Hi all,
Multiple links to full-length professional reviews of the following
books released in the US have been added to http://www.reviewsofbooks.com
in the last week:
"Exit Ghost" by Philip Roth - Philip Roth's "Exit Ghost" is his final
Nathan Zuckerman novel, and finds his elderly protagonist (if not
alter ego) leaving his rural refuge to come to New York for medical
treatment for his impotence and incontinence after prostate surgery.
He sees an ad for a couple who wants to switch their Upper West Side
residence for a rural house and he impulsively agrees to it, finding
himself lusting after the woman involved. He meets a woman from his
past, Amy Bellette, now suffering from brain cancer. She was lover
and muse to Zuckerman's mentor, novelist E.I. Lonoff, and spending
time reveals more of her past. He also meets Richard Kliman, an
ambitious journalist writing a biography of Lonoff, who wants
information about the writer from both Amy and Zuckerman, hinting that
he knows secrets about the man that they don't. "Exit Ghost" has
received mostly positive reviews with the Seattle Times saying, "'Exit
Ghost' is an intriguing, intricate novel. In some respects, it reads
like an oblique biography of Nathan Zuckerman. Roth invests what might
have been a bleak tale of desperation with a triumphant examination of
the exigencies of age, illness, and fame."
Excerpt and all reviews are at:
http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/exit_ghost
"Bridge of Sighs" by Richard Russo - "Bridge of Sighs" finds Louis C.
("Lucy") Lynch and, Sarah, his wife of forty years planning the trip
of a lifetime to Venice. They live in an old industrial upstate New
York town where pollution in the local waterways is causing cancer in
the residents. Lucy is writing a history of his family, growing up
under a father he adored and a mother's whose business a***en allowed
them to leave on the right side of town. As a teenager, he was best
friends with Bobby, although they were opposites in personality; Lucy
played it safe and chose family over adventure while Bobby took
chances and wanted an exciting life. Sarah was attracted to both, and
when she chose Lucy, Bobby set out for a new life, becoming a famous
painter living in Venice. Richard Russo (Pulitzer Prize-winning
author of "Empire Falls") has written a novel that has garnered
positive reviews with the Boston Globe saying, "That Russo manages to
juggle so many characters, themes, places, and time periods through
528 delicious pages is an astounding achievement. From its lovely
beginning to its exquisite, perfect end, Russo has written a
masterpiece."
Excerpt and all reviews are at:
http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/bridge_of_sighs
"Playing for Pizza" by John Grisham - In "Playing for Pizza," Rick
Dockery is a third-string quarterback for the Cleveland Browns, and
when he's forced to play during a playoff game, he blows it big time.
His terrible performance causes the Browns to lose their chance at the
Super Bowl and their enraged fans chase him out of town. The only
football team interested in him now is the Parma Panthers. That's
Parma, Italy. In Italy, Dockery finds teammates who play for the fun
of it, and Italy's charms - its food, wine, and a certain female opera
singer - draw him in. He even gets the chance to lead his new team to
the Italian Super Bowl, if he can avoid disaster again. John
Grisham's novel has received mostly positive reviews with the Boston
Globe saying, "Grisham has connected with a deeply satisfying story of
an athlete finding redemption. What could have been a painful exile
for a disgraced American quarterback becomes a delightfully unexpected
homecoming."
Excerpt and all reviews are at:
http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/playing_for_pizza
"Pontoon" by Garrison Keillor - "Pontoon" begins with insomniac 82-
year-old Evelyn Peterson dying in her sleep. She's left behind
instructions to her daughter, Barbara, that she's to be incinerated
and her ashes placed into a bowling ball and dropped into Lake
Wobegon. She also reveals she's had a long affair with a secret
lover. Barbara, struggling with alcoholism, decides to be more like
her mother and gives up liquor and religion. The bowling ball funeral
involves a flying Elvis, renegade Danish Lutheran ministers, a pontoon
boat, and a hot air balloon. Throw in more Lake Wobegon slightly
oddball characters, and you have vintage Garrison Keillor. "Pontoon"
has received positive reviews with BookPage saying, "Keillor has a way
with a little turn of a phrase, and rifles through everyday
experiences to find just that nugget that will make it true to all of
us. What a wonderful little vacation."
All reviews are at:
http://www.reviewsofbooks.com/pontoon
Happy reading!
Bill - administrator of http://www.reviewsofbooks.com
|
