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Cargando... Model Homepor Eric Puchner
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Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. I did not enjoy reading this book, and was very relieved to finish it and move on. Although the author can write, the book was a slog with one miserable character after another making the wrong decisions, leading to grim consequences. Unlike Olive Kitteridge, where superb writing celebrated a hateful character, this writer could not find the delicate balance needed. Wow, I really liked this. I went in expecting it to be just one more of the family-in-crisis books that seem to be dominating the Tournament of Books this year. But I loved it. The writing is good, I cared about all the main characters--I thought it was fantastic. (Having said that, it probably should really be 4 1/2 stars because there are some anachronisms--although that sort of thing doesn't bother me as much as it bothers others--and some meandering in the second half, with the introduction of a couple of characters who didn't really work.) Wow, I really liked this. I went in expecting it to be just one more of the family-in-crisis books that seem to be dominating the Tournament of Books this year. But I loved it. The writing is good, I cared about all the main characters--I thought it was fantastic. (Having said that, it probably should really be 4 1/2 stars because there are some anachronisms--although that sort of thing doesn't bother me as much as it bothers others--and some meandering in the second half, with the introduction of a couple of characters who didn't really work.) Model Home is Eric Puchner's debut novel about a family dealing with failure. A failed real estate venture sends Warren Ziller's family into an economic down turn, but, truthfully, the family was already disjointed and spiraling out of control and away from any connection with each other before their American dream became a nightmare. Model Home opens in the summer of 1985, right after Warren's car has been repossessed, but before his family knows the truth about he family's financial condition. Each chapter is told from the point of view of a different character, mainly Ziller family members. This includes Warren, Camille (his wife), Lyle (daughter), Dustin and Jonas (sons). Even while their illusions of happiness slip away from them, the reader will realize that the Zillers were never happy to begin with. The novel is alternately depressing, and heartbreaking. There are funny moments, but they are few and far between. And the depressing addition of the diminished capacity of the family's dog was more than I could take Puchner is certainly a talented writer whose ability elevated this tale about a dysfunctional family above the norm, however, in the end I didn't feel like Model Home broke any new ground. The characters felt stereotypical, flat, and emotionally stunted. The good news is that this was a debut novel, which makes Puchner a writer to watch. highly recommended for the writing, but be forewarned that it is a depressing story; http://shetreadssoftly.blogspot.com/ sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
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Warren Ziller moved his family to California in search of a charmed life, and to all appearances, he found it: a gated community not far from the beach, amid the affluent splendor of Southern California in the 1980s. But his American dream has been rudely interrupted. Despite their affection for one another-the "slow, jokey, unrehearsed vaudeville" they share at home-Warren; his wife, Camille; and their three children have veered into separate lives, as distant as satellites. Worst of all, Warren has squandered the family's money on a failing real estate venture.As Warren desperately tries to conceal his mistake, his family begins to sow deceptions of their own. Camille attributes Warren's erratic behavior to an affair and plots her secret revenge; seventeen-year-old Dustin falls for his girlfriend's troubled younger sister; teen misanthrope Lyle begins sleeping with a security guard who works at the gatehouse; and eleven-year-old Jonas becomes strangely obsessed with a kidnapped girl.When tragedy strikes, the Zillers are forced to move into one of the houses in Warren's abandoned development in the middle of the desert. Marooned in a less-than-model home, each must reckon with what's led them there and who's to blame-and whether they can summon the forgiveness needed to hold the family together. Subtly ambitious, brimming with the humor and unpredictability of life, Model Home delivers penetrating insights into the American family and into the imperfect ways we try to connect, from a writer "uncannily in tune with the heartbreak and absurdity of domestic life" (Los Angeles Times). No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
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I will say that Warren, the father, whose dream of California bliss and riches comes up short, was at times the least compelling of the characters. The novel's events spin around Warren's choices and bad luck, and Puchner draws him well enough, but when I was reading about Warren, I found myself wanting to go back to the other characters. As for the ending...well, I'll leave that to others. But Model Home is an excellent read. ( )