Rating: 
Summary: Emotional Whiplash!
Review: This book employed the narrative construction of a classic tragedy, as the reader watched helplessly while flawed but ultimately sympathetic characters acted against each other, doomed by their joint inability to understand each other and by the enormous weight of the baggage they all carried. What impressed me the most was Dubus' ability to shift my sympathies from one character to another, making me decide that Kathy Niccolo, the woman trying to hang on to sobriety and fight to get her wrongfully taken house back, should "win," then convincing me two pages later that Colonel Behrani, the Iranian immigrant trying to put together a life for his family in a country that made him what he was and then abandoned him to his fate, should succeed. I was emotionally wrung out when I finished this book. A true modern masterpiece of classic tragedy.
Rating:
Summary: A drama-thriller
Review: I never realized that a drama could be such a thriller. I couldn't put the book down! Dubus brings together realistic, complex characters in a compelling story about the battle over a house. It was a good mix of characters, motivations, and plot....I got emotionally wrapped up in the tale and all the characters! I couldn't wait to see what happened next.
Rating: 
Summary: A Promising Book that Disappoints in the End
Review: The start of this novel is interesting. There is the Persian family trying to "keep up with the Joneses," a divorced house cleaner, and the house. Their stories are all intermingled, but towards the end, the novel becomes too unbelieveable, as if Dubus is writing for Hollywood. I think this book tries to pass as literature, but it only succeeds as fiction.
Rating:
Summary: The Mother of All Snafus
Review: What if your house was sold out from under you, and you had nowhere to go? And what if the family that bought the house--not knowing it was sold erroneously--was in a similarly desperate situation?This is exactly the kind of book you want to take to the beach...the story moves along at a fast clip, the characters are multi-dimensional and interesting, and you just KNOW something horrible will eventually happen. The two main characters--a retired Iranian air force colonel and a recovering addict/alcoholic--collide when they try to repair a mistake that is totally out of their hands. The colonel, whose luck took a nosedive after the shah was deposed, is doing menial labor in California while desperately trying to keep up the facade of wealth and ease. He stumbles onto a house auctioned for unpaid taxes, and he realizes he can buy it at a fraction of its worth and then sell it at a huge profit, setting him on the road to respectability. The problem is, he buys a house that really isn't for sale. The county made a mistake listing that address, so the auction comes as a big surprise to Kathy, the current owner/occupant, who has kicked drugs and booze and is trying to cope with losing her husband. There is really no villain here, just a mindless bureaucracy that inadvertantly set everyone up. The colonel will lose his life's savings if he returns the house to Kathy, so he thinks the county should rectify their mistake. Kathy has no money and few options; she can't check into a luxury hotel for a long drawn-out court battle. In the meantime, a cop sympathetic to her plight becomes involved with Kathy. The guy is a weinie, kind of a Dudley Do-Right who is so blinded by his infatuation with Kathy that he proceeds to make a series of mistakes that put all the characters in peril. The author of this book is a carpenter, and the book is solidly constructed,like a well-built house. He gives the reader the full story, not just glimpses into the characters' motivations, but detailed insights that show us why they are the way they are. Dubus is a natural story-teller, I hope he writes something new, soon.
Rating:
Summary: House of Sand and Fog
Review: Hands down the best book I've read this year. My taste leans towards the Fiction Best Seller list but I picked this book up at the airport as it seemed to present itself as something more promising than the bestseller pickings and something far less evil than Shape magazine which would only make me focus on my thighs and what they are not. When I found out that the author wrote of Iraninans I almost threw it away as my family had the worst expierence in Iran which has left me with in distress for the culture. Emotional, mental, and physical hardships were presented in the same day-to-day world we all live in and the language made the story tangible.
Rating:
Summary: House of Sand & Fog
Review: These charcaters were realistically drawn and acted in accordance with their nature and human nature in conflict. Not only couldn't I put this book down, when it was stolen from me, I had to go back to Amazon and get a 2nd copy so I could finish it. Coloraful writing, and carefully drawn characters, and an extremely plausible plot. Excellent. A very good read.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful and thought provoking... very moving too.
Review: With his immaculate ear for speech, his attention to the details of both contemporary American life and the political refugee life in America, Dubus develops a compelling story that is impossible to put down. General Behrani is not an immigrant. He and his family are refugees from Irani death squads. His past is filled with the soul tearing dichotomy of missing his privileged life and the knowledge of what he did to have that life. Now, as he and his family try to maintain themselves, still using delusions and misdirection, Behrani finally acknowledges he must take positive action to change his circumstances. And recognize his part in the events that took place in Iran. My heart went out to him and his family - even though I did not, intelluctually, like them I certainly recognized the struggle for self-awareness and providing the good life for your family. Kathy Niccolo is a much more familar character to me. Very soap opera/movie of the week. Perhaps because I know her so well, I did not find her sympathic. I wanted her to get a hold of herself, pull out of the self-destructive pattern she was spiraling in, the way Behrani was trying to do. Lester, the boyfriend, seemed an annoying plot device to move the story along. He was the agent of distruction for all. Don't let anyone tell you this book is about a fight over owning a house. It's about a people on a journey to realize and understand themselves, even the deepest, meanest, most disappointing parts they don't dare bring out in the light of day or sanity. I must admit I cried at times during this book, I was so caught up. Something I can't remember doing since I was a young teen. The characters became that real. Their situation so potent. The resolution so sad yet so inevitable. To those who are saying this book is depressing and a downer I can only say "Pick up the newspaper." Perhaps they can't deal with real life spelled out in such incrediable detail. On a much lighter note: the details of Iranian life, as it is struggled to live in the United States, are fascinating. And Dubus has really captured their unique syntax while speaking English.
Rating: 
Summary: Love, misdirected and misguided
Review: I am in agreement with the former reviewers who felt the book was very depressing. I know that Oprah (or her staff) chooses books where readers might learn something. Well, I learned something.......not to take Oprah's picks as law. There was absolutely nothing to look forward to in this book. Although, it was well written, everyone had a self-destructive life. I had particular distain for Kathy (who we were to believe was a recovering alcholic, but don't believe what you read, folks). She was just sad, plain and simple, with no redeeming qualities. I had hope for Behrani, but the love of his own country & the yearning for his former military life was an accident waiting to happen. I had great compassion for Behrani's wife & son. I had no compassion whatsoever for the policeman who played a pivotal role in the destruction of so many lives. Don't buy the book; it's a waste of money and if you're just a little depressed today, it'll send you over the edge.
Rating:
Summary: Sandy and Foggy
Review: ...Dubus found the "voice" of his main characters and the style of the book was brilliant. My quarrel is with the lack of reality check. What happened was a trajedy that probably wouldn't have happened had anyone been a little more sensible. All parties are portrayed as caught in a situation they can't seem to extract themselves from when it wouldn't have taken much. The county that took Kathy's house owed someone the fair market value for it -- it's that simple, and the whole mess could have and should have been straighten out without everyone's world collapsing.
Rating:
Summary: Desperate
Review: I thought the writing was good and that the author did an excellent job creating tension. I was captivated by the characters from the first chapter, but their desperate actions and irrational behavior left me feeling bleak when the story was over. I cannot recall a moment in the book when a character stepped aside to see the lunacy of their behavior. Rather, they are completely self absorbed in their own private crisis. Which perhaps was the authors purpose all along. Despite this, I would read another book by this author. And perhaps pick this one up again if I need something to make me feel normal!
| 
