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Carolyn...
8,828 books | 181 friends

Tina Ha...
88,217 books | 2,252 friends

R.L.
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Sarah Rose
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Kay
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Ken Oder

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Ken Oder grew up in White Hall, Virginia, at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He received undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Virginia and moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1975 to join the law firm of Latham & Watkins. He practiced law there until 1993, when he left the firm to become an executive at Safeway, Inc. He retired from Safeway in 2003. He and his wife, Cindy, have three children and two grandchildren, and live in California.

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Ken Oder This may seem arrogant, but I don't mean it to be. I'd like to go to Whippoorwill Hollow, the fictional setting in rural Virginia in the late 1960's o…moreThis may seem arrogant, but I don't mean it to be. I'd like to go to Whippoorwill Hollow, the fictional setting in rural Virginia in the late 1960's of my novels, The Closing and Old Wounds to the Heart. In writing these stories, the characters came alive for me. They're like old friends. I think about them often. Living with them again would be a great gift. (less)
Ken Oder There are two things. There's nothing quite like the moment when you've finished a jag of writing and you know you've brought it to the highest level …moreThere are two things. There's nothing quite like the moment when you've finished a jag of writing and you know you've brought it to the highest level of quality you can attain and it feels good and right and artful. Discussing your story with someone who read it and really enjoyed it is also a pretty amazing thrill, especially when they tell you something they saw in the story that you never thought of when you wrote it. The story has taken on a life of its own then, and its readers own it as much as you do. (less)
Average rating: 4.21 · 3,557 ratings · 311 reviews · 11 distinct works • Similar authors
The Closing (Whippoorwill H...

4.14 avg rating — 1,618 ratings — published 2014 — 6 editions
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The Judas Murders (Whippoor...

4.30 avg rating — 1,389 ratings — 4 editions
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Old Wounds to the Heart (Wh...

4.15 avg rating — 357 ratings — published 2015 — 3 editions
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Keeping the Promise

4.35 avg rating — 112 ratings — 2 editions
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The Princess of Sugar Valley

4.38 avg rating — 29 ratings — 2 editions
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The Old Bull

it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating — published 2016
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Alegato final

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liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 3 editions
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Cats

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The Closing

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O Encerramento

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More books by Ken Oder…

The Killer Storm

On August 20, 1969, Cindy and I awoke at 2 a.m. to a roaring, pounding din on the tin roof of our house in White Hall, Virginia. We jumped out of bed and ran to the window.

Lightning streaked across the sky. Thunder crashed. Through a silver sheet of water, we could barely see the big oak beside the house, its thick branches bowed downward, a lake swirling around the base of its trunk.

“Hardest rain

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Published on January 30, 2026 06:38
The Closing Old Wounds to the Heart The Judas Murders
(3 books)
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4.20 avg rating — 3,364 ratings

Big Little Truths
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by Liane Moriarty (Goodreads Author)
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DOGS IN TOPANGA 2...
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Ken Oder is currently reading
Big Little Truths by Liane Moriarty
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The Amateur by Chris Bohjalian
The Amateur
by Chris Bohjalian (Goodreads Author)
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This is a great Bohjalian story, his writing and storytelling skills at their best. The storyline grabs you from the outset, an eighteen-year-old young girl golf prodigy strikes a drive into a practice net. It escapes the net's webbing, hits a young ...more
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Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
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This is Book 2 in a trilogy. I stupidly confused myself by reading Book 3, which recently came out to high acclaim, then Book 1 and 2. I wish now I'd read them in order. I lost feel for some of the character development the way I did it. I recommend ...more
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Vertical Run by Joseph R. Garber
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I read this because Blake Crouch said in an interview this was the best book he's read that most people don't know about. It's a great story line. Executive shows up for work at his company and the first guy he sees, the CEO, tries to murder him. And ...more
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Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
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Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
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I avoided Colson's novels until recently, thinking they were primarily about racism and depressing. I picked up Cool Machine, #3 in the Harlem trilogy, a few weeks ago after reading a glowing NY Times review that emphasized the novel's dry humor and ...more
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Northline by Willy Vlautin
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Vlautin's strong writing carries me along through another story of grief, sadness, and trauma that would otherwise break me down. His heroine suffers greatly, as all his main characters do, and the demon alcohol brings her down and down, also a commo ...more
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Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
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Northline by Willy Vlautin
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Cool Machine by Colson Whitehead
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Quotes by Ken Oder  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“unjust cause.”
― Ken Oder, The Closing

“Herring is a good man.”
― Ken Oder, The Closing

“The same hideous cat-piss-scented, lime-green carpet that polluted the lobby graced the floor.”
― Ken Oder, The Judas Murders

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“Give me books, French wine, fruit, fine weather and a little music played out of doors by somebody I do not know.”
― John Keats

“His dad had told him many times that the definition of a real man is one who cries without shame, reads poetry with his heart, feels opera in his soul, and does what’s necessary to defend a woman.”
― Delia Owens, Where the Crawdads Sing

“There'll be times when the only refuge is books. Then you'll read as if you meant it, as if your life depended on it.”
― Ken Bruen, The Killing of the Tinkers

“To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life.”
― W. Somerset Maugham, Books and You

“The old forests are going and once they are gone we will have to wait a thousand years or more to see their like. Though nothing will be allowed such a generous measure of time to grow.”
― Annie Proulx, Barkskins

2789 Vroman's Bookstore — 174 members — last activity May 04, 2018 10:49AM
Vroman's Bookstore is the innovative force behind independent bookselling since 1894. As the oldest & largest independent bookstore in Southern Califo ...more
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This groups is designed for Southern California Goodreads members to get information about local events such as Book Swaps.
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message 1: by Dale (last edited Jul 19, 2014 06:34PM)

Dale Thele Ken, thank you for accepting my friend request.
I've downloaded and look forward to reading The Closing.
Wishing you the very best!


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