Moira Crone

"New England is really a state of mind, not a place, when you are this far south"
One of the standout books I read last year was Moira Crone's The Ice Garden. I was wowed by it and vowed to read more of her. Then didn't. Until I picked up Dream State.
I wasn't disappointed. All the stories are set in Louisiana, the 'dream state', and are told by characters who are not from there. Retrogression is never far away.
"This is the conundrum of form, I think: when those days were mine, they were show more hollow.
Now they are brimming and gorgeous"
It's smart, funny and wise. The eponymous story is stunning and there isn't a weak story in the entire collection. show less

I've already forgotten what I thought about his book. It seemed derivative. In fact, rightly or wrongly, brought to mind David Mitchell's "An Orison of Sonmi--451" in Cloud Atlas. I don't think that Crone has completely imagined her dystopian futuristic society. Something is missing to make it both convincing & engaging. I don't know what that something is. It just doesn't, for the most part, seem "new" to me in its vision.

I love dystopia and this was sent in my hometown! It is quite poetic in parts and timely. After seeing the picture of the 74-year-old Jane Fonda at Cannes, I turned to my mother and said, "Jane's an Heir."