From the author of the New York Times bestseller and Oprah's Book Club selection House of Sand and Fog--a new big-hearted, painful, page-turning novel. One early September night in Florida, a stripper brings her daughter to work. April's usual babysitter is in the hospital, so she decides it's best to have her three-year-old daughter close by, watching children's videos in the office, while she works. Except that April works at the Puma Club for Men. And tonight she has an unusual client, a foreigner both remote and too personal, and free with his money. Lots of it, all cash. His name is Bassam. Meanwhile, another man, AJ, has been thrown out of the club for holding hands with his favorite stripper, and he's drunk and angry and lonely. From these explosive elements comes a relentless, raw, searing, passionate, page-turning narrative, a big-hearted and painful novel about sex and parenthood and honor and masculinity. Set in the seamy underside of American life at the moment before the world changed, it juxtaposes lust for domination with hunger for connection, sexual violence with family love. It seizes the reader by the throat with the same psychological tension, depth, and realism that characterized Andre Dubus's #1 bestseller, House of Sand and Fog--and an even greater sense of the dark and anguished places in the human heart.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.0 / 5.0
The Garden of Last Days: Why Myth?:
It has bee said there are no new stories; we repeat the same stories; and they come from mythical narrations passed from generation to generation. Andre Dubus repeats the familiar Garden of Eden myth in his novel Garden of Last Days. When he links complex contemporary characters to the myth we know he intends to ponder universal questions. What is the nature of man; does he have free will; and what is his purpose? Eden is an enclosed garden with two trees: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,... more info
The road to nowhere:
The House of Sand and Fog drew in more readers than this work would ever have garnered on its own. I read 115 pages before coming to these reviews. I wanted to have some assurance that it wasn't just me. The book just doesn't go anywhere. I'm enough of a degenerate to stay in the strippers lounge all day on my own; but I wanted out from the scenes in this book. Thanks to the brave readers who posted here, and saved me from further self inflicted distress.
Disappointing:
I was looking forward to reading this book since I thoroughly enjoyed "House of Sand and Fog", but was very disappointed. It's just another "day in the life"-type novel with no point. If you're in the mood for that type of book, it's OK and is fast reading, but if you want something with a little more substance, keep looking.
Worthy follow-up, didn't let me down:
I loved House of Sand & Fog and was so excited when I learned that this author was coming out with a new novel. I think this was a worthy follow-up, I was not disappointed. All 500+ pages I was on the edge of my seat. The novel actually only takes place over only a couple of days, but even at 530 some pages, you aren't bored. The pace is fast enough, yet detailed enough. The characters are each fascenating in their own right. You're taken nearly hour by hour with what each character is... more info
