Rating: 
Summary: Bay Area Bloodbath
Review: There have been negative reviews of this novel and I read them before I picked up the book. The problem, however, is that nobody told me what I am perfectly willing to let you know and that is that this is the most bizarre story to ever begin normally. You see, Col. Behrani is not crazy at the outset of the novel and neither is Kathy Nicolo but the tug-of-war over this modest bungalow drives them both insane. Furthermore, it would be one thing if they were the only victims of this folie de deux, but others suffer because these two invest the house with a meaning that this reader did not comprehend. Everyone made a big secret of the mad ending but it's no big secret that nothing good is going to come out of this struggle. In fact, the only reason for not disclosing it here and now is that it is so weird that it would seem silly in a plot synopsis. Les Burdon (what a ridiculously named man for someone who only increases everyone's burden) does the unthinkable not because he is evil but because he is desperate. However, on even the foggiest day, desperate can look a whole lot like stupid. All this being said, it's not a terrible novel and the writing is fluid and graceful in many places but it's really difficult to like a novel with characters that resemble puppets so much and a plot with all the strings showing.
Rating: 
Summary: Trivial - disappointing - far too simple to be interesting
Review: The writer choose to demondtrate the cultural clush in the Bay Area between two marginal extremes; The story is simple and un-interesting. Simple, easy reading, that will not even make you give-up the movie [that you have already seen twice] on a cost-to-cost flight.
Rating: 
Summary: COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN -- ESP. LAST 100 PAGES!!
Review: It's a real pleasure to discover a book that not only had complex characters and beautiful prose, but also an intriguing, emotional story that kept me (quickly) turning the pages. I don't often find this wonderful combination in best-sellers. I loved the philosophical question the author asks: "what is home?" Is it the country where you were born? Is it the structure where you live? Is a house just "four walls and a fridge," or can it be your whole identity? Your past as well as your future? This is what the two main characters grapple with as they declare an all-out war over the possession of a house where "winner takes all" but in the end, everyone will lose. On a deeper level, the characters wage individual, inner battles with this complex, concept of what "home" means to each one--(emotional, cultural, structural, historical). As intriguing as the theme was, what kept me reading to the very end was how the writer was able to really get into the head and heart of two very diverse characters--an alcoholic woman and a displacted Iranian aristocrat. The author presented their lives so intimately, their desires, fears, prejudices so clearly and even-handedly. I didn't know who to "root" for because I thought each had believable and understandable motivations for their (often shocking) actions. The last 100 pages are gripping. The end devastating. Read it and weep.
Rating:
Summary: A must read!
Review: House of Sand and Fog was one of the best books I have read in a long, long time. Once I started the book, I could not put it down. The author kept me guessing all through the book. The story was fairly realistic in the portrayal of a group of people who make some bad choices. I will certainly buy Mr. Dubus next book!! Good pick, Ophrah.
Rating:
Summary: Pass this one up
Review: I read it. Don't waste your time.
Rating:
Summary: Great storytelling - tragic story
Review: I'm giving this novel 2 stars because I'm a bit of a Pollyanna. I know life is not always pretty, but I wish it were and I would much rather read about resolutions that are beneficial to everyone and not as tragic as this one. This story is presented with great empathy toward the Iranian family -- their tale is masterfully presented. Like other reviewers, I felt the author neglected Kathy's side and didn't develop her character as sympathetically. I hope the author will pick a brighter subject next time around because he is a gifted storyteller.
Rating:
Summary: Sorrowful
Review: At first I thought the book was very good reading, gloomy (no happiness at all) but still good reading. The ending turned me against the book totally. I was very upset by it and very mad. The writer could have done so much more with this. I will definitely never read any other books by him. On a scale of one to five, I gave it a three until the end which brought it to a one. How sad.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing.
Review: Being a Persian, and also having liked many of Oprah's selections, I was so excited to read this. Let me just say that this was truly one of the worst books I have read in a LONG time. None of the characters are particularly likeable or to be respected. I cannot believe that this has been recommended by Oprah, and because of this, I will not be reading any more books that she recommends. In all fairness, the first part of the book is very good, Dubus even does a fairly good job with the Persian culture. But my recommendation is to never read Part II, and to come up with your own ending. There are bad endings .... and then there are bad endings. And this was just dreadful. Really, really upsetting. And no, that should not encourage you to read it and find out how bad could it really be?
Rating:
Summary: One-Dimensional Characters
Review: This story is told in 3 voices. Voice 1, Colonel Behrani, is an indepth character study. He and his wife and son are colorful, 3-dimensional deep characters. As for Kathy and Lester, the other 2 voices, they were not much more more than 1 dimensional. Dubus did not develop these characters to the extent he did the Behranis. I was disappointed in the gross mispronunciation of more than one main streets in San Francisco. This meant to me that proper research was not done by the readers (both). I was also disappointed in the monotone performance of the female reader. She was probably trying to be as one dimensional as Kathy, and she was successful. The story is a good one, brought down only by the lack of character development of 2 of the 3 main characters and naive performances.
Rating: 
Summary: Tough to choose who to root for
Review: I had a really hard time deciding who I was rooting for in this story, I felt so much pity for Kathy, yet I empathized with the Colonel and his reasons for wanting to hold onto his "cream puff deal" of a home in order to give his family a better life. What an amazing talent Mr. Dubus has to make me feel so strongly for both characters. The story is extremely thought provoking, human error results in tragedy and it is all too real. I felt really awful for the Colonel's wife, and thought it was interesting how I could sway between feeling sorry for Kathy and the Colonel, and then being so angry with them . . . my feelings were all over the place, which was a bit frustrating for me but to the authors credit this story aroused strong emotions.
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