false 338993 10 "Explain this to me: One minute there is a boy, a life thrumming with possibilities, and the next there are marked cars and strangers in uniform and the fractured whirling lights. And that, suddenly, is all the world has to offer." This is the voice of Ethan Learner, a college professor who has just watched his 10-year-old son, Josh, die in a hit-and-run accident on a silent Connecticut road. <p> John Burnham Schwartz's <I>Bicycle Days</I> (1989) received favorable reviews but seemed very much an autobiographical first novel. His second fiction, <I>Reservation Road</I>, however, is a book that resists genres: a tragedy where all the characters are flawed and none are entirely guilty; a thriller where the killer, Dwight, wants to be caught but is too laden with self-loathing to turn himself in; and an experimental novel where the narrative jumps gracefully among three perspectives. <p> In the opening pages Schwartz establishes strong connections between fathers and sons. Moments before the accident Ethan watches his son standing precariously close to the curb; he sees possibilities in Josh, a shy boy whose musical gifts indicate a sensitivity that is no less present, though more mature, in his father. At the same time, Dwight and his son, Sam (also 10), are rushing home from an extra-innings Red Sox game where Dwight tries to rebuild the fragments of attachment left after a bitter divorce. Schwartz reveals depth in simple gestures--a hand, for example, placed in a hand, only to be self-consciously pulled away. Dwight drives on after hitting Josh, though he slows in a moment of hesitation in which Ethan hears him calling "Sam" or "Sham"--he's not sure which. Out of grief, and with only scattered clues, Ethan begins his quiet pursuit of the killer, a pursuit that fuels the novel to its poetic conclusion. In <I>Reservation Road</I>, John Burnham Schwartz has crafted a lasting work of literature, a page-turner that's also a rich character study. <I>--Patrick O'Kelley</I> 2465688 1998 Reservation Road (Vintage Contemporaries) total:484|5:47|4:176|3:187|2:63|1:11| 484 1637 683 118 5 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 30 07:16:31 -0800 2007 Sun Jan 13 06:34:03 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 03:10:52 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 01 03:19:52 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Mar 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 06 17:45:19 -0800 2009 Sat Mar 07 21:16:30 -0800 2009 more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Mar 22 12:10:59 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 12:10:59 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Mar 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Feb 28 12:27:29 -0800 2009 Fri Mar 27 18:50:51 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jan 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 20:50:08 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 04 20:50:36 -0800 2009 Revolutionary Road, which I thought I was reading….also soon to be a motion picture.

Let’s be honest I was 3/4 through the book when I realized I was reading the wrong book for book club. Awe nuts. My picture thumbs...more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jan 29 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Jan 28 19:51:49 -0800 2008 Mon Jan 28 19:52:38 -0800 2008
Reservation Road is the st...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 18 12:45:16 -0800 2007 Thu Dec 20 15:08:16 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 26 16:46:44 -0800 2007 Mon Jan 14 08:16:25 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 27 16:48:43 -0700 2007 Sat Oct 27 16:48:43 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 1999 Mon Apr 16 07:23:08 -0700 2007 Tue Apr 17 10:54:49 -0700 2007
I was given this book to read by a good friend who had just had a son. It came with the warning of "Dude this will bust you up inside." Okay maybe I'm paraphrasing but t...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Nov 26 20:47:52 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 26 20:57:51 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Apr 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 03 07:37:28 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 03 07:42:21 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Mar 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Mar 08 10:23:49 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 08 10:44:31 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Mon Aug 10 21:04:15 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 21:06:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 08 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 21 20:30:42 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 08 17:39:31 -0800 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Sep 17 04:49:10 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 07:39:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 28 07:08:24 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 28 08:05:01 -0700 2009 When a Man Loves a Woman (Meg Ryan, Andy Garcia) -- heartwrenching drama that's agonizing to watch but impossible to turn away from.

The novel is ...more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 11 06:48:58 -0700 2007 Thu Oct 18 06:12:36 -0700 2007 ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 25 12:37:10 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 12:39:31 -0700 2009 more...]]>