found it difficult to put down and hated to have it end.

bonnie bluh has written a novel that is what i would call a "fast read". fast because after you've read the first few pages, you will find it hard to put down. the novel follows several woman from childhood to adulthood. reading about how thier lives are changed by marriage, work, and just plain growing up, is fascinating. this is the kind of novel they turn into a movie, but you refer back to the book to read the real story. bring this book on vacation or to the beach, and you'll be thinking about it for months. well written and a great story.

This book is a wonderful reading experience. The story moves through fifty years of contemporary life from 1942 to the present. It follows the lives of the two main characters, Julia and Mallory, and the other girlhood friends who made up their social club called "The Eleanor Roosevelt Girls". The New York City neighborhood that gives rise to this story is predominantly Irish Catholic Sunnyside, Queens. Julia and Mallory are Jewish girls there and the rest of the girls are a mix of diverse backgrounds, Greek, Catholic, Protestant.

The author is keenly aware of the global injustices of the latter part of the twentieth century. The macrocosm that is the background of the Holocaust is reflected in the microcosm of the treatment of females by males. The experience of growing up in this environment intersects with the growing female consciousness. The club starts out as a "social club" that takes its name from the First Lady because of her progressive and humanitarian message. But, through necessity, the girls must find ways of attacking the injustices that befall any one of them. Mrs. Roosevelt's saying, "What one has to do usually can be done" becomes their motto.

The story is told in the present but switches back in time throughout. The events and experiences of the past unfold and we see how these girls, now grown to strong women, have always come to each others' aid when they were needed, to protect a friend from an injustice.

Bluh is a super writer who reaches down into your guts so that you are involved from page one to the end. Bluh is not a wish-washy writer. You will find yourself laughing hysterically, grinding your teeth in anguish, raging in anger, or wiping your tears because of the beauty of the writing and the ironies of life that are shown.

Her strength is in the development of relationships between her characters. She doesn't shy away from those feelings between people that others might avoid. Her style is to the point and poetic. The exposition of material is in short scenes between the characters, almost like a play or a movie unfolding itself before you in the pages of the book. A great read.