Dana's Favorites

Dana's Favorites

Last Night in Twisted River (Paperback)

$17.00

ISBN-13: 9780345479730
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Ballantine Books, 6/2010

Different story---same John Irving, a master storyteller with a quirky tale of lumbering in northern New Hampshire with characters so peculiar and allluring that I will remember them forever. There is an autobiographical element in this book and, yes, a bear. This is a return to the Irving of old---I had all but given up on him, but this story takes you on such an incredible journey in time, place, and substance that you will shirk work and postpone play to keep reading. If Ketchum doesn't make your heart sing, you should see a cardiologist.

~Dana

Telex from Cuba (Paperback)

By Rachel Kushner

$16.00

ISBN-13: 9781416561040
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Scribner, 6/2009

Other Editions of this Title

Viva La Revolucion! Venceremos! This is the battle cry of those Castro boys who come down from the mountains with their band of guerillas to upset the sugarcane cart of whatever regime is in power at the time. There are 26 American families living in Cuba in the late fifties. Much of this story is told by two children who are growing up in the American colony of Preston. Life here is an artificial existence of elaborate entertainment for the wives and kids of the United Fruit Co. employees. But these kids are catching on to the real and huge cost of their lifestyle here. They begin to understand that violence and brutality isn't just what comes down from the hills. It is complicated and dangerous, and their Tips For Anglos brochure provided by Unifruitco would not guide them through the political upheaval of the late 50?s.

This is one of few novels set in revolutionary Cuba. I was drawn to it because of an interest in Cuba, but I stayed until the end because Telex From Cuba is worth the reading.

~Dana

Loving Frank (Paperback)

By Nancy Horan

$15.00

ISBN-13: 9780345495006
Availability: Usually Ships in 1-5 days
Published: Ballantine Books, 4/2008

Other Editions of this Title

Having grown up in the shadow of Taliesin, I already knew some of the lore surrounding Frank Lloyd Wright and his architecture and love affairs. This novelization of the relationship between Wright and Mamah Cheney is impressively well researched. There is the unrelenting self-absorption of the two lovers who shocked Chicago society and the world architectural community. Together they offend and estrange their families, children, friends and business associates. You may already know the denouement, but Horan's depiction is chilling and left me holding the terrible realization that tragedy can find one anywhere, including this most perfect, verdant setting in rural Wisconsin.

~Dana