book data
37 ratings, 3.27 average rating, 17 reviews
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published
July 21st 2008
by W. W. Norton
binding
Hardcover, 352 pages
isbn
0393057909
(isbn13: 9780393057904)
description
In the tragicomic mode of his best-selling Louisiana Power & Light, a hilarious and tenderhearted novel about a son's attempts to save his family.<...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 139)
Read in August, 2008
John Dufresne is one of my favorite writers. He has the ability to look at the ordinary and find the extraordinary story within it. We are all fighting to survive, to protect a life that deals us twists and turns that are at once both disconcerting and enervating. He is a master of telling the story of the common man.
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http://miamisunpost.com/071708...
Bound: Miami Sun Post July 17, 08
Dysfunction Junction
John Dufresne drives a family’s train right off the tracks
By John Hood
Families are funny things, peculiar rather than ha-ha, and, on occasion, decidedly dangerous to be around. Hell, given the inclination, families can also be rather deadly. Think about it. They’re not just intimate enough to be at each other’s throa...more
Bound: Miami Sun Post July 17, 08
Dysfunction Junction
John Dufresne drives a family’s train right off the tracks
By John Hood
Families are funny things, peculiar rather than ha-ha, and, on occasion, decidedly dangerous to be around. Hell, given the inclination, families can also be rather deadly. Think about it. They’re not just intimate enough to be at each other’s throa...more
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Read in November, 2008
In the same vein as Burroughs' "Running with Scissors," another tale of crazy mother and repercussions on children. Enjoyed the descriptions of growing up in working class town in Mass., and ridiculous events at Catholic School. Not so hot on the flash forwards to the fellow as a grown-up, and his speech when he is a kid is decidedly adult post-therapy-speak. That could be funny if the set-up was that the kid was born a brilliant psychologist, but he wasn't. So the conversations with h...more
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Read in September, 2008
It's always surprising to me to read about childhoods that were not idyllic. I'm not saying that everything was great for me as a kid, but the people in this book had some really weird stuff to deal with. This book is not a simple plot and finish story. This is a character study. The end is like real life, it just ends. There are many questions left hanging by the end and yet most of the loose ends are tied up nicely. The ends are tied up just like loose ends get tied up in real life. Som...more
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Read in November, 2008
I enjoy Dufresne for reasons that I love John Irving. His style is decidedly more southern (e.g. grotesque) than Irving, while maintaining an element of surrealism and comedy. I have just started this book (having read Louisiana Power & Light and Love Warps the Mind a Little), so perhaps more to come....
Not much more to come. The process of reading the book is more interesting than what i took from it. Screwy childhood equals adulthood (or am I pulling in too much of Love Warps the ...more
Not much more to come. The process of reading the book is more interesting than what i took from it. Screwy childhood equals adulthood (or am I pulling in too much of Love Warps the ...more
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Read in September, 2008
I liked this book overall, despite it sometimes reveling in the quirkyness of its characters and dipping its toes a few too many times into the "is it a memoir or is it fiction and what is memoir anyway" pool. Parts of this story about a working class Catholic family torn apart by mental illness are pretty funny. Other parts try to be funny and come off a bit forced. Best of all are the "present day" parts where the narrator lets down his guard a bit and lets the reader in. N...more
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Read in October, 2008
Maybe it's a sign of my dwindling attention span, but I couldn't get through this. Everything that I usually love about John Dufresne's writing -- unforgettably wacky characters, pages of minutiae, cheeky dialogue -- just seems aimless and impenetrable here. That, and the undercurrent of hope that usually runs through his work is nowhere to be found, so it's a rather depressing read. Oh well...
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Read in August, 2008
I thought I'd like this book since I thought Louisiana Power & Light was great, but no. Stuck with it for nearly 200 pages before giving up. I'm not sure what it was, quirky characters, disjointed style, the sense that nothing was happening or what but bailing out seemed the best course of action.
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Read in October, 2008
My book club is reading this right now. It takes place in the 1960's mostly in Requiem,Massachusetts with a loony mother and a father who is a truck driver and seems to have 2 other families along his route. There is some comedy and some true sadness in this book; a quick read.
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Wow! I am amazed to read memoirs about people who grow up with nutty households and crazy parents and they still seem to survive!
I was impressed that he could write about such awful circumstances without sounding bitter or angry. I'd like to read more of his work.
I was impressed that he could write about such awful circumstances without sounding bitter or angry. I'd like to read more of his work.
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Read in September, 2008
I loved this. It was so random and funny and sad at the same time. I think Dufresne does a great job at describing what it's like to deal with a mentally ill person. I love the way the book jumps in time, but it's a little confusing sometimes :| Otherwise great read.
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I wasn't sure at first if I liked this book - but I was definitely intrigued. I ended up loving this sad yet funny tale of a dysfunctional family that makes mine look downright sane! Favorite chapter title, "If the phone doesn't ring, It's dad"
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Read in September, 2008
I definitely liked parts of this book. I found humor. I found heartache. But there were so many characters (a tad too cleverly named) and I am still trying to decode the disjointedness of the thing...they where and whyfor.
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Quite Bizarre. Johnny's mother is schizophrenic, father is a pathological liar. Throw in some nuns and a few manic episodes, and you've got yourself the picture of an all-American family.
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somewhat a la David Sedaris...funny story about a New England family and its dysfunction, craziness and honesty. Very, very well-written.
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Eleanor by:
ARC from publisher
Stream of consciousness makes my head hurt, even when my heart is totally involved.
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