"full of atmosphere" is a good description of this book. Unfortunately not a lot of action. I generally love Jane Smiley's books and her characters, but this one just didn't grab me. It reads more like a celebrity memoir rather than a novel.

Jodie Rattler is a star, and this is the story of her growing up in St. Louis in the 50s & 60s. Filled with tons and tons of pop culture that will bring back memories for readers who grew up in that era, but there's not much to hang on to otherwise. I couldn't finish this book. Clearly this was not to my taste.

Although I have always enjoyed Jane Smiley’s writing, I wasn’t impressed with this book. The story seemed to be presented in an almost stream of consciousness style, which led to run on ideas and sudden diversions from current action. This format made it difficult to invest in the scene, and so, in the characters.
The protagonist, Jodie Rattler was a young musician from St. Louis who enjoys a modicum of fame during the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Due to her uncle’s investment savvy, she has a financially comfortable lifestyle going forward. After spending her 20’s traveling and devoting herself to music and to herself, she eventually returns to St. Louis and rediscovers the importance of family.
While the theme of self discovery and the value of family could have resonated, the style was off putting.
Not Jane Smiley’s best.

"Lucky" by Jane Smiley takes readers on a soulful journey through the life of Jodie Rattler, a folk musician who rises to fame against the backdrop of changing times. Set against a rich tapestry of locations spanning from St. Louis to New York City, the English countryside to the tropical beaches of St. Thomas, Cleveland to Los Angeles, and back again, the novel captures the essence of Jodie's life from her beginnings in St. Louis to her ascent to stardom.

The narrative unfolds in 1955 when six-year-old Jodie experiences a stroke of luck at the racetrack, winning a roll of two-dollar bills that becomes a talisman accompanying her throughout her life. Jane Smiley skillfully paints the portrait of Jodie's coming-of-age within the embrace of her extended family and her journey into the world of folk music. The novel navigates through recording studios, backstage moments, and tours, providing readers with a front-row seat to Jodie's rise to fame.

As Jodie finds herself in the company of iconic figures such as Janis Joplin, Joan Baez, Judy Collins, and Joni Mitchell, the novel explores her quest for something more—perhaps true love or a deeper understanding of herself. The narrative is imbued with a sense of longing, exuberance, and the glittering allure of real talent.

"Lucky" is not just a tale of a musician's success but also a reflection on the intersections of chance and grit in one woman's life. The novel captures the essence of the times, blending romance, rock 'n' roll, and the vibrant spirit of an era marked by cultural shifts and musical evolution.

Jane Smiley weaves a colorful and atmospheric narrative that delves into the complexities of fame, love, and the search for one's true self. "Lucky" promises readers a journey through the heart and soul of a woman whose life is intertwined with the rhythms of folk music and the beats of her own heart.

I felt like I was missing something while trying to get through this book. Perhaps it’s just me but I didn’t love it like I thought I would especially since the author is so well regarded. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

If there was a story here, I couldn’t find it because it was mired down by so many unimportant things…about St Louis schools, streets, and also people who were only mentioned once. It felt like reading a long diary. She somehow became a singer/songwriter and made millions without even trying or being very ambitious at it. Sorry to leave a bad review but it’s honest. I feel Lucky i made it through it.

Lucky by Jane Smiley was nothing like I expected. After reading a long and tedious novel about Jodie Rattlet and her life from basically birth to old age and her magically making money in her early 20s and investing it so it became millions, then not really touching it to help her family or live, we find out that this really wasn't the story of her life, but a book of fiction written by someone she knew in high school, loosely based on her life and then it ends with an epilogue that is a distopian rant about the end of the world and destruction of America. I waited the entire novel for something to happen and that's what happened? I found the main character to be tiresome and self involved and the whole book a bore. Read at your own risk. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

What a very odd book. I’ve found Jane Smiley inconsistent of late; enjoyed her last title, A Dangerous Business so I’m not on the anti Jane Smiley bandwagon (Moo was superb). It was a difficult read and I stuck with it because I’ve spent a fair time in St Louis. The narrator was flat-it was a monotone reading of someone listing their accomplishments although to believe the PR the narrator was a rock star. I also think her assessment of St Louis was from many many years ago and I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or remembering the past through rose colored glasses. However, I never felt I knew the character and frankly didn’t find her very interesting. And then-the dystopian ending. I definitely didn’t see that coming. I believe in Climate change, I admit my politics lean left but the ending came out of nowhere and I don’t mean in a good way. It was thought she was channeling Margaret Atwood in a last minute rant and not in a very well done way. Perhaps the audio reader will do a better job of inflicting some life in the main character

This was an absorbing and compelling book about a female singer/songwriter and the life she lived. It takes the position that many things in life are lucky, even if they don't seem so at the time. It's fascinating to be on the inside a famous journey. The evolution of the singer as a performer and as a person is engrossing. I love the book. It didn't always work out as you thought it would, but life is like that, isn't it?

My rating is Sour Stars, but only because it's Jane Smiley. How can you rate a Pulitzer Prize novelist less than that? It's a longish, beautiful novel about the life of a woman in a St. Louis suburb from the time she is a young child in the 50's up to the present and beyond. Yes, beyond as the Afterword takes place in 2030-something.

In a few words, you will live life with Jodie Ratter, who lives with her single mother and her mother's family in a town near St. Louis. It's almost a day-by-day narrative of Jodie through school, kind of a loner, and the story of her family. Jodie becomes a semi-famous singer songwriter and recording artist. Every aspect of her life seems to her to by lucky. Nothing really earth-shattering happens, and you can wonder how this is even readable. But this is Jane Smiley, whose 3-novel series "The Last hundred Years" trilogy, kept me waiting breathlessly for one year to the next for its publication.

Jodie mentions, continuously. the tall "gawky" girl she knew in high school whose path crosses hers and who shows up at the end as, can you guess? Of course not. It's Jane Smiley herself who has written this novel. The afterward is shocking and difficult to process. Yet this is Jane Smiley, whose worst is better than most people's bests. And that is my mixed message of a review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a week's worth of worthwhile reading of this ARC.

Wow, did this ever take me by surprise!. What seems to be a chronicle of the events of Jodie’s life turns out to be something else entirely. Jodie lives with her mom in St. Louis, near her grandparents and her aunt and uncle. She’s an introspective child who loves music. Over the course of the book, she writes and records many songs. She travels and moves to New York. She has many boyfriends. She decides she doesn’t want to marry. She doesn’t want children. When she is asked to come back home because her mother needs help, she realizes that she has become somewhat isolated and sets about fixing that. But there’s a surprise at the end that turns this into a cautionary tale and a commentary on American society. Quite intriguing.

Extremely disappointing. I will never again read anything written by Jane Smiley. I spent the entire novel engrossed in Jodie’s story and vested the many well defined characters who surround her. Looking forward to a conclusion, I was instead gobsmacked by an epilogue that unflinchingly told me I had been deceived. To add insult to injury, I was then treated to an extreme and depressing political statement basically foretelling the end of civilization as we know it. Do not waste your time.

This book was delightful - I loved following Jodie and the cast of characters Smiley conjures around her through the second half of the twentieth century. I appreciated the music industry details in the novel but also that it didn’t dwell on the nitty-gritty of fame - it was much more about Jodie’s life than fame and fortune.