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Product Description
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Oprah Book Club® Selection, November 2000: Andre Dubus III wastes no time in capturing the dark side of the immigrant experience in America at the end of the 20th century. House of Sand and Fog opens with a highway crew composed of several nationalities picking up litter on a hot California summer day. Massoud Amir Behrani, a former colonel in the Iranian military under the Shah, reflects on his job-search efforts since arriving in the U.S. four years before: "I have spent hundreds of dollars copying my credentials; I have worn my French suits and my Italian shoes to hand-deliver my qualifications; I have waited and then called back after the correct waiting time; but there is nothing." The father of two, Behrani has spent most of the money he brought with him from Iran on an apartment and furnishings that are too expensive, desperately trying to keep up appearances in order to enhance his daughter's chances of making a good marriage. Now the daughter is married, and on impulse he sinks his remaining funds into a house he buys at auction, thus unwittingly putting himself and his family on a trajectory to disaster. The house, it seems, once belonged to Kathy Nicolo, a self-destructive alcoholic who wants it back. What starts out as a legal tussle soon escalates into a personal confrontation--with dire results.
Dubus tells his tragic tale from the viewpoints of the two main adversaries, Behrani and Kathy. To both of them, the house represents something more than just a place to live. For the colonel, it is a foot in the door of the American dream; for Kathy, a reminder of a kinder, gentler past. In prose that is simple yet evocative, House of Sand and Fog builds to its inevitable denouement, one that is painfully dark but unfailingly honest. --Alix Wilber
From Publishers Weekly
Dubus's chronicle of the American Dream gone awry is distinguished by his sympathetic delineation of lower-middle class life.
--This text refers to the
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First Sentence
THE FAT ONE, THE RADISH TOREZ, HE CALLS ME CAMEL BECAUSE I AM Persian and because I can bear this August sun longer than the Chinese and the Panamanians and even the little Vietnamese Tran. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
THE FAT ONE, THE RADISH TOREZ, HE CALLS ME CAMEL BECAUSE I AM Persian and because I can bear this August sun longer than the Chinese and the Panamanians and even the little Vietnamese Tran. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
An involving and believable story...,
By Lucy (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: House of Sand and Fog: A Novel (Paperback)
This book was incredibly moving and made me believe that the story could have been based on real-life events. Intense and emotional, this novel made me truly feel for the characters involved. I didn't want the story to end. When it did, the morals and lessons stayed with me for weeks afterwards. Definitely worth reading.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good solid read.,
This review is from: House of Sand and Fog: A Novel (Paperback)
I read several books per month, but can't recall the last time I was so deeply drawn into a story and its characters as this. It brought out such strong emotional preferences and dislikes for the characters.. I could not help but sympathize with Colonel Behrani and, what surprised me even more was my intense dislike for Cathy.. in spite of my having been in a situation similar to hers myself. These characters really grabbed me by the gut and from start to finish, the Behrani's were victims of an arrogant, mindless society (ours) whose disrespect for other cultures SHOULD teach us a lesson we are perhaps too blind to recognize. One would have to have real experience with crooked cops (I have) and bureaucratic injustice (I have) to appreciate the REALITY of such a situation. And the ending says 'this is life.. this is real.' This story will haunt me for a long time to come.Also recommended: CHILDREN'S CORNER by Jackson McCrae
3.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely not a light-hearted look at life,
By
This review is from: House of Sand and Fog: A Novel (Paperback)
I have mixed emotions about this book, but I think that is what the author intended. I cannot say I particularly enjoyed reading it. But, it impacted me in its bleak portrayal of the main characters. I would not recommend this book to anyone who is hoping to be uplifted. To approach this book, you should probably be in a bad mood, looking to make yourself feel either worse about the world or better about yourself because your life is not as bleak as the lives of the characters. When I put this book down, I definitely was not feeling particularly happy. But, I cannot say the book was not well written or that I was not better off for having read it. I suppose that, despite myself, I may have learned a thing or two. If you're in the mood for a depressing commentary on society and life, this is your book.
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