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How to Win a Chestnut Fight
By all objective measures, forty-year-old Andy Desanctis is a success. He has a lucrative legal career, a beautiful wife, a compassionate teenage daughter, and a high-rise condo on Toronto's waterfront. Yet ever since Andy received his mother's most recent phone call, he's been uneasy. Despite many fond memories of growing up in Rosewater, he hasn't set foot in his rural hometown for fifteen years. Too many things happened there that he can't confront; too many cries for help were left unanswered. His mother's pleas were desperate, however, and Andy can't avoid returning to Rosewater any longer. His father is ill and his mother is scared; they both need him. There's just no choice but to walk into the fire. Reuniting in Rosewater with the entire Desanctis clan, Andy must acknowledge the potential loss of his tough-as-steel father. On a deeper level, he must grapple with the things he saw, the choices he made, and what he should have done-decisions that continue to torment him as an adult. The homecoming poses a Andy can heal and move on, or he can let the past destroy him.
170 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Albert Dell'apa
1 book11 followersAlbert Dell'Apa is the author of How to Win a Chestnut Fight, his first novel. He is also a lawyer and a former Olympic class marathon runner. He lives in Toronto, Canada with his wife and children and continues to coach distance running.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
January 26, 2011
When I first began reading “How to Win a Chestnut Fight”, scout’s honor, I was convinced this book was nonfiction. (It’s listed as fiction). I Googled this forever, hell-bent that the internet was lying to me. Truly, this book reads like a memoir. From characters to the locations to the events of the book, this book feels more real than a pimple at prom. Can this EZ Read intern put conspiracy theories aside to enjoy “How to Win a Chestnut Fight”? Will the author ever fess up to writing a nonfiction novel? EZ Read finds out.
As we follow the narrative of Andy Desanctis returning home, we also jump backwards into his youth and teen years at Rosewater. One of the best parts about the way this story is told is the “slow reveal” of secrets, history, and new information about the characters. Readers don’t get the whole scoop at once; they are revealed new elements of the stories right up to the very end. This makes “Chestnut Fight” incredibly readable and compelling, and keeps it from having an emotional explosion in just one chapter.
Another thing that really worked in “Chestnut Fight” is the characters and their relationships throughout; one of the main reasons I’m still convinced this is nonfiction. There isn’t lengthy expositions or chapters devoted to Andy’s wife, mother, or father; these relationships exist naturally without needing to be explained into the ground. As a reader, you feel like you’re jumping into lives that have been set in motion, rather than into characters and relationships that are being cooked up and built up on the spot.
By the end of the book, we’ve seen enough experiences and encounters in Andy’s life to give us a portrait of this visit. Luckily for readers, even his father’s illness (no further details will be revealed) never becomes this Nicholas-Sparks-huge-dramatic-production. I guess overall, it’s the low-key feeling that makes this book feels real, and not like a big Telemundo on flashback overdrive.
Highly recommend as a great slice of human drama, and you still have time to fess up about this being nonfiction, Albert Dell’Apa.
-EZ Read Staffer Jenifer
As we follow the narrative of Andy Desanctis returning home, we also jump backwards into his youth and teen years at Rosewater. One of the best parts about the way this story is told is the “slow reveal” of secrets, history, and new information about the characters. Readers don’t get the whole scoop at once; they are revealed new elements of the stories right up to the very end. This makes “Chestnut Fight” incredibly readable and compelling, and keeps it from having an emotional explosion in just one chapter.
Another thing that really worked in “Chestnut Fight” is the characters and their relationships throughout; one of the main reasons I’m still convinced this is nonfiction. There isn’t lengthy expositions or chapters devoted to Andy’s wife, mother, or father; these relationships exist naturally without needing to be explained into the ground. As a reader, you feel like you’re jumping into lives that have been set in motion, rather than into characters and relationships that are being cooked up and built up on the spot.
By the end of the book, we’ve seen enough experiences and encounters in Andy’s life to give us a portrait of this visit. Luckily for readers, even his father’s illness (no further details will be revealed) never becomes this Nicholas-Sparks-huge-dramatic-production. I guess overall, it’s the low-key feeling that makes this book feels real, and not like a big Telemundo on flashback overdrive.
Highly recommend as a great slice of human drama, and you still have time to fess up about this being nonfiction, Albert Dell’Apa.
-EZ Read Staffer Jenifer
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review