Rating: 
Summary: My favorite book of 2000
Review: From the first paragraph to the last, I was enthralled. This book has affected me so deeply that I'm still thinking about it weeks after having read it. To me this is not a book about the immigrant experience or even about an alcoholic' struggle. This book explores the contrast of their existence. Kathi is pitiful and the colonel is heroic(at the end). While she clings on to the house as though it stands for sobriety, the colonel is determined to keep his house because it stands for freedom for his family from pretense.
Rating: 
Summary: A Big Disappointment
Review: This book got such rave reviews from Oprah, I was prepared for a great book, but I was really disappointed. The characters make terrible decisions, they are not likable or sympathetic and the plot is totally predictable after the first 60 pages or so. Also, if this is set in the present time, (I didn't catch it, if it was 20 years ago or so) then I wonder if the author has BEEN to California in the last 10 years. We have had no smoking laws in restaurants for a long time, but the main character, Kathy, constantly smokes in the mall and in several restaurant settings. There isn't one character you can care about enough to hope they make it, except maybe the son. And the basic premise, that the county could mistakenly take away her house, is very doubtful. It seems a pretty thin hook to hang this whole story on.
Rating: 
Summary: Kept me glued to the book
Review: I'm not one to read a lot of books. In fact, too often I start books with good intentions and don't quite finish them. But this one kept my interest from beginning to end. However, I was floored by the ending, and was quite distressed by it all. Upon reflection, it is masterfully written, in the tones of two entirely different people from different cultures, each good people in their own ways with good intents. The author does a remarkable job portraying their unique cultures, in their own "lingo", which in itself kept my constant interest. Always hopeful of a mutually happy ending, and in constant awe as to how it was going to end, it did leave me cold, and ready for a lighter, more humorous book next time!
Rating:
Summary: Oprah was wrong
Review: There are some moments of good writing here, but they seem to belong to a short story writer who loses his grip when faced with a long form. Not one of the characters was believably motivated. That is, I could understand the importance of the house, but each separate decision or action made by Les, Kathy or Behrani seemed manipulated by Dubus purely for his own purposes. The failure of the novel to compel my suspension of disbelief was cumulative, so that by the last hundred pages I found every action or decision less and less believable; as the characters had more time to think about what they were doing each appeared increasingly less likely to act as he or she was made to do. I'm incensed that the famous Dubus name dictated a literary marketing scheme: if this book had been sold as a mass-market rather than a trade paperback I wouldn't have wasted hours on it!
Rating:
Summary: House of Sand and Fox
Review: I agree with the readers who thought the first two thirds of the book really sucked you in, but thought the last third somewhat disappointing. At first I found myself not being able to put the book down, but that turned into just hurrying to get the thing over with.What I think killed it for me was how Kathy went from someone you felt really sorry for to someone that you really didn't like much anymore. It's really hard to feel sorry for someone who has an affair with a family man and then turns back to alcohol and does some really stupid stuff. I also had a hard time believing that a man like Les would risk so much for a woman he's known for such a short time. Overall, I guess I really did enjoy the book, but it would have been more suspenseful if I felt equally drawn to both characters, but I ended up cheering for Mr. Behrani.
Rating:
Summary: A poorly written work with unbelievable premise
Review: In the first few pages I thought I might like this Oprah recommendation. The writing seemed to be imaginative and the study of cultural differences had promise. It was a promise never fulfilled. The book soon disintegrated into redundancy, with the same descriptive phrases being repeated again and again as though the author couldn't think of any other way to describe a person or scene. The book is filled with graphic, coarsely written sexual scenes which add nothing to the story and seem to be added for purient purposes. The characters are unsympathetic and the premise for the plot is unrealistic to the extreme. What could have been an interesting study of cultures in conflict absolutely missed the target.
Rating:
Summary: Forced myself to finish this one
Review: Most authors create at least one human character the reader will feel sympathetic towards, not Andre Dubus In "House of Sand and Fog". While the characters created were believable and the reader understood what lead to the real estate predicament, one doesn't care. The depressing resolution was almost cheering as the characters are now out of circulation. The prose is primarily well-written though the plot sags about 2/3 of the way through. Skip this one. It doesn't merit Oprah's raves. Her "Good Housekeeping" seal of approval doesn't make this a good read.
Rating:
Summary: You'll find it difficult to put this book down
Review: Excellent book, although I was a tiny bit disappointed in the ending (or rather the last 2 pages) but still worth the read. I love the way this author writes and found this book extremely educational with fascinating insight into the culture of Iran. Very honest - very real. Extremely thought-provoking.
Rating: 
Summary: I've lost my faith in Oprah
Review: I will admit that I am an Oprah fan and have read (or tried to read) every book that she has chosen. There have been a couple that I couldn't manage to muddle through and how I got through this one is beyond me. Maybe her promise that the last part of the book would be worth it. The book starts out very good then goes downhill from there. Sure, the action picks up at the end but it is sort of unbelievable. Am I the only one that noticed the authors preoccupation with breath? C'mon - that sort of detail is o.k. but in one part of the book I think we know the status of the breath of 3 characters in 2 or 3 pages. There is tea breath, tea and sugar breath, cigarette breath, alcohol and cigarette breath, etc. Enough of the breath. If you are looking for a good book to curl up with, ignore this one. It is hard to get into to and most of the plot is unbelievable.
Rating:
Summary: An unusual, surprising Oprah selection
Review: This was my first experience reading Andre Dubus, and I was unbelievably surprised. I was surprised that Oprah picked this novel, very different from her usual choices. And I was surprised and upset that I hadn't read anything by Dubus until this point! The story begins with Kathy Nicolo losing her home over possible tax evasion. The county puts the house up for sale and former Iranian, now American citizen, Massoud Amir Behrani, and his family purchase the house with much of their savings. In Kathy's devastation, she begins a tumultuous relationship with one of the police officers charged with evicting Kathy from her home. Kathy's new boyfriend, Lester Burdon, takes on Kathy's cause and ends up crossing a line that neither of them can back away from. If you thought that every day events can't turn into chaos, think again. This will definitely be a classic for years to come.
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