by Russell Banks
When I went to graduate school for writing, I learned that there are grad school books and authors. These are the authors or titles you likely have never heard of before entering an MFA program, but you're going to hear about them before they let you leave. During my two years there, no unknown name...
This is the first Russell Banks book I've read, and it is devastating in its cynicism. Still, it is a true portrayal of underdog America. I felt sorry for the characters, but then again everything that befell them seemed inevitable.
You certainly cannot label this novel a "feel-good book." Russell Banks once again plumbs the depths of man's soul and his struggle (usually fruitless) to obtain a certain moral certainty in his life. The story starts off just before Christmas in New Hampshire and ends in a dingy back alley in the H...
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