"An engaging contemporary morality tale"
When she was Jane Domschke growing up in impoverished
Sunnyside, she had one goal and that was to get out of the
wrong side of town. Jane succeeds by marrying into a
wealthy family. She and her spouse David have one child,
Brynn away at school, and Jane becomes a five million-
dollar realtor. Her world seems perfect though her husband
cheats and her daughter disrespects her whenever they talk. Everything changes for Jane when an 18-wheeler tanker
crosses the median of the highway and crashes into her
car. Jane, trapped with smoke and gas all around her,
prays to God that if she is rescued she swears that she
will do good things from now on. Septuagenarian Chester
Durbin unexplainably saves Jane's life. Jane makes efforts
to do good deeds, but learns that good is in the eye of the
beholder and that her intentions rarely pan out as
expected. Still even with David leaving her and Brynn
fleeing with her therapist for Europe, Jane rehabilitates
herself with the help of Scott Robbins born on her side of
the tracks. DOING GOOD is an engaging contemporary morality tale
that the audience will relish because of the complexity of
the world that Jane is just beginning to explore. The
story line shows how difficult and complicated society is
as Jane's attempts to perform good deeds often go astray
ending with questionable results. This includes the
seemingly simple, symbolic and innocent act of giving
Snickers to Chester. DOING GOOD is a great tale that
deserves wide reading as Pamela Morsi demonstrates that
sound bytes or even hard work do not necessarily solve
social issues. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted February 11, 2002
|
