false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg 380536 3 For those of us who woefully turned the last page of <I>Crossing California</I>, Adam Langer's masterful debut, <I>The Washington Story</I> offers a gratifying, if not lengthy, reunion with the people and places whose stories so engaged readers the first time around. In this tightly packed sequel, Langer revisits the same West Rogers Park neighborhood in Chicago where we first met a fascinating cast of characters, from high schoolers Muley Scott Wills, Jill and Michelle Wasserstrom, and Hillel Levy to movie producers Mel Coleman and Carl "Slappit" Silverman, whose lives continue to intertwine in ways that make this expansive novel both a delight and a challenge to fully absorb.<p> Like in <I>Crossing California</I>, time and place are as central to the story as the characters themselves. <I>The Washington Story</I> takes place between 1982 and 1987, and follows the political career of Chicago mayor Harold Washington, the <I>Challenger</I> space shuttle disaster, and the changing landscape of both an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Chicago and the world beyond its borders. From a dorm room at Vassar to a hostel in West Berlin, Langer follows his characters across the street and around the globe, observing their behavior with a sharp eye for detail and an understated yet inspired sense of humor that can be unbelievably rewarding at times. ("He would sit alone at Ponderosa, where he would eat chili and pretend to read Jack Kerouac ... though when he would return alone to his hotel room, he would put down <I>The Dharma Bums</I> and pick up the GMAT study guide.") At one point in Jill's college career, she wonders if she could ever be considered prettier than her starlet sister Michelle. Yet according to Langer, it's "Not that she really cared about being pretty; she mostly cared about not being ugly." <p> Observations like these are what make <I>The Washington Story</I> so much more than a simple coming-of-age tale. Rather, Langer's unpretentious style, coupled with his immense talent for storytelling, rewards readers with a sequel worthy of its predecessor. <I>--Gisele Toueg</I> 975977 2005 The Washington Story total:187|5:2|4:1|3:1|2:1|1:0| 187 657 266 34 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 4 0 false Tue Nov 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Oct 21 05:36:17 -0700 2009 Tue Nov 03 06:34:59 -0800 2009 more...]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 5 0 false Thu Mar 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 18:38:00 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 06 18:42:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 990482 1573223247 9781573223249 19 4 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180036864m/990482.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/990482.The_Washington_Story 5 0 false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 03 11:44:50 -0700 2007 Mon Sep 03 12:00:45 -0700 2007 more...]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 4 0 false Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Thu Jun 07 14:00:20 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 07 14:00:53 -0700 2007 more...]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 1 1 false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jul 16 02:36:25 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 16 02:40:00 -0700 2009 more...]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 3 0 false Tue Oct 23 22:20:22 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 26 15:27:40 -0700 2007
As a...more...]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 3 0 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Jun 22 17:25:29 -0700 2007 Wed Jan 16 06:11:03 -0800 2008 more...]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 3 0 false Sun Sep 06 04:20:31 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 06 04:22:23 -0700 2009 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 3 0 false Thu Jan 29 14:55:09 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 29 14:55:09 -0800 2009 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 3 0 false Sat May 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 16 17:09:22 -0700 2009 Sat May 16 17:13:07 -0700 2009 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 2 0 false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Aug 02 19:48:58 -0700 2007 Fri Aug 03 10:16:14 -0700 2007 crossing california. i'd been itching to read this. this book takes the crew into the 80s and pivotal global events, cultural phenomena serve as milemarkers for the setting. lots of promise but i was pretty disappointed. characters who were genine, real in washington story became predi...more...]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 3 0 false Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Feb 14 07:56:10 -0800 2008 Thu Feb 14 08:18:53 -0800 2008 more...]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 4 0 false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jan 24 13:11:37 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 13:14:05 -0800 2008 more...]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 3 0 false Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 11 21:18:55 -0700 2007 Wed Jul 11 21:21:00 -0700 2007 Crossing California but a fun read anyway. If you've ever finished a great book and wondered what happened to the characters next, this is your chance to do just that. My only disappointment with this one is that it didn't quite seem to...more...]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 5 0 false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Jun 12 09:28:12 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 12 09:35:25 -0700 2008 more...]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 4 0 false Wed Apr 15 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 05 20:06:55 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 16 09:16:17 -0700 2009 Crossing California.]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 2 0 false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 15 14:06:10 -0800 2007 Tue Apr 15 09:22:54 -0700 2008 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 3 0 false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 24 16:07:08 -0700 2008 Mon Nov 03 06:51:54 -0800 2008 990482 1573223247 9781573223249 19 4 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180036864m/990482.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/990482.The_Washington_Story 3 0 false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat May 03 08:00:41 -0700 2008 Sat May 03 08:02:40 -0700 2008 Crossing California, which I should probably take a look at. ]]> 380536 1594482187 9781594482182 166 29 3.51 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1174326065m/380536.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/380536.The_Washington_Story 5 0 false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 05 12:51:53 -0800 2007 Thu Jan 03 20:11:06 -0800 2008 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=380536