I loved the movie and I love the book! And....I think the movie was better.

Two women share a friendship that spans over 30 years, survives past marriages and careers, and all of life's ups and downs.

As I got near the end of the book, I was saying in my head "don't cry, don't cry, don't cry". Then, too late! I was crying. ( )

Beaches by Iris Rainer Dart
CeeCee and Birdie meet at the beach when CC isn't able to find her mom. She's a dancer on stage and she can also sing.
CC heads to the west coast where she becomes a big star on the stage. She keeps in contact with Birdie...
Birdie meets up with CC when she comes back to do shows in the summer. The manager notices Birdie and offers her a job. CC is very jealous as she is the one that is the star.
She has sexual fantasies about John the manager til she finds out Birdie has had sex with him and Birdie informs her of her mothers death.
Hard to follow at times as each sends letters or newspaper clippings and you don't really know who it's about til the signature at the end. Birdie moves onto her mothers college-to find a guy to wed.
CC marries John who will send her also to voice classes as she's still a big star. Over time they are each alone, one is pregnant and all they want is a man to take care of them.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device). ( )

I recently saw the movie,"Beaches" for the 3rd or 4th time. As usual, I got to the end and shed some tears and felt fully satisfied with the movie. It occurred to me that I had never read the book.

I just finished the book and I have to say kudos to the screenwriters of the movie for fixing major flaws in the book. The main flaws had to do with the two main characters.

I'll start with Bertie (Hillary in the film). The name was a poor choice. You can get a lot of mileage from a name. The screenwriter for the movie realized this. The connotations for the name "Hillary" include - refined, educated and privileged. The name "Bertie" has none of that. But my main problem with this character was her character. I found her weak, powerless, needy and wholly uninteresting.

Cee Cee was just too much. In the film, Bette Midler brought a genuineness and likeability to Cee Cee which I did not find in the character in the book. She was too coarse. I couldn't see how these two women could be friends. I was especially annoyed with a part in the book where Cee Cee takes off to be with a man who is willing to take a break from "#$@%ing 12-year-old boys" to be with her. Another word for a man like that is a pedophile.

In the end I had a hard time caring about these characters and, in fact, skimmed the last 50 pages in an effort to get to the end and be done with it. The sad part is I've bought the sequel and will probably end up reading it as well and I don't expect I will like it any better.

Perhaps people who have not seen the movie will enjoy it more than I did but I will caution anybody who is a fan of the movie that the book is a weak story in comparison. ( )

I liked that this wasn't the same as the movie, or else I would have felt compelled to pick which was better, which would be extremely hard as I adored the movie. But yeah, this book was good. Different to the movie, but I wasn't disappointed. ( )

The first and last chapters mirror the film almost precisely, but everything in between is incredibly divergent. I'm having a hard time reviewing the book as an entity of it's own without comparing it to the film. I kept hearing Bette Midler's voice in my head while reading it. I have to go watch it again, I think. I did enjoy reading it. I can't really even say which is better. I sort of wish I'd read the book first. Ah, well. Even if you've seen the film a thousand times, this is worth your time. ( )