Rating: 
Summary: Beautiful Writing
Review: I just want to say that I really hate when people can't handle a book that isn't perky with a happy ending. I loved this book. Personally, I thought it was Oprah's best pick. Mr. Dubus is a phenomenal writer. Each character was so richly and humanly layered.
Rating: 
Summary: sand and fog - weak and depressing
Review: just half way through the book, i am already too angry to continue reading. i wonder that is the result the writer wanted. it's just like a bad tv movie, everything in the story just happened with no good reason but only because the director thought the more problems the characters would have, the grander the story would be. it is very depressing and you will wonder if it is worthwhile for anymore emotional involvement. i bought this book primarily because of my interest in immigrants' life in america, but this story has really nothing to do with immigrant, or particularly iranian immigrant, we can easily substitute the Behrani family with anybody's, and the story can go the same. the description of Behrani's life back in iran is in a way to rationalize his existing situation with the house, but i find most of it is only exaggeration of some anecdotes told by someone who doesn't understand the iranian people at all. it certainly creates some shocking effect a weak story needs. it is nice to see the writer has grasped some Farsi and used in the setting, but i don't think he used it skillfully. for example, "kaseef" appears many times and we should know by now that means "dirty" in Farsi, but we still hear Behrani's silent thought of "that kaseef dirty woman". English is my second language and i just know Behrani will simply say "that kaseef woman" in a mix-english sentence. a lot of this kind of details make the characters not believable to me. Kathy's life and her affair with the married policeman are so cliché that i can predict their next move. (do i have to admit i wasted a lot of time in bad movies?) the book will for sure put the mess in your head, for me, enough is enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling and Disturbing
Review: This book drew me in with its poetic language and interesting premise. I quickly found myself much more interested in the Colonel and his family rather than in Kathy and Les and their very improbable affair. She seems dirty and lost from the start, and was impossible for me to care about. Les was sympathetic during the first half of the book, and completely out of character during the second. Still, Dubus' imagery kept me turning the pages. At times my stomach ached with anticipation and dread. I literally could not put this book down, and read well into the wee hours. The climax was completely unanticipated, and left me drained and disturbed.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant Characterization
Review: House of Sand and Fog," by Andre Dubus III (author of "The Cagekeeper and Other Stories" and "Bluesman"), is a compelling novel. Divided into two parts, "House" is a complex, disturbing, and thought-provoking tragedy. Dubus's brilliance at characterization shines through this bleak and believable story. He climbs inside his characters' heads to give readers a chance to feel what it is like to be a recovering addict (Kathy Nicolo); what it is like to be first and second generation immigrants in pursuit of the "American Dream" (the Behrani family); and what it is like to be an ordinary man (Lester Burdon). "House" is flawed; it is not perfectly written or edited. Those who are familiar with the Northern California setting of this dark tale will note incongruities of detail. But one can forgive these imperfections because of the powerful emotions that Dubus can generate in his readers through his storytelling. "House" is not a tragedy of Greek proportion; there is no chorus of readers which will respond in uniformity to protagonists' or antagonists' moral claims. Rather, "House" reminds one of a kafkaesque travesty: a minor clerical error which compounds itself into misfortune, mayhem, and murderous revenge. Dubus employs an experimental style of narration, with his deliberate shifting of points of view. This narrative device manipulates the reader's response to the characters, thereby creating in the reader's mind a frustration of not being able to solve the moral dilemma. (Tim O'Brien uses a similar technique in his short novel, "In the Lake of the Woods.") I especially recommend this book to readers who like to weigh and measure their responses; to writers of fiction who wish to learn about characterization; and to book discussion groups. Further, I recommend that you explore the writings of this writer's father, the late Andre Dubus, especially "Meditations from a Movable Chair" and "Dancing After Hours."
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Summary: Great tragic characters
Review: This is a wonderfully written book with very compelling characters. It creates thought provoking moral dilemas that will keep readers wondering what they would do in similar situations. very mch worth reading.
Rating:
Summary: Not For Everyone, but Very, Very Good
Review: I really enjoyed this book, though I could see why some people wouldn't like it. If you demand sympathetic characters, a very fast paced story with not a lot of details, this probably isn't for you. I loved all the descriptions, which seemed to intensify the suspense. Though the characters were really flawed (esp. Kathy--the woman whose house is taken away) I could empathize with their situations. The end is really suspenseful and exciting, and though it isn't a happy ending (another reason some people may not like it), I didn't think it was realistic to end it any other way. I was impressed by the author's ability to take such a simple mundane subject and turn it into a thrilling and realistic book. I'm not an Oprah devotee, and only read one other book she recommended (which I didn't like) but she picked a good one this time. Probably the most readable literary book I've encountered.
Rating:
Summary: A beautifully written page turner!
Review: As another reviewer said, you either love or hate this book and I loved it. Andre Dubus writes prose that reads like poetry, and his characters well drawn and believable. The plot is both unpredictable and believable. Read it in spite of the fact that it seems to be on Oprah's list.
Rating:
Summary: chilling in its realism, haunting
Review: I found this book disturbing and depressing, but very, very interesting and unusual. It's a good, solid read, hard to put down and very absorbing. Reading about America through the eyes of a Persian, and in such a realistic way, was well worth the time.
Rating:
Summary: A TENSE AND HEART-PALPITATING BOOK !
Review: Andre Dubus is a very gifted writer with an extraordinary imagination. I was spellbound throughout the entire book. I did not like all the sex "scenes" between Kathy Nicolo and her co-adulterer, Les Burdon, and didn't feel they were necessary to the plot. Both of these characters were a psychological mess, and all of my sympathy went to the Behrani family. The ending was tragic for all concerned. House of Sand and Fog is one of those books that is very hard to put down once one starts reading it. A very compelling novel.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Title!
Review: Can you hold fog in your hand or grasp loose sand? This reminds me of the house in this book which is impossiple to hold. I thought this was a great read and was disappointed when I finished it. Dubus sets up two solidarities and sends them on a collision course. The detail about the Iranian culture is great. My favorite character is the colonal who leads a tortured existence in the U.S. and can never fit-in living in America. He has fallen too far to ever be content again, and money won't do it for him either. He almost needs to be worshipped by "lesser mortals!" The character of Cathy Nicola isn't very deep and I think this is the way the author wanted her to be portrayed to greater contrast her with the colonal. The sale of a house is just a vehicle to carry the protagonists through the book and Dubus could have chosen some other scenario. Whether the circumstances surrounding the sale of the house are realistic or not is irrelevant when you get to feast on the characters and really Dubus' brilliant insights into the human condition.
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