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| (Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book!) |
We've Already Gone This Far takes us to Wequaquet, Massachusetts: a town like many towns in America, a place where love and pride are closely twinned and dangerously deployed.
In this stunning debut, Patrick Dacey draws us into the secret lives of recognizable strangers. We meet longtime neighbors and friends when the ground beneath their feet has shifted in ways they don't yet understand. Here, in small-town Massachusetts, after more than a decade of boom and bust, everyone is struggling to find their own version of the American dream: a lonely woman attacks a memorial to a neighbor's veteran son, a dissatisfied housewife goes overboard with cosmetic surgery on national television, a young father walks away from one of the few jobs left in town, a soldier writes home to a mother who is becoming increasingly unhinged. Life's strange intensity and occasional magic is all around.
With a skewering insight and real warmth of spirit, Dacey delivers that rare and wonderful thing in American fiction: a deeply imagined book about where we've been and how far we have to go.
my thoughts:
Sounds pretty awesome, eh? Well so far, it really is. I'm a huge fan of short stories, so I was super excited to get my hands on a copy of Dacey's book. Anything set in small-town America is my cup of tea. I love stories that delve into the everyday lives of everyday people - these are the stories that highlight the real-life struggles we can all relate to.
From the little I've read, I am already in deep with Dacey's captivating story telling. I want to find out more about these characters who are neighbors and friends. I want to learn more about this little town that keeps on chugging. I love how these people know the good, the bad, and the ugly about each other. From town gossip to looking out their front window, they know more about their neighbor than they do about their own kids. I just love how Dacey shows us the ways in which people try to band together, to show a united front in the face of the hardships that surround them all. Such great storytelling! I can't stop reading this book!
So, I'm off to read more of Dacey's addicting stories in his amazing book, We've Already Gone This Far.
6 comments:
I generally don't even give a second look to short story collections, but this sounds really fascinating. I really like the small town America aspect. Glad to see you're enjoying it-- can't wait to read the final review!
Beth, thanks! I've become a huge fan of short stories these past few years. Especially as there have been some great collections being published. I love anything with a small town America aspect, too.
Stories, huh? Now I remember why I didn't pick this one up. Should I? It sounds like my thing but when it comes to this topic I like a good, meaty, story.
Ti, yep, its a book of stories. Its funny, when I first got the book I thought it was one big story and not a collection of stories - LOL! Its really good. I think you'd like it, but I'm with you - a good, meaty story would have been better for this topic.
I'm due for a good book of stories. I'll have to check this one out.
Lisa, check it out and let me know what you think ;)
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