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Loading... House of Sand and Fog: A Novel (edition 2011)by Andre Dubus Iii (Author)
Work InformationHouse of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. Heartbreaking. A story of pride and greed colliding with irresponsibility, with tragic unintended consequences. The story is mostly told from two viewpoints in the first person. I'm not a fan of first person, but this worked because there was more than one "first person". I'm glad I read this book, but I need a light hearted read right now! Kathy Lazaro, a recovering addict, lives in a house she inherited. After her husband, Nick, abandons her, there is a tax issue, and she is evicted from the house. She loses her safety net and experiences many emotions related to feeling unhinged and homeless amid a mire of legalities. Her story alternates with that of Massoud Behrani, an ex-colonel of the Iranian air force who bought and inhabited “her” house in Corona, California. Lester Burdon, a married police officer and witness to Kathy’s predicament, falls in love with Kathy and becomes determined to help her regain occupancy of her house. His infatuation with Kathy leads him to risk his job and life to support her. But unfortunately, he and Kathy demonstrate some of the darkest attitudes Americans have toward immigrants and allow their self-interests to get in the way of justice and common sense. Behrani and his wife Nadi are incredulous when they realize how corrupt the American system appears and refuse to abandon their journey toward achieving the American dream. They’ve lost their home and status in Iran and are unwilling to release their new house without a battle. Nadi tries to reason with Kathy and is sympathetic to her cause. Her efforts are fruitless. The Behranis begin to think that Americans only respect money and proudly display status symbols such as cars but are judgmental, self-absorbed, and unlikely to respect immigrants. All the main characters have misperceptions and are misguided in their efforts to accomplish their goals. Additionally, the American bureaucracy prohibits common decency from prevailing. As a result, each character and civil agency loses much, and the reader can intuit that there were many better ways to resolve conflicts. See my reviews at https://quipsandquotes.net/ no reviews | add a review
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A recent immigrant from the Middle East--a former colonel in the Iranian Air Force--yearns to restore his family's dignity in California. A recovering alcoholic and addict down on her luck struggles to hold onto the one thing she has left'her home. And her lover, a married cop, is driven to extremes to win her love.Andre Dubus III's unforgettable characters--people with ordinary flaws, looking for a small piece of ground to stand on--careen toward inevitable conflict. Their tragedy paints a shockingly true picture of the country we live in today. 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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Thus was a good read that kept me turning the pages. The only thing that bothered me was the detailed descriptions of people’s bad breath and the deputy sheriff’s crooked moustache . ( )