The Used World | 
 enlarge | Author: Haven Kimmel
Creator: C.j. Critt
Publisher: BBC Audiobooks America
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $19.73
You Save: $20.22 (51%)
New (25) Used (5) from $19.73
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 1116546
Format: Audiobook
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 10
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 5.9 x 5.1 x 1.1
ISBN: 1602833087
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781602833081
ASIN: 1602833087
Publication Date: September 18, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The latest novel from the #1 bestselling author of A Girl Named Zippy! The Used World Emporium is the sprawling antique store where Hazel, Claudia, and Rebekah pass their days surrounded by dusty furniture, cast-off clothes, and ancient housewares. But with the unexpected arrival of two babies--and the unfolding of not one but three love stories, each spanning generations--their formerly used world becomes new again. Heartrending, hilarious, and inspiring, this is the book that Kimmel's loyal fans have been waiting for--and it is certain to win her legions of new ones. Presented unabridged on 11 CDs.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
Quick and wonderful. January 8, 2009
I was able to read this book in just a few evenings. The three main characters were very well described and by the end of the book I really felt for all three. It was a very easy read and well written. Great for a working mother who doesn't have a lot of time to spare!
Castoffs... October 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Almost immediately, I became totally immersed in the "used world" of the primary characters, all of whom are part of an antiques emporium in this small Indiana town. We have the owner, Hazel Hunnicutt, whose own history is presented to us in flashbacks; her voice is revealed through descriptions of her life - her parents, who are deceased, and her sister, whose drug abuse has complicated Hazel's life, provide the backdrop for her choices - and now, her employees at the emporium assume the role of family for her.
Claudia, a large woman who is often mistaken for a man, has lived a loveless existence, but then an unexpected blessing arrives in the form of an infant - a new life that she takes responsibility for - and when she adds Rebekah to the mix, she has a family of her own.
Rebekah, abandoned and cast out by her father, a fundamentalist Christian who expects her to abide by his rules and restrictions, accepts the love and support of Claudia - and later Hazel - in order to create an acceptable alternative to the life in which she was born.
These three characters could be metaphors for the "used" goods that they sell in the store - castoff individuals - unwanted, but serving a purpose of their own.
The three women, who support one another, serve as a balm for the ills of the world in which they live.
Ms. Kimmel's The Used World: A Novel draws the reader in. I cared about the fate of the characters and enjoyed the book immensely. In the beginning, I had a little difficulty keeping track of the time and place of events, that seemingly went back and forth continuously; hence the deduction of one star.
 Kimmel is versatile October 23, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I had previously read one of Kimmel's memoirs and a young adult book. I choose this book because I liked them, but it was very different from the other books. I became attached to the characters, and I plan to read it again. I wish I had read it with a book club, because there is a lot to discuss. I liked way in which different religious views are portrayed.
Redemptive August 20, 2008
I loved the female characters in this book and their relationships with each other, and I was glad to reconnect with Amos (from THE SOLACE OF LEAVING EARLY). The more Haven Kimmel I read, the more I associate the word "redemptive" with her. Her characters have messy lives, but they manage to find their way, however imperfectly, to something fine, something good, something worth living for. It's true (as some reviewers have pointed out), that the story isn't completely linear and includes some digressions, but I like a book that keeps me on my toes.
 The Overused Stereotypes And Plot Devices May 24, 2008
8 out of 11 found this review helpful
I admit I have only read one other of Haven Kimmel's books, THE SOLACE OF LEAVING EARLY, and I enjoyed that and thought it was well written with believable characters. Though THE USED WORLD has the same setting (apparently a fictionalized Muncie, Indiana and its surroundings) and Church of the Brethren minister Amos (and very peripherally his wife Langston) who are major characters in "SOLACE" also appear in this effort the books are quite different.
This book is filled with melodramatic, unbelievable plot lines, some borrowed from other sources, and characters who are either misunderstood, mistreated saints or the most awful caricatures of rural Midwesterners. In fact Kimmel writes with such utter contempt for those who shop at WalMart, eat at McDonalds and attend large fundamentalist churches that it was often difficult for me to continue reading. I will believe Kimmel has met and even known people from rural Indiana who commit these just mentioned transgressions but she seems to be unable to convey any empathy for or write about such individuals with any genuineness or respect for them as fellow humans.
Some portions of the book are well written enough but other segments are awkward and unclear and a little editing and rewriting would have been beneficial. A pet peeve of mine is how invisible rural working class Americans are in today's mass media. I do appreciate Ms Kimmel setting her book(s) among the ordinary folks of rural Indiana but I am disappointed by her inability to see beyond the usual stereotypes of residents of such areas at least in this novel.
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