Bluesman : A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries)

Rating:
Summary: Bluesman stays with you
Review: I wish I could have read 'The Bluesman' (as well as 'House of Sand and Fog') slower, but it was impossible not to get frenetically caught up in the journey of 'Young Buddy' Leo Suther. Equally as difficult was concentrating on the last 75 pages with a huge knot in my stomach. (I kept seeing Patrick Fugit as Leo and Kate Hudson as Allie...) I would love to write more about this novel, as there is enough to talk about to fill a hundred nights of Wednesday book clubs. But the old adage is true: discover this one on your own with eyes wide open, and the satisfaction from the novel is tenfold than if you know too much about it going in. This is a coming of age story that will have you giving this book to your friends and relatives for them to read for two reasons: 1) The joy you get from passing on a great work to others, and 2) So you'll HAVE people to talk to about it when they're done, as your head will swim with questions and opinions until you can discuss it with people. Andre Dubus III's works are not meant to be digested and then forgotten about.

Rating:
Summary: Well Written, Interesting Story
Review: The atmosphere is touchable, you're actually there watching and waiting. I heard the music, found myself humming. Beautifully written, real and positive. A book to embrace and cherish forever.

Rating:
Summary: Leo's Story
Review: This is a book of unpretentious beauty. It evokes the pathos of an artistic and sensitive generation of youth in the 1960's in subtle and beautiful narrative. Leo Suther is evocative of the of the youth of the 1960's that are often misundertood and sometimes still dismissd to this day. The writer weaves a character of complex and conflicting emotions in the central character of Leo Suther. Leo's journey into adulthood is aided skillfully and compassionately by his father and his father's best friend Ryder. With them, he enters into the world of blues music and finds a release for pent-up emotions elicted by the death of his mother at a young age. His father shares with Leo the story of his mother and the manner in which this is done through her personal letters and diaries is profound and deeply moving. Leo enters into a tragic love affair with Allie Donovan and must learn to reconcile his values with those of her materialistic and dogmatic family and by doing so suffers insuromountable personal pain and rejection. Woven together with the beauty of the musical form of blues music, this is a book of memorable beauty, tradegy, and love that ranks high on the list of truly great American stories of youth and their struggles.