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Bean Trees (Paperback)

by Kingsolver (Author) "I have been afraid of putting air in a tire ever since I saw a tractor tire blow up an throw Newt Hardbine's father over..." (more)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (323 customer reviews)
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Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Feisty Marietta Greer changes her name to "Taylor" when her car runs out of gas in Taylorville, Ill. By the time she reaches Oklahoma, this strong-willed young Kentucky native with a quick tongue and an open mind is catapulted into a surprising new life. Taylor leaves home in a beat-up '55 Volkswagen bug, on her way to nowhere in particular, savoring her freedom. But when a forlorn Cherokee woman drops a baby in Taylor's passenger seat and asks her to take it, she does. A first novel, The Bean Trees is an overwhelming delight, as random and unexpected as real life. The unmistakable voice of its irresistible heroine is whimsical, yet deeply insightful. Taylor playfully names her little foundling "Turtle," because she clings with an unrelenting, reptilian grip; at the same time, Taylor aches at the thought of the silent, staring child's past suffering. With Turtle in tow, Taylor lands in Tucson, Ariz., with two flat tires and decides to stay. The desert climate, landscape and vegetation are completely foreign to Taylor, and in learning to love Arizona, she also comes face to face with its rattlesnakes and tarantulas. Similarly, Taylor finds that motherhood, responsibility and independence are thorny, if welcome, gifts. This funny, inspiring book is a marvelous affirmation of risk-taking, commitment and everyday miracles.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


From Library Journal

This debut novel follows the gritty, outspoken Taylor Greer, who leaves her native Kentucky to head west. She becomes mother to an abandoned baby and, when her jalopy dies in Tucson, is forced to work in a tire garage and to room with a young, battered divorcee who also has a little girl. With sisterly counsel and personal honesty, the two face their painful lot (told in ponderous detail). The blue-collar setting, described vibrantly, often turns violent, with baby beatings, street brawls, and drug busts. Despite the hurt and rage, themes of love and nurturing emerge. A refreshingly upbeat, presentable first effort by an author whose subsequent novels will probably generate more interest than this one. Edward C. Lynskey, Documentation, Atlantic Research Corp., Alexandria, Va.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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I have been afraid of putting air in a tire ever since I saw a tractor tire blow up an throw Newt Hardbine's father over the top of the Standard Oil sign. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

323 Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Aimless, drifting plot lost this reader., Dec 14 2001
By S. A. Farley "sally1590" (Minnesota, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Bean Trees 10th Anniv (Mass Market Paperback)
After reading The Poisonwood Bible, I decided to read some of her other works. The story started out with promise - a young woman on here way to anywhere is handed an unwanted child. Taylor's character was plucky and quirky enough to keep me interested.

Once she finds a destination to settle in, Tuscon, AZ, the plot begins to meander without much conflict to stir things up. I usually go by the "fifty page rule" - if I'm not totally involved by page fifty, I stop reading. In this case, I got halfway through the book - over a hundred pages before I gave up and quit reading.

As this was written well before the Poisonwood Bible, one can see a dramatic improvement from The Bean Trees to her more recent works.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars It's all down hill from the Poisonwood Bible., April 24 2001
This review is from: Bean Trees 10th Anniv (Mass Market Paperback)
The first book I read of Barbara Kingsolver's was The Poisonwood Bible. It was so good that I decided to read more of her stuff. Unfortunately, it's all down hill from there folks. Poisonwood is fabulous and I've not found her other books to be any where near as good. In fact I read The Bean Trees a few months ago and I really can't remember much about it. Barbara Kingsolver is a talented writer, but this one just didn't hit the mark for me.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Not The Kingsolver I Was Expecting, Jan 26 2001
This review is from: Bean Trees (Hardcover)
I'm being a little hard on Kingsolver with just two stars, but that's partly because I have also read her amazing POISONWOOD BIBLE, a work of gratifying emotional and psychological complexity. BEAN TREES, by contrast, seems simplistic and shallow. For example, the characters in BEAN TREES divide up neatly into the not just good but positively heroic gals (Taylor, her employer, her neighbors, her roommate) and the bad guys (INS, various ex-husbands and boyfriends). Notice that these categories also divide up neatly by gender. For whatever reason, Kingsolver doesn't address the male point of view at all, except to use men as cardboard villains creating the problems that the women have to deal with. This may be a point of view worth addressing, but I'm dismayed to find it the only point of view, period.(Estevan is a woman's mind in a man's character). The result is that BEAN TREES reads more like a light fantasy than a challenging novel. In POISONWOOD BIBLE, Kingsolver dealt skillfully and realistically with the personal and political tragedies. But in BEAN TREES, all the loose ends are wrapped up neatly and unconvincingly in no time at all. The ending in particular seemed contrived to make things work out a particular way. As a reader, I grant the author complete suspension of my disbelief in establishing the premises of a novel, but then I expect the writer to follow the implications of those premises to their logical ends, for better or worse. POISONWOOD BIBLE satisfied me in this respect, but BEAN TREES did not. On the other hand, I greatly admired the characterization of the Taylor character, especially the little "Kentucky-ism's" she threw into the dialogue. In this respect Kingsolver reminds me of Larry McMurtry, whose Texas characters' colorful speech keep even his lesser productions highly entertaining. As long as Taylor and also Lou Ann were speaking out loud, I enjoyed the book a great deal. When the preaching about American policy toward illegal aliens kicked in, I skipped ahead to the next part which actually dealt with her characters. I think Kingsolver is really on to something with this sort of character, grounded in Appalachian Kentucky, and I'd like to see the author explore her possibilities in novels more ambitious than this one.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the most beautiful books I've ever read
Barbara Kingsolver has an uncanny understanding of human nature. The characters in this novel are by no way perfect, and if you knew them personally, you would be able to list off... Read more
Published on Jul 22 2004 by k_hoyak

4.0 out of 5 stars The Bean Trees: Metaphors and Similies
The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver is a book rich in metaphors and similes. It is a story about a young girl who escapes her small town, where most young people drop out of... Read more
Published on Jul 15 2004 by Teresa Owen

2.0 out of 5 stars Not too good.
This book was not to interesting for me because of the plot.It started out interesting when they found Turtle but after that it got boring. Nothing else interesting happend.
Published on Jul 14 2004 by Patrick

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful story
I was assigned to read this book for my 11th grade English class. I loved it so much that when it took the class two months to completely read it, I took it home and finished it... Read more
Published on Jul 11 2004 by Brittany

2.0 out of 5 stars The Bean Trees
I like had to read this book for school and i really thought it waz boreing. Why on earth wood you name a child turtle when thta is a animals name. Read more
Published on Jun 24 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book
Great summer read. I found myself thinking about the story during the day; it really sucks you in.
Published on Jun 23 2004 by K Bird

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bean Trees: Very Detailed and Descriptive
So far, I've only read the first 44 pages, but from what I've read up to this point, it's pretty good. Barbara Kingsolver is very descriptive in at least the first 44 pages. Read more
Published on Jun 22 2004 by Tracy Wythe

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart-warming and intelligent work of fiction
For me, this was one of the best books I've ever read. I usually stick with a sure-fire bestseller like "Da Vinci" or "Bark of the Dogwood," not wanting to... Read more
Published on Jun 20 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read for a soon-to-be mother or foster parent
This book is a great example for a soon to be mother or a foster parent. IT shows a true mother-to-daughter relationship, the way no other book does. Read more
Published on Jun 14 2004 by Michael Shulman

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasantly surprised!
Not sure what to expect from this book (I knew nothing about it), I was pleasantly surprised. Well-written, like Jackson McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD and yet earthy like... Read more
Published on Jun 14 2004

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