William Kennedy has been writing brilliant and witty novels about upstate New York for many years. Love, lose, drama and politics are all part of his universal song to America.
Here is a brilliantly written novel about the collapse of the global economy--and, oh ya, the personal failure of a guy stuck in Saudi Arabia, divorced, lonely, and failing as a dad.
Full of literary and mind bending twists and turns, this novel addresses questions of what is real and what is beyond our reckoning, including spiritual and or neurological explorations of life after death. Yes this is a mindf**k but one with great characters and a sense of humor.
This is the best novel I read in 2012, by a long shot.
I still think about it months later, and I’m still troubled by it.
I read it in a fugue, completely transfixed.
Deeply moving, provocative, alive and unique.
Read this book today.
~Eric
An old fashioned novel that will satisfy your inner Dickens. There is tension between tenderness and danger that works to make this novel remarkable. Highly recommended.
Kevin Powers is a poet and his powerful book on war delivers tiny gems of description about honor, grief, and hell. This book will leave you breathless; it is brutal and gorgeous. Must read.
~Frayda
