Rate this book

Waveland (2009)

by Frederick Barthelme(Favorite Author)

3.38 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0385527292 (ISBN13: 9780385527293)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Doubleday

review 1: Set in post-Katrina Mississippi, Fred Barthelme's new novel is one of reconstruction, but surprisingly, Katrina is just a backdrop to the story of a mediocre retired architect who has given up on actively pursuing joy in life, and, after a fallow, static period, realizes that the family you piece together from the friends who love you is more important than the family you are born into. In a gorgeous Zen-like (and totally not cliche) way, he learns to appreciate the beautiful mundane. Barthelme's dialogue is sparkling and realistic and his pacing is wonderful, spare but totally engaging, almost Japanese in style (think Banana Yamamoto and others...). A fantastic new novel.
review 2: I enjoyed this alot. I like reading about people going through the motions and ... moreit not always being some great big happy ending. this reminds me a little bit of some of the stories in Everything Ravaged without the dark cloud. Not everyones life is perfect and sometimes we just exist. Not to mention that the author, rather than let this plot turn into a free for all comedy, allowed us to read about the unomfortableness of the main characters and their situation. less

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