false 2015777 5 From the author of the critically acclaimed story collection <I>How This Night Is Different</i> comes a dark, arresting, fearlessly funny story of one young woman's terminal illness. In <I>The Book of Dahlia</i>, Elisa Albert walks a dazzling line between gravitas and irreverence, mining an exhilarating blend of skepticism and curiosity, compassion and candor, high and low culture.<P>Meet Dahlia Finger: twenty-nine, depressed, whip-smart, occasionally affable, bracingly honest, resolutely single, and perennially unemployed. She spends her days stoned in front of the TV, watching the same movies repeatedly, like "a form of prayer." But Dahlia's so-called life is upended by an aggressive, inoperable brain tumor.<P>Stunned and uncomprehending, Dahlia must work toward reluctant emotional reckoning with the aid of a questionable self-help guide. She obsessively revisits the myriad heartbreaks, disappointments, rages, and regrets that comprise the story of her life -- from her parents' haphazard Israeli courtship to her kibbutz conception; from the role of beloved daughter and little sister to that of abandoned, suicidal adolescent; from an affluent childhood in Los Angeles to an aimless existence in the gentrified wilds of Brooklyn; from a girl with "options" to a girl with none -- convinced that cancer struck because she herself is somehow at fault.<P>With her take-no-prisoners perspective, her depressive humor, and her extreme vulnerability, Dahlia Finger is an unforgettable anti-heroine. This staggering portrait of one young woman's life and death confirms Elisa Albert as a "witty, incisive" (<I>Variety</i>) and even "wonder-inducing" writer (<I>Time Out New York</i>). 2020058 11 3 2008 The Book of Dahlia: A Novel total:402|5:49|4:126|3:129|2:62|1:36| 402 1296 773 145 5 4 false false Fri Aug 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 03 12:12:28 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 03 12:23:44 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 3 false false Sun Dec 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 26 07:41:18 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 01 18:32:46 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 3 false false Thu Jul 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 25 11:20:16 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 17 09:02:43 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false true Tue Dec 30 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 28 22:54:33 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 30 13:05:47 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Sun Apr 13 12:59:28 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 09 08:10:55 -0700 2008
Summed up beautifully in an aside aimed at the reader;

"Why so profane, ask the bookclubbers? Because we are talking here about death, and f*ck you if you don't like i...more...]]> 5 4 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 16:26:20 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 16:34:07 -0800 2009
Female anti-heroes are pretty rare -- and Dahlia is priz...more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Apr 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 19 10:02:50 -0700 2008 Fri May 02 09:06:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Sep 08 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 10:36:11 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 09 10:48:54 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Dec 25 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 24 07:30:30 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 29 08:15:05 -0800 2008
I didn't read the whole book. I couldn't. I thought it was going to be like Night Swimming by Robin Schwarz, or the movie Last Holiday, but it became apparent a few chapters in that there was to be no chick lit fun to be had, no misdiagnosis, no lesso...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Aug 07 04:47:18 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 07 04:47:59 -0700 2009
While some readers may be put off by Albert’s sharp, gallows, humor, it should be noted that the author lost her brother, David, to a brain tumor ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 13:49:35 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 07:08:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 10:37:08 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 05:17:15 -0800 2009
Dahlia is a 29 year old ne'er do well--no friends, no job, all she wants to do (...more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 04 04:30:06 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 04 04:34:42 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 13 17:22:06 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 14 14:58:22 -0800 2009
The novel is a portrait of a very angry, lonely, and lost woman named Dahlia Finger, who finds out she is going to lose the life she never knew what...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Feb 18 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 17:20:32 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 15 11:54:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 02 08:34:31 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 02 08:54:24 -0800 2008
I loved the main character, whom, I pretty sure one is supposed to loath. Dahlia Finger's malignant brain tumor isn't going to get in the way of her bitternes...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 18 10:20:00 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 19:29:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Jul 21 17:23:48 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 21 17:28:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Nov 15 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 15 16:30:04 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 19 07:03:21 -0800 2009 The Frog King...more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 22 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 28 14:30:42 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 10:28:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2015777