Book Description
Sam:
They were with us before Romeo & Juliet. And long after too. Because they’re forever around. Or so both claim, carolling gleefully:
We’re allways sixteen.
Sam & Hailey, powered by an ever-rotating fleet of cars, from Model T to Lincoln Continental, career from the Civil War to the Cold War, barrelling down through the Appalachians, up the Mississippi River, across the Badlands, finally cutting a nation in half as they try to outrace History itself.
By turns beguiling and gripping, finally worldwrecking, Only Revolutions is unlike anything ever published before, a remarkable feat of heart and intellect, moving us with the journey of two kids, perpetually of summer, perpetually sixteen, who give up everything except each other.
Hailey:
They were with us before Tristan & Isolde. And long after too. Because they’re forever around. Or so both claim, gleefully carolling:
We’re allways sixteen.
Hailey & Sam, powered by an ever-rotating fleet of cars, from Shelby Mustang to Sumover Linx, careen from the Civil Rights Movement to the Iraq War, tearing down to New Orleans, up the Mississippi River, across Montana, finally cutting a nation in half as they try to outrace History itself.
By turns enticing and exhilarating, finally breathtaking, Only Revolutions is unlike anything ever conceived before, a remarkable feat of heart and intellect, moving us with the journey of two kids, perpetually of summer, perpetually sixteen, who give up everything except each other.
Customer Reviews:
here's one for the middle of the road, for a book that by no means is ordinary........2007-10-10
i have no doubt that ever device/structure etc... is there for a reason. i believe the author to be a very intelligent human. i, however, do not feel that as my guide through this book he provided me with the sense/knowhow grounding/point of view to make it through. i can appreciate that everyone will undergo a singular experience--which perhaps speaks to how information/element packed the novel must be... but i cannot appreciate the fact that i must put so much trust into the author as to slog through x amount of pages before i suffer some sort of epiphany and decide that i have finally gotten it. i'm sure that moment-the click in the brain--the payoff, whathaveyou must be worth it... but... i keep reading eight pages faster and faster just so i can flip. the flip, and ribbon switch-up by far has been the most exciting part of this reading experience. i also listened to audio clips.. and felt sorely disappointed. the voices deadened the text, instead of breathing new life into two voices that on the page are starting to blend. it felt like lifeless spoken word set to trendy danny elfman music. i also suggested to someone, who seemed to suffer similar impedements as i am, that the novel should come in eight novellas... thereby making the flips and pieces easier to digest.
i don't know. it's ambitious. i wonder what comes next.
Only Revolutions.......2007-10-07
Wow. Mark Z Danielewski is a little over my head with this one. I read House of Leaves and loved it, but I just can't seem to get too far into OR. This book is like reading poetry.
Around and around in circles: a sorry follow up to House of Leaves.......2007-09-22
I loved "House of Leaves," I think it's really a masterpiece of experimental fiction, so I was excited when I heard that Danielewski had come out with a new novel. Likewise I wasn't put off by the experimental elements of the book: the duelling narratives written in either direction on each page, the list of historical tidbits from a given date.
But when you get past all these schticky elements there's not much to "Only Revolutions." Whereas "House of Leaves" had a fascinating story at its core and explored interesting themes, when you strip away all the gimicks "Only Revolutions" seems to be a prose poem about a love affair between two egomaniacal teenagers who drift apart and then find each other again and again (and who claim to have superhuman powers although I haven't found any evidence that this is actually the case) and which is set in no clear time or place.
I've tried a couple of times, but I couldn't for the life of me get into this story. I also found the stream-of-consciousness list of historical data on each page (+50% of which is stuff that I've never heard of before, and I was a history major) to be really annoying because I felt obligated to read through it even though it was really dry. In the end, I've just about written off this novel as unreadable.
way too many people are trashing this..........2007-09-05
look, if you are giving up at the sign of a similarity between the experimental style of this novel/piece, and his earlier work (House of Leaves); you are an idiot. why the hell should you be asked to look between the eyes of poorly spelled words and immature poetry, but beautifully written at the same time? because it is a setting. Danielewski took the concept of setting away from you to prove it! If you hate the book, shut up and read it again, this time pretend it isn't a Dean Koontz novel.
Magnificent.......2007-08-19
Disregard the other bad reviews about this novel/epic poem.
Yes at first the language and format is difficult, but who cares? Moby Dick is a hard read at first, but no-one denies its raw power and genius. And yes I use Moby Dick in the same paragraph as Only Revolutions because they are both among the greatest American novels ever.
The format is genius. The language is breathtaking and spellbinding. The truth and metaphors found therein are cutting. The style is quantum. And to top it off its simply fun to read once you allow the language pour into you. I recommend reading it aloud or at least quietly pronouning the words. It makes the narrative flow much better.
Amazon.com
Oprah Book Club® Selection, November 2000: Andre Dubus III wastes no time in capturing the dark side of the immigrant experience in America at the end of the 20th century. House of Sand and Fog opens with a highway crew composed of several nationalities picking up litter on a hot California summer day. Massoud Amir Behrani, a former colonel in the Iranian military under the Shah, reflects on his job-search efforts since arriving in the U.S. four years before: "I have spent hundreds of dollars copying my credentials; I have worn my French suits and my Italian shoes to hand-deliver my qualifications; I have waited and then called back after the correct waiting time; but there is nothing." The father of two, Behrani has spent most of the money he brought with him from Iran on an apartment and furnishings that are too expensive, desperately trying to keep up appearances in order to enhance his daughter's chances of making a good marriage. Now the daughter is married, and on impulse he sinks his remaining funds into a house he buys at auction, thus unwittingly putting himself and his family on a trajectory to disaster. The house, it seems, once belonged to Kathy Nicolo, a self-destructive alcoholic who wants it back. What starts out as a legal tussle soon escalates into a personal confrontation--with dire results.
Dubus tells his tragic tale from the viewpoints of the two main adversaries, Behrani and Kathy. To both of them, the house represents something more than just a place to live. For the colonel, it is a foot in the door of the American dream; for Kathy, a reminder of a kinder, gentler past. In prose that is simple yet evocative, House of Sand and Fog builds to its inevitable denouement, one that is painfully dark but unfailingly honest. --Alix Wilber
Book Description
NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
In this riveting novel of almost unbearable suspense, three fragile yet determined people become dangerously entangled in a relentlessly escalating crisis. Colonel Behrani, once a wealthy man in Iran, is now a struggling immigrant willing to bet everything he has to resotre his family's dignity. Kathy Nicolo is a troubled young woman whose house is all she has left, and who refuses to let her hard-won stability slip away from her. Sheriff Lester Burdon, a married man who finds himself falling in love with Kathy, becomes obsessed with helping her fight for justice.
Drawn by their competing desires to the same small house in the California hills and doomed by their tragic inability to understand one another, the three converge in an explosive collision course. Combining unadorned realism with profound empathy,
House of Sand and Fog marks the arrival of a major new voice in American fiction.
Customer Reviews:
Immigrant experience is the only redeeming feature of the story.......2007-08-21
The story drags. It is depressing, as others have written. Multiple layers of tragedy, but the most compelling perhaps is the tale of prejudice experienced by the family. There are better ways to spend time than reading this book.
Hmmm..........2007-08-20
I will say that the story line held my interest, the plot was plausible, even the depiction of the cultural differences and what havoc that wrought in the clash between the characters was fascinating and truthful. I cared about each of the characters and was riveted to find out what would happen to them next. The BIG downer of this book, however, was all of the cursing and way too much explicit sex. I realize this was somewhat important for developing the characters of Lester and Kathy, but the mere suggestion of it would have been enough. Instead, it was excessive, dirty, and over the top in my opinion. Overall, I'm glad I read this strong emotion and thought provoking story, but I would be reluctant, embarrassed even, to recommend it without warning of the excessive and explicit sex and cursing.
I can't believe this made Oprah's book list.......2007-08-07
If you think that you are too happy with your life and you want waste a couple hours, then this is the book for you. I can't believe that this book was made into a movie or that Oprah put this on her book club list. It is that bad.
I did find it interesting to review the cultural differences and expectations of different societies, but other than that it was extremely depressing and a total waste of time. If you want to know the ending - everyone either dies or goes to jail. What an uplifting story - not!
Mixed Feelings.......2007-07-02
Rating this novel was extremely difficult because the book left me with very mixed feelings. The writing and imagery were magnificent and certainly worthy of five shining stars. Some of the plotlines and characterizations, however, were relatively disappointing. The characters of Lester and Kathy evoked a lot of anger and frustration, which may have been the author's intention, but their overwhelming selfishness, ignorance, and simplicity was a bit over the top. Their "love" affair was also a bit over the top and Lester's instant devotion was difficult to swallow considering he was essentially a confused adulterer who violently abused his power as a police officer and somewhat took advantage of a troubled woman who had nothing left to lose. This wasn't as emotional a read as I was expecting because it was almost impossible to sympathize with half of the key characters (mainly Lester and more often than not Kathy). I do, however, commend the author for the unique and intriguing cultural perspective he weaved throughout the book.
wow!.......2007-06-14
Even though the ending was spoiled for me ( didn't finish in time for book club) I was captivated enough to finish anyway. I really enjoyed the story. Very well written. I highly recomend this one. ( The film was pretty good too!)
Book Description
Dana Clarke has always longed for the stability of home and family—her own childhood was not an easy one. Now she has married a man she adores who is from a prominent New England family, and she is about to give birth to their first child. But what should be the happiest day of her life becomes the day her world falls apart. Her daughter is born beautiful and healthy, but no one can help noticing the African American traits in her appearance. Dana’s husband, to her great shock and dismay, begins to worry that people will think Dana has had an affair.
The only way to repair the damage done is for Dana to track down the father she never knew and to explore the possibility of African American lineage in his family history. Dana’s determination to discover the truth becomes a poignant journey back through her past and her husband’s heritage that unearths secrets rooted in prejudice and fear.
Barbara Delinsky’s Family Tree is an utterly unforgettable novel that asks penetrating questions about race, family, and the choices people make in times of crisis—choices that have profound consequences that can last for generations.
Book Description
East Coast Rooms is your ticket to a unique design junket along the East Coast, with top designers and architects as your guides. Tour the favorite projects of 31 renowned interior designers and architects from Maine to Manhattan and beyond-from coastal, sun-splashed villages, to city lofts, to beachfront sanctuaries.
Visit Vincente Wolf's beach house, a visual paradise with a palette that soothes and refreshes.
Experience Jennifer Post's "castle in the sky" in Manhattan-a minimalist's dream come true.
Wander the rooms of a breathtaking country creation by designer Jeffrey Bilhuber, where design and art become one.
Step inside interior designer Linda Chase's Connecticut home, where lyrical fabrics, infusions of color, and collectibles work a fascinating design rhythm.
Customer Reviews:
A decent book.......2005-02-24
I liked West Coast rooms better. The rooms were more contemporary overall. East Coast rooms did have much more of a variety of styles. A little of something for everyone. They were well styled, nice photos. I wouldn't purchase this if I were looking for an instructional design book though.
No stodgy traditionalists here..........2000-05-29
I really enjoyed this book. Most east coast design that is not country in orgin is very traditional. This book features a very nice array of styles to choose from. More modern and hip designs are found with a smattering of the east coast thrown in...
Book Description
Carla Wainwright was building a house - and a future - with the man she loved. But when he walked out of her life, she held on to her dream of the house....Now, with the help of a reluctant contractor, Jack Dugan, she sees her project - and her hopes - rise to new heights. And that's only the beginning for this special place - when Carla moves on, the dream house plays a role in the lives and loves of three other women: Ellen White, afraid to surrender to God's call to missions, prefers the safety of her career in interior decorating - until Paul Stoneman helps her discover the courage to walk through God's open door. Professor Angela Cooper finds the squirrel damage in the attic isn't the only repair she needs in her life. Can Kendall Tyler's bumbling efforts fix the hole in her heart? Winnie Wainwright's heart - like her home - has been battered by storms. Will Dan Parker be the handyman to mend her house...and her soul? These four stories of hope and healing will surely find a home in your heart!
Customer Reviews:
THE BEST INSPIRATIONAL ROMANTIC TALES I HAVE EVER READ.......2003-10-24
Built around the development of this house, four novellas are arranged by four authors who interweave them expertly. Each author brings with her a style and story intimately her own. I highly recommend this collection. Although I may be new to this genre, I LOVED this book! Several of the tales won Best Novellas of the year 2003 from the American Christian Romance Writers' Association.
Amazon.com
Ex-military cop Jack Reacher is the perfect antihero--tough as nails, but with a brain and a conscience to match. He's able to see what most miss and is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Each book in Lee Child's smart, addictive series (The New York Times has referred to it as "pure escapist gold") follows the wandering warrior on a new adventure, making it easy to start with any book, including his latest gem, Bad Luck and Trouble. However, be forewarned...once you meet Jack Reacher, you'll be hooked, so be prepared to stock up on the series. --Daphne Durham
Who Is Jack Reacher? A Video from Lee Child
Watch the video
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A Note from Lee Child
Two years ago I was on a book tour, promoting that year's new Jack Reacher novel, One Shot. One particular night, the event was held in a small town outside of Chicago. The date was June 21st. As I was giving my talk and answering questions and signing books, that date was nagging away at the back of my mind. I knew it had some significance. I started panicking--had I forgotten my anniversary? No, that's in August. My wife's birthday? No, that's in January. My own birthday? No, that's in October.
Then suddenly I remembered--it was ten years to the day since I had been fired from my previous job. That was why and how I had become a writer. That night in Illinois was a ten-year anniversary of a different sort, somewhat bittersweet.
And ten is a nice round number. So I started thinking about my old colleagues. My workmates, my buddies. We had been through a lot together. I started to wonder where they all were now. What were they doing? Were they doing well, or struggling? Were they happy? What did they look like now? Pretty soon I was into full-on nostalgia mode. Ten-year anniversaries can do that to a person. I think we all share those kind of feelings, about high school, or college, or old jobs we've quit, or old towns we've moved away from.
So I decided to make this year's Jack Reacher book about a reunion. I decided to throw him back among a bunch of old colleagues that he hadn't seen for ten years, people that he loved fiercely and respected deeply. Regular Reacher readers will know that he's a pretty self-confident guy, but I wanted him to wobble just a little this time, to compare his choices with theirs, to measure himself against them.
The renewed get-together isn't Reacher's own choice, though. And it's not a standard-issue reunion, either. Something very bad has happened, and one of his old team-members from the army contacts him, by an ingenious method (it's hard to track Reacher down). She gives him the bad news, and asks him to do something about it. He says, "Of course I'll do something about it."
"No," his friend says. "I mean, I want you to put the old unit back together."
It's an irresistible invitation. Wouldn't we all like to do that, sometimes? --Lee Child
Secrets of the Series: A Q&A with Lee Child
Q: Why do you think readers keep coming back to your novels?
A: Two words: Jack Reacher. Reacher is a drifter and a loner with a strong sense of justice. He shows up, he acts, he moves on. He's the type of hero who has a long literary history. Robin Hood, the Lone Ranger, Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings, Jack Reacher--they're all part of the same heroic family. Reacher just ratchets it up a notch. Maybe more than a notch. Why is he so appealing? Most often people say to me it's his sense of justice; he will do the right thing. Even though there is no reward in it for him, even though there is often a high cost to be paid by him, he will always try to do the right thing and people find that reassuring in today's world when not too many people are doing the right thing.
Q: Jack Reacher gets compared to James Bond, Jack Bauer and Jason Bourne, each of whom now has a "face." In a movie, which actor do you think could fill Reacher's shoes?
A: That's the toughest question. The thing about Reacher is he's huge; he's 6'5" tall and about 250 pounds. There aren't any actors that size--actors tend to be small. So we aren't going to find a physical facsimile for Reacher because there aren't any. We have to find someone who is capable of looking big on the screen. Many people have said to me a young Clint Eastwood would have been perfect--we need someone like that who has the vibe of a big intimidating man. Hopefully there will be somebody available like that. It's also a question of finding somebody ready to sign up for more than one movie. They want to make a franchise, minimum of three, and that makes it a little bit harder.
Q: What research is involved in writing one of your stories?
A: My research is all kind of backwards. I don't go to the public library for three months and take notes in advance; instead my best research is by remembering and adapting. I read, travel, and talk to people just for the fun of it, filing away these interesting little snippets to the back of my mind and eventually they float to the surface and get used. The problem is, I approach writing the book with the same excitement and impatience that I hope the reader is going to feel about reading it. But even so, I need a certain measure of technical intrigue in the story. There is specific research I have to do as I go along, anything that's a small detail; a car, a gun, a type of bullet. I will check that out at the time. But, that's what I call the detail--the broad stuff is the stuff I already know.
Meet Jack Reacher
The Killing Floor |
Die Trying |
Tripwire |
Running Blind |
Echo Burning |
Without Fail |
Persuader |
The Enemy |
One Shot |
The Hard Way |
Book Description
From a helicopter high above the empty California desert, a man is sent free-falling into the night…. In Chicago, a woman learns that an elite team of ex–army investigators is being hunted down one by one.... And on the streets of Portland, Jack Reacher—soldier, cop, hero—is pulled out of his wandering life by a code that few other people could understand. From the first shocking scenes in Lee Child’s explosive new novel, Jack Reacher is plunged like a knife into the heart of a conspiracy that is killing old friends…and is on its way to something even worse.
A decade postmilitary, Reacher has an ATM card and the clothes on his back—no phone, no ties, and no address. But now a woman from his old unit has done the impossible. From Chicago, Frances Neagley finds Reacher, using a signal only the eight members of their elite team of army investigators would know. She tells him a terrifying story—about the brutal death of a man they both served with. Soon Reacher is reuniting with the survivors of his old team, scrambling to raise the living, bury the dead, and connect the dots in a mystery that is growing darker by the day. The deeper they dig, the more they don’t know: about two other comrades who have suddenly gone missing—and a trail that leads into the neon of Vegas and the darkness of international terrorism.
For now, Reacher can only react. To every sound. Every suspicion. Every scent and every moment. Then Reacher will trust the people he once trusted with his life—and take this thing all the way to the end. Because in a world of bad luck and trouble, when someone targets Jack Reacher and his team, they’d better be ready for what comes right back at them…
Customer Reviews:
My First Reacher Novel, Probably My Last.......2007-10-06
I picked up Bad Luck and Trouble because it sounded like an interesting book. I must say, though, that it was not my cup of tea. I, on the whole, enjoy crime novels and spy thrillers in the vein of Vince Flynn and David Baldacci. Lee Child most likely fits here nicely.
The story is about Jack Reacher, a former military policeman. He receives a call for help from one of his former teammates. It seems that several members of the unit have disappeared and Reacher needs to find out why. Interesting premise, but it quickly devolves into a revenge novel with a little bit of "let's stop the terrorist" thrown in to make the story timely.
I have no problem with the writing of the book. Mr. Child is a very talented writer. I just did not enjoy the story. Revenge for the sake of revenge is not my idea of a good time.
disappointing.......2007-09-27
Unfortunately, in my opinion, this book cannot be compared the The Hard Way. That one was taut, thrilling and extremely gripping. This one was drowning in minutiae, far too many 'filler' details. It took 250 pages to even know what the characters were trying to stop. From then on, you just knew Reacher would get the bad guys and the climax was pretty standard 'shoot 'em up', no surprises or twists at all. I expected so much more. Pass this one by.
Best Yet.......2007-09-25
I have enjoyed the seris, and liked this one the best, because of the former team members, they give some real balance to Jack...
The Latest Installment From A Favorite Author.......2007-09-18
If you somehow got your hands on a copy of Bad Luck & Trouble and have NOT read the previous Jack Reacher tales, stop and begin with The Killing Floor. Lucky you!
Having said that, Bad Luck & Trouble is yet another very satisfying installment in the series. I sincerely hope that Lee Child continues to be inspired by his character and the interesting settings that Jack Reacher finds himself in.
This story is fresh, edge of the seat entertainment that we fans have come to expect. Mr Child does not disappoint!.
Jack's Back.......2007-09-16
My enjoyment of the Jack Reacher novels is such that I actually purchased this hardcover. Anyone familiar with this type of novel recognizes that plot details are secondary to what has been called, "solidification of sequence". This novel is a shade less enjoyable than the rest. Is Mr.Child losing interest? Am I losing interest? Hard to say but this one comes up short. Of course Jack is still there. And I would still like to have him as a friend, although I come probably never find him if I needed him. By the way, isn't only owning the "clothes on his back" gimmick wearing a little thin. Jack,buy yourself a knapsack, a duffel bag, at least a brief case, and carry a change of socks. To those of us accustomed to changing clothing at least every day the idea of wearing them until they reek is not only unappealing but unrealistic. And, I have wondered, what the hell does Jack do when he takes the next bus to anywhere and gets there. What does he do, walk the streets? With no real money and clothes that stink his choices are somewhat limited. Seedy hotel rooms lose their charm after a while and there are only so many undeserving victims of cruel, powerful people out there to assist. Sure, it's great to read of him breaking the neck of some ruffian but walking back into the great outback of novel land, chucking it all so he can return next year to crack some more skulls does require the willing suspension of disbelief. Life must be awful boring between bouts with bad men. Jack, settle down, get a job, star in a tv series, marry that beautiful babe, put some roots down before old age catches up with you....and Mr. Child runs out of marginably credible adventures for you to participate. And, for cryin' out loud, change your clothes.
Product Description
The Autumn House Anthology of Contemporary Poetry is an exciting collection of work from more than ninety of the best poets writing today including Phillip Levine, Rita Dove, Stephen Dunn, Jean Valentine, Gerald Stern, Maxine Kumin, Tony Hoagland, Denise Duhamel, Nick Flynn, Jo McDougall, Tim Seibles and many others. The volume includes a full-page photograph and short biography of each poet.
Customer Reviews:
A major offering that is sure to delight.......2005-10-15
This is a wonderful collection of poetry that would be ideal for someone wanting to sample poetry or perhaps give as a gift. There is something in the 300 plus poems by 94 of America's best poets that will appeal to virtually any reader remotely interested in poetry. The reader can sample the works of both well known poets like Philip Levine, Ruth L. Schwartz, and Billy Collins as well as lesser known but highly regarded one's such as Tracy K. Smith, Nick Flynn, and Joy Katz. The subjects addressed run the gambit from love, desire, death, and family relationships to a host of other offerings that make this a literal poetry feast of some of the best of the best in contemporary American poetry. A major offering that is sure to delight.
Average customer rating:
- woo
- Great Reading
- Sammy's House
- Great follow-up to Sammy's Hill
- Not as good as the first
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SAMMY'S HOUSE
Kristin Gore
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Book Description
The heroine of Kristin Gore's bestselling inside-the-beltway romp Sammy's Hill returns, and this time the laughs are richer and the stakes are higher -- at home and in the house (the White House, that is)Samantha Joyce is many things: Health care policy wonk. Hypochondriac. Lover of Japanese Fighting Fish (and of Charlie Lawton, her Washington Post reporter boyfriend). Jumper-to-conclusions. And when all these identities collide -- as they do most days -- the results are always unpredictable.Sammy's role as an advisor to Vice President Robert Gary (RG for short) has led her down some exciting professional paths, like when she accompanies RG on a trip to India to help open pharmaceutical supply lines, and some troubling ones -- like when the president secretly asks her to plumb those lines to acquire as yet unapproved drugs for his own personal use. Her job interferes with her love life, too, after Charlie is transferred to New York for a huge story just when she's expecting a proposal, and they find that distance combines poorly with Sammy's dedication to her work and her overactive imagination. And then there's the surprising -- though ego-pleasing -- series of passes thrown Sammy's way, culminating in a highly embarrassing photo of a Hollywood hotshot's hand where it doesn't belong, published in the pages of Us Weekly . . .As the dual crises in Sammy's personal and professional lives come to a head, and her ideals are put to the ultimate test, readers will be flipping pages madly, wondering what might come next. Because in Sammy's house, anything is possible.
Customer Reviews:
woo.......2007-09-04
i want to see sammy as a supreme court clerk next !
now THAT would be funny.
Great Reading.......2007-08-14
This is a great read with a progressive flow. Living near DC, this is how I imagined it might be to be a White House staff member. The revelations about the White House aura in this book are very believable, but rather calm compared to the realities of today! Only two minor items; there are two typos in the book and the ending seemed rushed with straight fact, not as eleborate as the writing in the rest of the book.....looking for the next book....worth it, overall!
Sammy's House.......2007-08-09
This book is great fun AND gives a good look inside the White House. Kristin Gore is very creative. amusing and informative as she tells about a staff person who is a hypocondriac and a klutz working under the vice-president Robert Gary, who amazingly is like her own father Al Gore. What a surprise. This is a real page-turner, and it stayed with me long after I read it.
Great follow-up to Sammy's Hill.......2007-08-08
Sammy's House was a witty, enticing, laugh-out-loud follow-up to Sammy's Hill. If you liked the first, you'll like the latter. You do not need to read "Hill" in order to follow the story line of "House," but some of the humor will go unappreciated if you don't read them in order.
Sammy finds herself in some difficult and comical situations working as a staffer for the VP in the White House. She has a boyfriend from the get go in this book, and it felt like Gore struggled a little to create interest in Sammy's love life. However, Sammy is put to the test professionally and the reader is left to wonder how much her VP boss character is modeled after the author's former VP dad. I personally saw a little of myself in Sammy, especially her love for telemarketers and inability to keep fish alive.
All around, I loved every minute of the book, even if a little less than the first one. I would recommend it as a quick, clean, (little to no foul language, just a couple intimate scenes - skipping most details) light-hearted read. I hope to see more of Sammy Joyce in the future!
Not as good as the first.......2007-07-28
Although it was a cute story with a little mystery to solve, it wasn't as good as Sammy's Hill. If you haven't ready Sammy's Hill yet, do not read this book first, there are a lot of spoilers. I wish instead of trying to catch people up on events that happened in Sammy's Hill, that the author would have spent more time developing the story lines in this one. It made the book seem a little too long. It is an easy read though, a great beach book.
Average customer rating:
- Beautifully written, but not the 'ghost story' you might expect
- Haunting
- Haunting, in the best possible way.
- A surprisingly affecting novel.
- A Funny Thing, Life
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The Inhabited World
David Long
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 061854335X |
Book Description
Evan Molloya son, husband, and stepfatherfatally shot himself but doesn't know why. He is now stuck in a state of purgatory in the house in Washington State where he lived and died. Currently, a woman named Maureen Keniston lives there. She is in her late thirties and is trying to restart her life after breaking off a long affair with a married man. The novel moves back and forth between the story of Evan's increasingly troubled life and Maureen's efforts to emerge from her own purgatory. In watching Maureen's struggles and ultimate triumph, Evan comes to see his own life and death in a completely new way.
Customer Reviews:
Beautifully written, but not the 'ghost story' you might expect.......2007-07-14
The premise of a lonely ghost observing life going on in the house in which he died is what attracted me to David Long's novel. But that idea is actually a rather slight portion of this story.
For reasons neither he, nor the reader, ever understand, Evan is doomed to remain in the house in which he committed suicide 10 years earlier. While the premise is fantastical, the tone of the novel is not. We see Evan's life is fragmented, almost swirling snapshots, which seem appropriate for a lost soul still piecing his recollections together. Long writes beautifully in a very literate style and much of the story is Evan reflecting upon his life. And the events of his life are rather prosaic and mundane. He meets his wife, marries her, has an affair, is divorced, reunites with his wife and her troubled daughter. Perhaps Long's point is that life is mundane. But Long's elegant, somewhat melacholy prose holds the reader more than the story itself.
There's a slightness to the narrative. And Evan's connection to Maureen, the woman living in 'his' house doesn't seem fully fleshed out. What is it about her that touches him more than the previous tenants in the house? (She seems to most resemble the woman with whom he had an affair, but that connection is never made explicit.) We follow Evan's mental collapse leading to his suicide in the flashbacks, but it feels a bit arbitrary. There's a slightly aloof quality to Long's story and prose and Evan remains an oddly generic character. It's clear long before the reader gets to the end of this book that there will be no tidy conclusion to this story. And there isn't. And since the emotional impact of the ending hinges on Evan's connection with Maureen, it's puzzling that this connection is what is slighted for much of the novel.
This is a lovely novel -- readable, if not entirely compelling, but perhaps not what many readers might expect from its other-worldly premise.
Haunting.......2007-01-31
I have not, in the past, felt compelled to write reviews on the internet, but this book is so haunting, smart, poetic, and strange, I can't help myself from asserting to potential readers: read it. This is an author who has such a sense of the nature of human beings, their motivations, the depths of the psyche--it changed the way I'll ever again see some of the people in my life. While I was reading it, I found myself talking to its characters, recalling its details, singings its praises to strangers. It entered my dreams! I'm not doing it just, but will say, you won't find another novel like this, and you won't forget it.
Haunting, in the best possible way........2006-12-20
It's been a week since I finished The Inhabited World, and I still can't shake its spell. I read the terrific review in the NY Times, which piqued my interest, but I had no idea the experience of entering the world of this book would be so fulfilling and moving.
I have to say that I'm flabbergasted by the review printed here on Amazon, claiming the book is "slight" -- flabbergasted. I really don't know how anyone could arrive at that word. The daily life of the protagonist was so specific, small in scope but precise and utterly believeable, all of which qualities are rendered so poignant by the circumstances of the present (his suicide).
It is written with mastery; no new writer could achieve this simplicity, could so completely put his words to the service of his story. I never marvelled at his prose, just at the characters' behavior, and only after the book was laid down did I marvel at the exquisite and invisible engine that had driven the story to its conclusion. A heartbreaking and life-affirming conclusion.
A surprisingly affecting novel........2006-11-07
I don't typically write Amazon reviews, but I'm really amazed this book hasn't received more attention. I picked this book up at random in the library, and I will be forever grateful for that instance of serendipity. This is just a really well-written novel. I completely identified with the characters, which was surprising for me, as I often find fiction to be frustrating. As Roger Ebert says about movies, it's not what the movie is about, but how it is about it. This statement can apply here, as the story is wonderfully realized. This is a terrific novel. Read it.
A Funny Thing, Life.......2006-08-31
"What a funny thing, life," thinks Evan Malloy, the main character in David Long's new novel, The Inhabited World. And it is, despite the fact that Evan is a ghost, having died by suicide but existing now in a kind of purgatory, confined to wandering the house and yard where he once lived with his wife, Claudia. Now he invisibly observes the house's string of new inhabitants, including the current one, Maureen.
The Inhabited World is not your usual ghost story by any stretch but rather a deeply moving meditation on life's meaning--or lack of meaning if the life dead ends, if human connections fail to offer solace or succor. Though we learn in the first pages that Evan is dead by his own hand, and that the story of his life and death will come through him in fragments or revealed "tiles" that finally form a full picture, The Inhabited World is curiously life-affirming. Evan may have killed himself, and in the process--as he fully understands from his purgatorial fourth dimension--caused unbearable suffering to those he leaves behind, especially his wife, Claudia and father, Donovan. Still, Evan does atone in a strange way by watching after the house's current occupant, Maureen, a young woman trapped in an abusive relationship with an older married man. Evan cannot physically protect Maureen against the cruel manipulations of Ned, but Evan is not without an ability to influence the human world--that is, his world, the house and yard beyond which he cannot go--and, in the case of Maureen, guide her toward her own strength to resist and take back control. Evan's tenderness for Maureen becomes the purpose of his life after death, and there's a hint that his abiding watchfulness, his role as her "angel of mercy," will lead to Evan's release from his term of confinement.
The story of Evan, Maureen, Claudia and Claudia's almost existentially unhappy teenage daughter Janey--for whom Evan, during the brief period of his second marriage to Claudia, forms a bond of empathy and understanding--flips intricately from past to present, from Evan's life with Claudia to his "new life" (as he calls it), the one with Maureen. Chapters are intense, economical, revelatory. One, "Sleep on the Beach," has the living Evan and Claudia, now newly remarried, experiencing the hugeness of the star-flecked cosmos and, as a corollary, their own fragility. "This is just very powerful, Ev, looking out into all that," says Claudia. "You know? I'm sort of tongue-tied." And for good reason. Evan's infidelity ended their first marriage. Now, many years later, they've tried a second time. And the second time, complicated by the upheavals of step-daughter Janey, often works, though ultimately it will not. It's this foreknowing--Evan's descent into depression, his suicide, his "re-awakening," the imprisonment of his spirit in the old house--that gives this scene on the beach a deep pathos.
The Inhabited World resonates with Long's empathy for the inhabitants of his fictional world. The writing comes from intimate knowledge of how people work, how men and women interact, either as allies or combatants (or, variously, both), saying one thing, meaning three others. No novelist I know has a more finely tuned ear to the nuances of how people speak. No one writes more observantly or truthfully about sex than Long, about how the dynamics can range from tenderness and mutuality to power and control: sex as communion or sex as warfare. And no one knows better how to lay down deft brush strokes of humor, as when Evan and Claudia, in the second marriage, lie in bed. "`Your feet still cold?'" he asked. `Icy.' `Then don't get them near mine,' Evan said. Claudia immediately put her feet on his."
But what may be the most remarkable feature is the writing itself. There is simply never a sentence in The Inhabited World that seems pedestrian, tossed off. Paragraph after paragraph, sentences have a new-minted glint, always surprising, never straining to be stylistically showy but always perfectly pitched, almost tactile in their sensory and sensual architecture. It would be next to impossible to illustrate this well by pulling sentences from their narrative context, but here's a brief passage that gives an idea. In a late chapter, Maureen has one more time endured the sexual demands of Ned, the married radiologist who knows what he wants, everyone else be damned. After Ned drives off and Maureen is alone in the house--so she believes--she has to deal with the glass of iced tea she'd earlier offered him out of perfunctory hospitality:
"Maureen stares, adjusts the kimono where it blouses open, finally takes the tumbler between two fingers, hurries it to the trash like a used diaper, clomps the lid down, turns to look around as if someone might have caught her in the act."
It's this continual care with detailing, the rendering of these human moments, that illuminates the entire novel, that makes us believe a man can be more alive--more conscious--in death than in life. In death, not only is raging insomnia no longer an issue, Evan learns, since he exists in a continuous state of observant wakefulness, neither is depression, anger, the need for medications, and the host of other earth-bound maladies. In the simple act of observing Maureen's comings and goings, Evan learns that he can, in a mysterious way, help the living Maureen find the strength to move forward, and in doing so, redeem himself for that one moment when he could not get beyond what he recognizes as "surmountable despair." And that may be the book's central and brave notion: despair is surmountable.
In The Inhabited World David Long presents readers a great gift in language that climbs to a high promontory of imaginative engagement and stays there. The gift is wisdom about the human condition ("the whips and scorns of time," as Hamlet, another suicidal, famously soliloquizes), about what's worthwhile and what's mere distraction from the worthwhile, about not enduring those insurmountables stoically alone but having the courage to call out for the love of others. The beauty of this novel--perhaps of art itself--is that it offers reasons for living, for forging ahead, for accepting life as weird, mysterious, maddening (in all its senses), for seeing it like Evan, as "a funny thing"--and not, after all, as a lightless narrowing cave, not as unfathomable. David Long fathoms life. So does Evan, finally. In The Inhabited World, we are given the same chance as Evan--to "reconsider" the world from a certain perspective of remove, to return to a sense of wonder and awe, like a night on the beach under stars with someone you love.
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