Good Reads / Community Library Notes
Gone So Long
Andre Dubus III
Review by Priscilla Comen
Gone So Long
Andre Dubus III
Review by Priscilla Comen
Gone So Long, by Andre Dubus III, is the story of young Susan, her father Daniel, and her grandmother Lois. Dubus is a genius when creating his characters, and each of them is memorable.
Daniel has been in prison for a long time, and has not seen his daughter Susan in forty years. Now he wants to write to her, and finds her on Facebook. Lois is an antique dealer, and Susan wants to stay with her in order to write her book, a memoir, so she can recall details of her life. Does she really want to remember them? Their family once lived above the Midway at the beach. There were Frisbees spinning through the air, dogs running after them, transistor radios playing loud music or baseball games. Linda was Lois’ daughter, and she married Danny. He didn’t like that all the men looked at Linda who was a real beauty. Danny gets into a rage often.
Daniel wants so much to communicate with his daughter after his time in prison is finished and tries to write letters to her. He also helps elderly people through a senior citizen facility and is tender with the aged, infirm ones. He weaves cane for antique chairs for a living. Dubus makes his characters three dimensional. Susan and Lois go to an antique auction preview together and Lois buys a lamp she will later give to Susan and her husband Bobby. He’s the best of all the men Susan has gone with. Lois’ antique shop is filled with old items that Lois feels comfortable with. Her employee, Marianne, sells everything in the store. She cares for Lois.
Daniel drives cross-country to where he thinks Susan lives. He stops at seedy motels and eats bad fast foods which upset his digestion. He is sick and bleeds into the toilets on his route. Meanwhile Susan is constantly writing her memoir and recalling everything she saw at age three, that Lois never told her. While Daniel is driving to Susan’s home, Lois is also heading there with a gun her ex-husband has left behind. She wants to kill Danny, who had killed her beautiful daughter Linda. Will there be a confrontation? Will Lois shoot Daniel? Will Susan agree to see him after she learns the truth? Will Daniel make it to Susan’s house? The tension increases greatly. Find this wonderful novel on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.
Daniel has been in prison for a long time, and has not seen his daughter Susan in forty years. Now he wants to write to her, and finds her on Facebook. Lois is an antique dealer, and Susan wants to stay with her in order to write her book, a memoir, so she can recall details of her life. Does she really want to remember them? Their family once lived above the Midway at the beach. There were Frisbees spinning through the air, dogs running after them, transistor radios playing loud music or baseball games. Linda was Lois’ daughter, and she married Danny. He didn’t like that all the men looked at Linda who was a real beauty. Danny gets into a rage often.
Daniel wants so much to communicate with his daughter after his time in prison is finished and tries to write letters to her. He also helps elderly people through a senior citizen facility and is tender with the aged, infirm ones. He weaves cane for antique chairs for a living. Dubus makes his characters three dimensional. Susan and Lois go to an antique auction preview together and Lois buys a lamp she will later give to Susan and her husband Bobby. He’s the best of all the men Susan has gone with. Lois’ antique shop is filled with old items that Lois feels comfortable with. Her employee, Marianne, sells everything in the store. She cares for Lois.
Daniel drives cross-country to where he thinks Susan lives. He stops at seedy motels and eats bad fast foods which upset his digestion. He is sick and bleeds into the toilets on his route. Meanwhile Susan is constantly writing her memoir and recalling everything she saw at age three, that Lois never told her. While Daniel is driving to Susan’s home, Lois is also heading there with a gun her ex-husband has left behind. She wants to kill Danny, who had killed her beautiful daughter Linda. Will there be a confrontation? Will Lois shoot Daniel? Will Susan agree to see him after she learns the truth? Will Daniel make it to Susan’s house? The tension increases greatly. Find this wonderful novel on the new fiction shelf of your Mendocino Community Library.