FICTION
Released: April 1, 1997
Bohjalian (Water Witches, 1995, etc.) blends some provocative moral, medical, and political issues into a classic coming-of-age story in this To Kill a Mockingbirdlike reminiscence of the murder trial of a midwife, as witnessed by her teenaged daughter.
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CHILDREN'S
Released: Sept. 1, 1997
"Honeywood's brightly colored domestic scenes, painted in a flat, folksy style, add plenty of visual energy, and the pleasure each member of Little Bill's family takes in his or her special thing lightens the book's obvious didactic intent. (Fiction. 6-8)"
In the new Little Bill series for beginning readers, Little Bill figures that his father has a prized collection of jazz LPs, his brother has a stack of classic baseball cards, and his mother owns a silver serving platter—so what does he have that's special?
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FICTION
Released: Sept. 2, 1997
"Hard to see what readers will find to like in such a tale. (First printing of 100,000; Literary Guild featured alternate selection; $150,000 ad/promo; author tour)"
From the author of Practical Magic (1995), among others, a kind of inside-out Bridges of Madison County in which the middle- aged mother of a teenager falls in love with a bad man, leaves her husband for him, and winds up abused and isolated.
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FICTION
Released: Dec. 1, 1997
"Cleage is on your tail."
It takes talent to make a love story between an AIDS victim and a convicted murderer work, but playwright/essayist Cleage (Deals with the Devil, 1993, etc.) more than meets the challenge in this gutsy, very likable fiction debut.
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FICTION
Released: June 14, 1998
"A probable commercial bonanza, but both twice as long and not as much as it should have been. (Book-of-the-Month Club main selection; author tour)"
Both a moving character study and a gripping story of family conflict are hidden somewhere inside the daunting bulk of this annoyingly slick second novel by Lamb (the popular Oprah selection She's Come Undone, 1992).
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FICTION
Released: Nov. 1, 1998
"A triumph."
The first novel in five years from the ever-popular Kingsolver (Pigs in Heaven, 1993, etc.) is a large-scale saga of an American family's enlightening and disillusioning African adventure.
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FICTION
Released: Feb. 1, 1999
"No villains here, but only precisely rendered proof that the road to hell is paved with good intentions."
In an enthralling tragedy built on a foundation of small misfortunes, Dubus (
Bluesman, 1993, etc.) offers in detail the unraveling life of a woman who, in her undoing, brings devastation to the families of those in her path.
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FICTION
Released: April 13, 1999
"Vigorous, polished prose, strong storytelling, satisfyingly complex characters, and thoughtfully nuanced perceptions: an impressive debut indeed."
FICTION
Released: Sept. 4, 2002
"A virtuosic combination of elegy, sociohistorical study, and picaresque adventure: altogether irresistible."
The verbal energy and narrative range of Saul Bellow's early fiction (say,
The Adventures of Augie March) are born again in this dazzling second novel, long-awaited since
The Virgin Suicides (1993).
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NONFICTION
Released: April 15, 2003
"Startling, at times pretentious in its self-regard, but ultimately breathtaking: The Lost Weekend for the under-25 set."
Frey's lacerating, intimate debut chronicles his recovery from multiple addictions with adrenal rage and sprawling prose.
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FICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2006
"A novel of horrific beauty, where death is the only truth."
Even within the author's extraordinary body of work, this stands as a radical achievement, a novel that demands to be read and reread.
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FICTION
Released: June 9, 2008
"Haunting prose. Unrelenting horror. An almost unreadable must-read."
Redemption is in short supply in these five stories by a Nigerian priest about children caught in the crossfire of various African countries' upheavals.
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FICTION
Released: June 10, 2008
"An auspicious debut: a boon for dog lovers, and for fans of storytelling that eschews flash. Highly recommended."
A stately, wonderfully written debut novel that incorporates a few of the great archetypes: a disabled but resourceful young man, a potential Clytemnestra of a mom and a faithful dog.
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FICTION
Released: Aug. 31, 2010
"If "freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" (as Kris Kristofferson wrote), this book uses too many words to convey too much of nothing."
The epic sprawl of this ambitious yet ultimately unsatisfying novel encompasses everything from indie rock to environmental radicalism to profiteering in the Middle East.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 20, 2012
"A candid, inspiring narrative of the author's brutal physical and psychological journey through a wilderness of despair to a renewed sense of self."
Unsentimental memoir of the author's three-month solo hike from California to Washington along the Pacific Crest Trail.
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