Synopsis
A 40-year-old housepainter named Dominick Birdsey, from a spectacularly dysfunctional family, is the narrator of this long novel about the search for self-acceptance. A "New York Times" Notable Book for 1998.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1998-04-01 | | Narrated by: | Ken Howard | | Edition Description: | Abridged |
| Size | | Height: | 7.3 in | | Width: | 3.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 6.4 oz |
Publisher's Note
Oprah's latest book club selection!New York Times Best Seller At 40, Dominick Birdsey's entire life has been compromised and constricted by anger and fear: by the schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and polish ex-Navy man and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid, self-conscious woman. Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the boys are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities. But Dominick's talent for survival his escape from Ray's wrath and the genetic fate that is Thomas will be put to the ultimate test when Thomas, a Bible-spouting zealot, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick's lives. Set against the vivid panoply of twentieth century America and filled with richly drawn, memorable characters, this deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying story brings to light humanity's deepest needs and fears, of our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, and our struggle to survive at all costs. Joyous, mystical, and exquisitely written, I Know This Much Is True is an extraordinary audio experience that will leave no listener untouched.
The most eagerly awaited novel of 1998--by the #1 bestselling author of "She's Come Undone". A contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth, "I Know This Much Is True" begins as the nation limps toward the millennium, examining the past century of boom and bust and the ways in which history affects an individual family.
Industry Reviews
"Within Wally Lamb's second book...there's a fine novel shouting to get out.... It's a novel of too little style and too much substance. ....Perhaps sweeping male anger is less fresh than its female equivalent. Or perhaps this 912-page tome simply needed an editor bold enough to persuade a talented novelist whose first book sold 3 million copies (thanks in large part to Oprah Winfrey's benediction) to trim the fat from the meat of its melodrama."
Salon - Joyce Hackett (05/26/1998)
"A probable commercial bonanza, but both twice as long and not as much as it should have been."
Prokopow
| See an error? Submit a change request |
All rights reserved.
