HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Loading...

Pacific

by Tom Drury

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
858314,699 (4.25)5
Fiction. Literature. HTML:

In a triumphant return to the characters thatlaunched his career two decades ago, Tom Drury travels back to Grouse County,the setting of his landmark debut, TheEnd of Vandalism. Drury's depictions of the stark beauty of the Midwest andthe futility of American wanderlust have earned him comparisons to RaymondCarver, Sherwood Anderson, and Paul Auster.When fourteen-year-old Micah Darling travelsto Los Angeles to reunite with the mother, who deserted him seven years ago, hefinds himself out of his league in a land of magical freedom. He does new drugswith new people, falls in love with an enchanting but troubled equestriennenamed Charlotte, and gets thrown out of school over the activities of a clubcalled the New Luddites.Back in the Midwest, an ethereal young womancomes to Stone City on a mission that will unsettle the lives of everyone shemeetsâ??including Micah's half-sister, Lyris, who still fights fears ofabandonment after a childhood in foster care, and Micah's father, Tiny, a pettythief. An investigation into the stranger's identity uncovers a darklydisturbed life, as parallel narratives of the comic and tragic, the mysteriousand the everyday, unfold in both the country and the city.A portrait of two disparate communitiesunited by the restlessness and desperate hope of their residents, Drury'shaunted souls, adrift between promise and circumstance, reveal our infinitecapacity to "get in and out of trouble in unexpected ways" and still find asemblance of peace at the end.… (more)

Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 5 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)
Fantastic book, easygoing, gentle, good-natured and funny. Sharply observed with brilliant dialogue, but yet somehow dreamlike and drifting. And the scene towards the end in Micah's school with them playing The National I just loved. ( )
  AlisonSakai | Jan 17, 2019 |
Brilliant. ( )
  adrianburke | Feb 1, 2016 |
Once again Tom Drury leads us into the world of Charles “Tiny” Darling, his former wife, Joan, and their two children, Lyris and Micah. Joan is now living in California and Micah is heading out to live with her. Lyris has started her own life with Albert Robeshaw, but she is periodically mothered by Tiny’s first wife, Louise, who is now married to Dan Norman, the former sheriff. Their lives entwine and go their separate ways. Joy and sadness, infidelity and faithfulness mingle. Violence and disappointment sometimes erupt. And underneath is a swift current of myth or madness.

Drury has settled in to his style in this novel. He moves easily between his characters, unsurprised by the sometimes surprising things they say. If he is sometimes lost, he is no more lost than his characters, especially Micah and Tiny. And as ever, there is a general feeling that this just might be the way life really is, in spite of the almost palpable love that seems to surround everyone. Maybe it’s just the way Drury wishes life were.

Warmly recommended. ( )
  RandyMetcalfe | Dec 12, 2015 |
I loved Pacific. I loved getting back in touch with the characters from Grouse County—I realized I have been missing them for years. And I love Drury's writing: not a syllable out of place. Each section a prose poem. ( )
  JoePhelan | Dec 14, 2014 |
Not quite as good to me as the two books prior to this one but glad to know how the characters had advanced. I can't imagine someone reading this without having read the earlier works, it would have seemed pretty empty on its own. ( )
  viviennestrauss | Jun 6, 2014 |
Showing 1-5 of 7 (next | show all)
no reviews | add a review

Belongs to Publisher Series

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
Quotations
Last words
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English

None

Fiction. Literature. HTML:

In a triumphant return to the characters thatlaunched his career two decades ago, Tom Drury travels back to Grouse County,the setting of his landmark debut, TheEnd of Vandalism. Drury's depictions of the stark beauty of the Midwest andthe futility of American wanderlust have earned him comparisons to RaymondCarver, Sherwood Anderson, and Paul Auster.When fourteen-year-old Micah Darling travelsto Los Angeles to reunite with the mother, who deserted him seven years ago, hefinds himself out of his league in a land of magical freedom. He does new drugswith new people, falls in love with an enchanting but troubled equestriennenamed Charlotte, and gets thrown out of school over the activities of a clubcalled the New Luddites.Back in the Midwest, an ethereal young womancomes to Stone City on a mission that will unsettle the lives of everyone shemeetsâ??including Micah's half-sister, Lyris, who still fights fears ofabandonment after a childhood in foster care, and Micah's father, Tiny, a pettythief. An investigation into the stranger's identity uncovers a darklydisturbed life, as parallel narratives of the comic and tragic, the mysteriousand the everyday, unfold in both the country and the city.A portrait of two disparate communitiesunited by the restlessness and desperate hope of their residents, Drury'shaunted souls, adrift between promise and circumstance, reveal our infinitecapacity to "get in and out of trouble in unexpected ways" and still find asemblance of peace at the end.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.25)
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3 3
3.5 1
4 6
4.5
5 8

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,205,396 books! | Top bar: Always visible