38 5-star Amazon & Goodreads Reviews for Michael Murphy’s “Goodbye Emily”

VIRGINIA BEACH – And the hits keep on coming for Michael Murphy’s novel, Goodbye Emily. In addition to many excellent media reviews, Murphy is garnering praise from Goodreads and Amazon. In fact all twenty-one Amazon and seventeen Goodreads reviews are 5-star, an extremely difficult fete for an author to achieve.

“This book is really dinging the bells of readers,” says Koehler Books founder John Koehler. “Baby boomers and others are eating up this tale of a return to Woodstock, and the hilarious adventure chase of Buck and his friends. Their praise is personal and lavish and consistently positive. People are moved by the way Michael weaves his words. And getting that many 5-star Amazon and Goodread reviews? Absolutely amazing.”

A sampling of Amazon and Goodreads reviews:

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I cried. I laughed. Dinner was late. I didn’t want it to end. That pretty much sums up one of the best books I’ve ever read. Yes, I am a boomer and I can well relate to the story, but it goes far beyond that. It is a true joy to read a book that has such wonderful characters as Buck, Josh and Sparky and all the others. And the plot – sheer genius. If you’ve every heard of Woodstock or if you were around when it happened, this is a book not to be missed. And if you just want a good read, this is a book not to be missed.

Kudos, Mr. Murphy, for giving readers something to shout about and highly recommend! And you have to love the cover!

—Dianne Harmon

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Before you begin reading Goodbye Emily, set aside some time because you won’t want to stop. It’s a wonderful story of coming to terms with loss, and of embracing the blessings of the past without letting them limit the future. It’s funny and heartwarming, irreverent, and yet respectful of relationships and people. The characters were very real to me, and I admit, I needed a tissue by the end.

I’m a baby boomer, but I was only eight when Woodstock happened, so it’s only a legend to me. I enjoyed experiencing the music and the atmosphere, the mud and the craziness, and most of all the love through Sparky’s eyes as he remembered his first meeting with his beloved Emily. The root of Sparky’s current despair is there in his past, but the cure grows from there too – he just needs the courage to face it. I highly recommend this book.

—AK Mystery Mom

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While aimed at the baby boomer generation, Goodbye Emily holds appeal for all ages. We are reminded that beneath acquired (protective?) exteriors still live real people in need of understanding and caring. We all are faced with a major goodbye at some point in our lives. Sparky’s goodbye to Emily, which almost never happened, was a touching conclusion and a hard-won victory. I personally know people who could be models for the varied characters in this story. If you grew up as straight-laced as I did, don’t let the tie-die cover and pot references turn you off. This is a beautiful story with a lot of heart, producing a thought-provoking book guaranteed to bring you both laughter and tears.

—Still Learning

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I read seventy pages the first night, and the remaining two hundred the second night, because I could not put this book down. The author, Michael Murphy, suggested I might like it because I’m passionate about finding good fiction featuring older people. Goodbye, Emily was so enjoyable I am pleased to feature it on my blog’s Midlife Fiction page.

—Lynne Spreen

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Oh my … I had no idea what I was in for when I started reading this book. Wonderfully engaging, heart-warming, entertaining and soooooo very good that it had me taking a walk down memory lane with the story’s flashbacks to the sixties and Woodstock. (And no, I wasn’t a member of the Woodstock Nation, but I can safely claim that my Woodstock album has more grooves and scratch marks than any other album I’ve owned!)

Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where I connected with that many issues personally, all those themes from the heart-breaking loss of a loved one, to coming to terms with all the challenges, both physical and emotional, of growing old, of renewing your purpose in life and living, of reconnecting with old friends and family, of discovering who you really are. As I read, I felt myself riding that emotional rollercoaster, crying, laughing, feeling like my heart would break as I empathized with Sparky, Josh, and Buck and their journey through life, back to the place where it all seems to have started for them.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, highly recommend it. And if you choose to read Goodby Emily, I hope you find it as much of a fullfilling experience as I did. Thank you, Michael Murphy!

Kathryn Long
Author of Mysteries

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Read all the Goodreads reviews.

Read all the Amazon reviews.