Before You Know Kindness

by Chris Bohjalian | Literature & Fiction | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 1400031656 Global Overview for this book
Registered by efs300 of -- By post or by hand --, South Carolina USA on 6/25/2006
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2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by efs300 from -- By post or by hand --, South Carolina USA on Sunday, June 25, 2006
From Publishers Weekly
Bohjalian's new novel begins with a literal bang: a bullet from a hunting rifle accidentally strikes Spencer McCullough, an extreme advocate for animal rights, leaving him seriously wounded. The weapon—owned by his brother-in-law, John, and shot by his 12-year-old daughter, Charlotte—becomes the center of a lawsuit and media circus led by Spencer's employer, FERAL (Federation for Animal Liberation), a dead ringer for PETA. The many-faceted satire Bohjalian (Midwives, etc.) crafts out of these events revolves around Spencer and Jon's families, but also involves a host of secondary figures. Bohjalian excels at getting inside each character's head with shifts of diction and perspective, though he makes it difficult for readers to connect with any one in particular. This is in part because his portraits are often unsympathetic; the characters are allowed to hoist themselves on their own petards. While some are credibly flawed—Spencer is both a loving father and an obnoxious activist—others are cartoonishly mocked with their own thoughts, like high-powered attorney Paige, who mourns the loss of her leather chairs and briefcases, hidden away for as long as FERAL is a lucrative client. If there is a grounded center to this work, it is 10-year-old Willow, Spencer's niece, who distinguishes herself from this baggy ensemble by always trying to do the right thing. She alone is spared the narrator's irony, and it is Willow, years after the accident, who has the last word. Bohjalian's skewering of the animal rights movement gets the better of his domestic drama, but his skillful storytelling will engage readers.

Journal Entry 2 by efs300 from -- By post or by hand --, South Carolina USA on Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Mailed today as an RABCK (Random Act of BookCrossing Kindness) to pammykn, Enjoy!

Journal Entry 3 by pammykn from Decatur, Alabama USA on Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Thanks for the surprise Ed!

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