Anne Tyler

Could the taming of Shakespeare's shrew, Katherina, happen today? Find out in this funny, off-beat version from one of our most beloved novelists 'You can't get around Kate Battista as easily as all that' Kate Battista is feeling stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, she's always in trouble at work - her pre-school charges adore her, but the adults don't always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner. Dr Battista has other problems. After years out in the academic wilderness, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. There's only one problem: his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotr... When Dr Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, he's relying - as usual - on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: this time he's really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two men's touchingly ludicrous campaign to win her round? Anne Tyler's retelling of The Taming of the Shrew asks whether a thoroughly modern, independent woman like Kate would ever sacrifice herself for a man. Its answer is as individual, off-beat and funny as Kate herself. From the Hardcover edition.

Vinegar Girl

Sarah Sammis

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler is part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series. It is a modern day retelling of "Taming of the Shrew." As it's a reworking of a well-known story, there's no surprise at how things will turn out but it is still fun to see how these versions of the characters get there. 

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Sonia Grgas

Lauren Wightman

Honestly I liked the whole book until Kate's speech at the end. And I know it's because it's adapted from the play but it still made me cringe, especially since Kate experienced a lot of sexism throughout the book

Sonja H

Es ist stellenweise sehr ulkig, aber dennoch ziemlich oberflächlich und das Ende passt nicht zum Rest. Es wirkt nicht überzeugend. Außerdem werden einige lose Fäden nicht verfolgt. Schade.

VINEGAR GIRL

Liz Carpenter

3.5 stars - FAST read, really enjoyed it.

Melody Izard

I'm glad I didn't know until I was well into the book, that this was a modern remake of Shakespeare's, Taming of the Shrew. But this is Anne Tyler shining through the classics. Family. Relationships. Living life. Kate is running her dad's house and teaching pre-school. Her father is an absent minded scientist and wants to keep his Russian assistant even though his visa is up and he will have to go back home to Putin. But he has a plan! Get his daughter to marry Pyotr (just in name and just for the amount of time before he makes the breakthrough he knows he is about to make). Kate's damn tired of being taken for granted.

Kate

I have several problems with this (mainly not nearly enough romantic resolution!) but it also made me laugh out loud and tear up multiple times and felt very gentle and special in some ways. It really hit me in the feeling-difficult-and-undesirable gut and I deeply appreciate it for that reason. Also, the wedding day scene paid homage to the original play in a really clever way while making sure Pyotr never treated Kate the way Petruchio does.

Amanda Wells

Unlike in most Anne Tyler books, I felt like the characters were led by the plot - by the conclusion. This makes sense when you know this is a retelling of the Taming of the Shrew, because she's bound in some ways by the formula of the story, but I did miss the way that Tyler usually constructs books ... I'm not quite sure how to articulate it. Just that the two books I've read by her recently tended to explore the lives and every day events of ordinary people, rather than some kind of outstanding event. Sometimes extraordinary things happen, but that isn't usually the focus.

That being said, I did enjoy the book. The characters were interesting and mostly believable. I thought it was amusing early on when Kate mentioned that her father's problem could be solved by HIM marrying Pyotr, because in this day and age that is absolutely true. 

I don't know, however, if I was quite sold on the end - (view spoiler)[happily ever after. I know Kate and Pyotr are unusual people. I know we saw some compatibility in two conversations they had. But it seemed a little of a stretch to jump to the future where they're married and have a son. I COULD imagine it; it wasn't entirely out of the realms of possibility, but it did feel like a stretch. (hide spoiler)]

So I'd probably put this at a little under 3.5 stars. I'd recommend it if you wanted to read a good retelling of Shakespeare. But if you wanted to read Anne Tyler, I'd definitely recommend A Spool of Blue Thread first.

Olivera Mitić

Ovo nije funkcionisalo na nekoliko ravni, iako mi je ocena tek u poslednjoj četvrtini knjige pala sa četvorke na trojku. 

Prvo, prevod na srpski je ili rađen kroz neki program bez dodatne korekture, ili od strane osobe koja od 90-ih pa na dalje nije imala kontakt sa spoljnim svetom i ne razume kako se neki pojmovi koriste u govoru. 

Ako zanemarimo tu "kozmetičku" stvar, i dalje ostaje nivo mizoginije koji En Tajler nije iskorenila iz prvobitne Ukroćene goropadi, iako je za to imala sasvim finu priliku. 

Treće, ton kojim se završava poslednje poglavlje nije isti kojim počinje epilog. Preskočila je onaj ključni deo u kojem Kejt i Pjotr zapravo razvijaju lični odnos i samo je došla do hepi enda prečicom. Ako ćemo tako da se igramo, onda ne vidim poentu knjige.

Antonella Romani

A very cute and modern take on Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew”. The author did a pleasant job with how she went about the story. This book is a really easy and relaxed read. I really enjoyed it, and definitely recommend it.

Judy Hudgins

b.andherbooks

Enjoyable, but not my favorite take on The Taming of the Shrew. Intriguing characters, but Kate was by far my least favorite. She was a bit too passive for my personal taste.

Christine Liu

I hate The Taming of the Shrew. It's my least favorite Shakespeare play. I think it's a nonsensical story about a woman who's tricked into marrying an awful guy who proceeds to psychologically terrorize her until she's Stockholm Syndromed into becoming a Stepford wife, like that's supposed to be a happy ending. Just yuck all around.

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler is a modern retelling of Taming of the Shrew in which sisters Kate and Bunny Battista try to live their lives as best they can under their clueless immunologist father's thumb. It's part of the Hogarth Shakespeare series which at one time was this ambitious project to update the entire Shakespeare canon with new books by well known authors. Unfortunately it appears to have been scrapped because hogarthshakespeare.com is now an anime blog. Anyway, I picked up this book because it was one of the selections for a local book club that I joined on a whim. This book fell short for me. Not only was it not particularly interesting, it's barely an improvement on the original tale of misogyny.

I'd read Anne Tyler's Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and found it incredibly thoughtful, poignant and well written. Vinegar Girl feels like it was written by a completely different author. It has characters that are unbelievable and one-dimensional, absurd Russian accents, a hokey green card marriage scam premise, and young people who speak the way older people think they speak. It's not a bad book pet se; I'm just not a fan of the fluffy romance genre and wasn't expecting this to be that. I found this story cutesy, weirdly retro, mostly bland, and a little bizarre.

If you're still itching for an updated Taming of the Shrew though, look no further than the iconic feminist revelation that is "10 Things I Hate About You" starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger.

Michael Hessling

Now to read The Taming of the Shrew. And watch Kiss Me Kate.

tatiana ✧˖°

Rebecca Harwood

Khoi K

Rebecca Raven

kate

Kate Battista is feeling stuck. How did she end up running house and home for her eccentric scientist father and uppity, pretty younger sister Bunny? Plus, sheâe(tm)s always in trouble at work âe" her pre-school charges adore her, but the adults donâe(tm)t always appreciate her unusual opinions and forthright manner. Dr Battista has other problems. After years out in the academic wilderness, he is on the verge of a breakthrough. His research could help millions. Thereâe(tm)s only one problem: his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, is about to be deported. And without Pyotrâe¦ When Dr Battista cooks up an outrageous plan that will enable Pyotr to stay in the country, heâe(tm)s relying âe" as usual âe" on Kate to help him. Kate is furious: this time heâe(tm)s really asking too much. But will she be able to resist the two menâe(tm)s touchingly ludicrous campaign to win her round? Anne Tylerâe(tm)s retelling of The Taming of the Shrew asks whether a thoroughly modern, independent woman like Kate would ever sacrifice herself for a man. The answer is as individual, off-beat and funny as Kate herself.

Vinegar Girl

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