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Loading... That Nightby Alice McDermott
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. The woman can write. I really liked the construct of this story, beginning from a simple premise: one night and the concentric circles that run out and away from the center point and then back in. Exciting to see this simple idea, as for my own writing, there's often a need to scale back, and to do, or try to do, less. And to have that be OK, and to work. This does. ( ) teenage love + life t/ teenage eyes On a warm suburban night, the sound of lawn sprinklers is drowned out by the rumble of hot rods. Suddenly a car careens onto a family's neat front yard, teenage boys spill out brandishing chains and leather, and a young man cries out for the girl he loves. Tonight fathers will pick up snow shovels and rakes to defend their turf, and children will witness a battle fueled by fierce, true love. This is the night they will talk about and remember as the moment everything changed forever. Many of us who grew up in the 60's can relate to the events in this novel. Mcdermott presents a single, memorable (small town) event and develops it into a full blown novel.I think the theme of the novel is "despite everything, life goes on". The author is not particularly optimistic. Her characters don't rise above their current and past situations, but none the less, they do survive. Mcderdermott is a top notch novelist, but I would intersperse her works with more uplifting fiction. A masterpiece. I wish I'd read this book this morning when I was still able to write coherently instead of midnight when I'm in the last seven hours of a twenty-four hour read-a-thon. I loved the way the author switches from first person singular narrator to first person plural narrator in the story. I also loved the way the author provides little glimpses of the future for the characters who pop into the narrative. These give the story a big vision both broad and yet full of disappointment. no reviews | add a review
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On a warm suburban night, the sound of lawn sprinklers is drowned out by the rumble of hot rods. Suddenly, a car careens onto a family's neat front yard, teenage boys spill out brandishing chains and leather, and a young man cries out for the girl he loves. Tonight, fathers will pick up snow shovels and rakes to defend their turf, and children will witness a battle fuelled by fierce and true love. This is the night they will talk about and remember as the moment that changed everything forever. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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