Ok, I cried. Laughed, too, but books that can actually squeeze a tear out of me are few and far between - especially one's that aren't overtly manipulative.

I waited a long time to read this - 19 years, in fact. I'm like that with some books. I know I'm going to read them, but the time has to be "right." In some cases like The Last Temptation of Christ that I carted around for ten years, "right" meant I had to mature as a reader - and maybe that's what it meant for Animal Dreams. I knew from the get-go that this was going to be a good read, but I think I had to live through a certain cynicism in order to accept it on its own terms. It's a little like, when the reader is reader the book will (re)appear. La-la, I know, but books are like that - for me anyway.

Animal Dreams takes place south of Tucson in a small community to which Cosima (order in the universe) returns to take care of her dad, recuperate from yet another ended relationship, teach school for a year, and ultimately discover her place in this world. It reminded me a little of Milagro Beanfield War, but gentler. I love the Southwest, I loved this book, it gets a place on the shelf.