Michael Cunningham is one of my favorite authors. His well known novel,
THE HOURS, was an unforgettable read...and a Pulitzer Prize Winner.
Now we have THE SNOW QUEEN, his latest, debuting May 6th to great anticipation.
(By me, anyway)
On a lighter note, if you're looking for a good summer read, Emma Straub's THE VACATIONERS has all the ingredients for beachside reading and I'm ready for some of that!
THE SNOW QUEEN BY MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM
No, this book is not an adult retelling of Frozen, although Michael Cunningham may benefit from shopper confusion. Instead of two sisters, The Snow Queen gives us the story of two brothers: lovelorn Barrett, who, after a supernatural sighting in Central Park, begins to turn to religion; and Tyler, a struggling Bushwick-residing musician who, on the cusp of marrying his ill fiancé, turns to the relief of drugs.
If the set-up seems precariously ethereal, remember that Mr. Cunningham’s most famous novel, The Hours, was something of an out-on-a-limb narrative experiment, too. Like that novel, The Snow Queen is sure to stir up conversation. Book clubs will enjoy discussing the book’s fantastical elements, as well as the issues of religion, spirituality, and personal salvation it addresses.
THE VACATIONERS BY EMMA STRAUB
In Emma Straub’s The Vacationers (the title, cover, and subject matter of which all scream “beach read”) a family of Manhattanites—anniversary-celebrating Franny and Jim, and their high-school-graduating daughter Sylvia—heads to exotic Mallorca, a land of “mountains and beaches” and “tapas and tennis courts,” for a two-week vacation.
Unfortunately, with extended friends and family in tow, the island setting proves not to be an escape but a kind of gossipy prison, and, before the vacation is through, a host of painful family secrets and betrayals will rise to the surface like bubbles from a snorkel. Book clubs who enjoyed Straub’s 2012 novel Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures shouldn’t hesitate before diving in.
Thankyou Bookish.com for your comments.
Reminder: Buy a book directly from this blog and all profits got to charity.
No, this book is not an adult retelling of Frozen, although Michael Cunningham may benefit from shopper confusion. Instead of two sisters, The Snow Queen gives us the story of two brothers: lovelorn Barrett, who, after a supernatural sighting in Central Park, begins to turn to religion; and Tyler, a struggling Bushwick-residing musician who, on the cusp of marrying his ill fiancé, turns to the relief of drugs.
If the set-up seems precariously ethereal, remember that Mr. Cunningham’s most famous novel, The Hours, was something of an out-on-a-limb narrative experiment, too. Like that novel, The Snow Queen is sure to stir up conversation. Book clubs will enjoy discussing the book’s fantastical elements, as well as the issues of religion, spirituality, and personal salvation it addresses.
THE VACATIONERS BY EMMA STRAUB
In Emma Straub’s The Vacationers (the title, cover, and subject matter of which all scream “beach read”) a family of Manhattanites—anniversary-celebrating Franny and Jim, and their high-school-graduating daughter Sylvia—heads to exotic Mallorca, a land of “mountains and beaches” and “tapas and tennis courts,” for a two-week vacation.
Unfortunately, with extended friends and family in tow, the island setting proves not to be an escape but a kind of gossipy prison, and, before the vacation is through, a host of painful family secrets and betrayals will rise to the surface like bubbles from a snorkel. Book clubs who enjoyed Straub’s 2012 novel Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures shouldn’t hesitate before diving in.
Thankyou Bookish.com for your comments.
Reminder: Buy a book directly from this blog and all profits got to charity.
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