Rating: 
Summary: Not worth reading
Review: This is a tedious grade B or C book that wouldn't make it as far as a made-for-tv movie. The characters are one dimensional, the writing flat and cliche-ridden (eg He had the: (fill in one) softest, deepest, darkest, warmest brown eyes I had ever seen.) Far more shocking than the ending is the fact that this was a National Book Award finalist.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Page Turner
Review: This book is a page turner because you want it to be over as soon as possible. None of the characters are likeable. There is little suspense. I can't understand the appeal, especially when there are so many other great works of fiction out there today. I think that this book's popularity is a scam, and everyone I know who has read it feels the same way.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not THAT good
Review: I swore off "Oprah" books a couple of years ago. Most were too depressing. I probably would never have picked this book up if it weren't for the fact that I received it as a Christmas gift. This story can be exasperating at times, you just want to shake the characters! One bad choice after another! However, I couldn't give up on the book and in the end I'm glad I read it. My sympathies were with Mrs. Behrani and their son. I found the police officer very interesting, especially his reasons for entering law enforcement which seemed true to life. This book is unlike any book I've read before and while it wasn't worthy of Oprah's praise, it's an interesting read.
Rating: 
Summary: House of Sand and Fog
Review: Great character development. A little to slow moving during the first two thirds of the book
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding!
Review: Insightful, full of suspense, depressing, tragic. Very well written. I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Hands down the worst book I have read in the last 5 years.
Review: This book was simply horrible. It attempts to weave the story of three characters with competing desires and weaknesses, but it reads as if the author had a good idea for just one of the characters, then threw more or less anything that came to mind together for the other two main characters. Their character development is paper-thin, their motives implausible (to be charitable) and, as a result, they are thoroughly uninteresting, unengaging and unbelievable -- too bad two thirds of the book is told through their eyes. I will concede that the plot itself was interesting enough to keep me going through the first 60% or so of the book, but the narrative hits an absolute brick wall when Dubus shifts voices to start telling the story from the standpoint of Sherrif Burdon, one of the most uninteresting characters I have ever read.As an example, are we really to believe that a lower middle class sherrif in northern California, circa 1993, is able to recognize the Shah of Iran in a photograph *by sight*?? Much less that he is then able to conjure up recollections of the shah's secret police force? To understand the problems of this book, look no farther than the explanation Dubus offers for this highly dubious fact -- that the sherrif's ex-wife once mentioned something about the Shah to him when they were both in college. I could go on with scores more examples, most of them with an even greater relation to the storyline. This example suffices because in my mind, both the flippant implausibility of the author's explanation and the fact that Dubus offers it truly as an afterthought, more than 100 pages after we first question Burdon's recognition, speak volumes about the lack of care with which Dubus has drawn his characters. Ultimately, he convinced me -- I didn't care about them either.
Rating:
Summary: Different perspectives . . .
Review: I could not put this book down--but not for the usual reasons. I had heard it was amazingly suspenseful, but I did not find it suspenseful in the typical definition of the word. It kept me reading because I always wanted to know what was going to happen next within the characters, not necessarily within the plot. This book is incredible in the way it takes one situation and shows it clearly from many different persepectives. It takes you inside the minds of the three main characters and shows you what it is like to be them. It amazed me how my feelings and sympathies fluctuated so wildly throughout the book. This book is very realistic, because rarely are there true "good" and "bad" guys in life; we are all mixtures of both. This was an excellent character book. Mrs. Behrani is one of the most interesting and compelling characters I have seen in a long time. She appears very simple and passive, but as you read, you find her to be a most complex and dynamic force in the novel. Seeing an interview with Dubus made me love this book even more. He is an author with heart and integrity. I highly recommend this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of time
Review: This is the first time I read a book from Oprah's book club. Oprah was raving about this book during the book discussion show so much that I had to read this. I hated the two characters Kathy and Lester. I cannot believe people can make such bad choices. They both are such losers that they deserve each other. Oprah said 'you will not believe the ending'. The rest of the book is so badly written that I can believe the ending - equally bad. I am sorry I wasted my time reading this cheesy crap.
Rating:
Summary: an emotional journey
Review: after getting off to a bad start with Oprah "picks" it was a very long time until I tried again.But this book is truly worthy of her praise.Although it is not un-put-downable,I found myself completely immersed into the characters lives.This book is beautifully written and I am wondering who will be quick enough to pick up the film rights. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the unpredictable.The ending was really "filme noir!"
Rating:
Summary: The struggle to find a home...
Review: What happens when two very different people are displaced from their homes due to unfair circumstances? Naturally, they seek to replace what they have lost. "House of Sand and Fog" tells this particular story with such audacity that I could hardly put it down for a second until I had read the very last page. Dubus is such a surprisingly rich storyteller. He alternates between the thoughts of two main characters and is unfailing in this convincing prose as he describes their dangerous paths always converging towards one another with increasing speed and intensity. One house, two different owners. Col. Behrani was a wealthy, well-respected man in his homeland of Iran before he was forced to flee in the middle of the night due an uprising of the government in his country. He comes to America to find a new a new home, both literally and figuratively. He buys a house at auction because someone did not pay their taxes, not surprising this new immigrant. He looks around and sees that most Americans are ridiculous people. They have so much opportunity, yet all they do is complain. They take their freedoms for granted. Kathy Nicolo is one of these Americans. She has kicked out of her home due to a government paperwork error... they say she didn't pay her taxes. She finds herself in a fog, searching for the way home. Chain-smoking her way through life's events, oblivious to what is happening around her, she moves from one confrontation to the next in a downward sprial that she feels will only be remedied by returning to her home. Yet, for all of her faults, she is still endearing. Kathy lacks maliciousness. She even has a strange remorse for the wife of the married police officer she is cheating with. Where does a story like this go? Back and forth for pages and pages. One minute I was on his side and the next I hated him and wanted her to succeed. How does it all end? Well, I'm not going to ruin it for you. Get a copy and find out for yourself. You will be surprised. The ending is nothing even CLOSE to predictable!
| 
