I found The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue on the bargain shelf at Barnes & Noble Friday night. I was drawn to the lovely simplicity of the cover art and intrigued by the blurb on the book jacket. And at $4.95, the price was perfect for my non-existent book budget. (My financial aspiration is to one day be well-off enough to buy whatever book strikes my fancy.) I was expecting a nice summer read.
What I discovered was a beautifully sculpted work that follows the after-life of a 20's Flapper following her tragic death in 1929 and her intersection with the modern world. Its themes of life, death, love, choice, and regret flow through the multiple strands of the story and seem at times like a philosophical text hidden in narrative. (I used that sentence to describe the book to Miss Parker, to which she replied "Pretentious much?") The book isn't without its flaws and the narrator isn't always likable, but it did keep me reading well into the wee hours of the morning on several occasions, including last night despite the fact I had to be to work at 7:30 am.
I think it is a great pick for those of you who like substance in your summer reading. Especially since you can pick it up for $5.
8 comments:
$5!!! I am all over this!
A small warning, there are a few sections that get a bit sensual, but are a) easily skipped over w/out missing content and 2) this side of gratuitous. And for a 21st century book, fairly low on the profanity scale. Enjoy!
I think I will check it out, AND you should be a book reviewer- who wouldn't want to read the book after your description?
Oh, and also, I was going to ask you if you have seen Superman yet? I have been hearing mixed reviews. But my literature and film teacher is an adorable old lady who found it wonderful, and said of the new superman, "be still my heart!" so there you go!
I haven't seen it yet, probably tomorrow. But my roommate saw it and liked it. And she was just as skeptical about about it as I was. Most people thought Brandon Routh held his own, Kevin Spacey did well, and Kate Bosworth wasn't Lois Lane, no matter what she might say about using Katharine Hepburn as an inspiration. (PS Kate, KH didn't starve herself into Lolipop oblivion, which probably helped her acting.)
Pretentious, in a good way...especially since more pretentious comments than that have escaped my filter. Putting that one in my queue..
I always like what you pick out...always! So, I'll have to pick it up too. And I share the book buying dream as well!
I read it last summer and liked it as well. Only I bought it for the full $15- price. darn. I thought it was apparent she was a first time author (she was right?) and some things weren't well developed or logical, but the concept was great and I stayed up nights too. :)
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