The Garden of Last Days: A Novel | 
| Author: Andre Dubus Iii
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $9.99
You Save: $14.96 (60%)
New (52) Used (11) Collectible (8) from $9.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  45 reviews
Sales Rank: 1865
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.6
ISBN: 0393041654
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780393041651
ASIN: 0393041654
Publication Date: June 2, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand New, Never Read.
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Product Description
From the author of the New York Times bestseller and Oprah's Book Club selection House of Sand and Fog—a new big-hearted, painful, page-turning novel.
One early September night in Florida, a stripper brings her daughter to work. April's usual babysitter is in the hospital, so she decides it's best to have her three-year-old daughter close by, watching children's videos in the office, while she works.
Except that April works at the Puma Club for Men. And tonight she has an unusual client, a foreigner both remote and too personal, and free with his money. Lots of it, all cash. His name is Bassam. Meanwhile, another man, AJ, has been thrown out of the club for holding hands with his favorite stripper, and he's drunk and angry and lonely.
From these explosive elements comes a relentless, raw, searing, passionate, page-turning narrative, a big-hearted and painful novel about sex and parenthood and honor and masculinity. Set in the seamy underside of American life at the moment before the world changed, it juxtaposes lust for domination with hunger for connection, sexual violence with family love. It seizes the reader by the throat with the same psychological tension, depth, and realism that characterized Andre Dubus's #1 bestseller, House of Sand and Fog—and an even greater sense of the dark and anguished places in the human heart.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 40 more reviews...
 Ten stars out of 5 July 23, 2008
Not since I re-read In Cold Blood have I been so enthralled with a book. This is not just an incredibly interesting story of people brought together under very interesting circumstances, but it is very well written. Granted, I just finished nodding through the latest James Patterson summer read so maybe I am a bit dumbed down in my approach to literature but this certainly has revived me. This is a very nice character study of a stripper, a nanny, a "Lenny" type fellow and a terrorist along with the supporting cast. I know I said terrorist and that probably requires some explanation. This is what turned me on to the book initially, the New York Times review which talked about the Bassam character and his preparation for the 9/11 plot. Little did I realize that while he is a focal point of the book, other subplots are developed which keep you rivetted to the pages. While this book is long, it will keep you going and I found little to be dissappointed in. I am disappointed, however, in some of the reviews I am seeing. I am glad I did not read them before I picked this book up. I may have been steered away from what may be classified as a modern classic in my opinion. If you are on the edge about buying this book, just do it and look forward to a very nice and entertaining read. I have never read anything else from this Author until now, I am picking up his other works. Capote he may not be, but he is darn good!
 Predictable, horribly long. . . but finished it nonetheless July 22, 2008
Unfortunately, my only response to this book was predictable, well, and let me add--too long--(editor, please note!). After slogging through 500 pages, I felt, okay, that sort of sums up what we all thought after the 9/11 tragedy: whose life had the terrorists touched, where did they spend their time, how did it impact our society and who, in the last moments before entering the plane, had these terrorists talked to. Well, unfortunately, we learn mostly of a seedy encounter at a strip club (with April the stripper), then the next seedy romp with a hooker. Sprinkled throughout in chapter vignettes are flashbacks of the terrorist and his family and upbringing--up to and including the last little terrorist prayer vigil before striking out to destroy lives (I personally did not care one iota about this character). A few other flashbacks and characters are mixed in: the club bouncer (Lonnie), the stripper's landlady (Jean), a man who is a stripper club attendee (AJ). Overall, the book is poorly developed--and do we really, really need all of the other details of the stripper, her wardrobe and all?--and her misbegotten tale of being a single mom, and as the saying goes, working for a living. The life of one of the 9/11 terrorists--who, gosh, has chosen April for his last fling before striking out to Boston--dousing her with cash and all for a little one-on-one time--is just not written well. The book lacked depth and character development. Stephen King review or not (and peer reviews--how subjective can they be anyway?). I recommend flipping through this book before purchase--seriously consider the time you will dedicate to it--and also consider how much of the 'strip club scene' are you really interested in reading about anyway? In my humble opinion, I recommend two other post 9/11 novels: Falling Man by Don DeLillo or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer.
Boring! July 21, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I just finished this book and felt I had to warn some people away from it. I was misled into buying and reading this based on some positive reviews and my liking his previous novel, "House of Sand and Fog". I enjoyed the first third of this book, but after that it goes nowhere, and takes a really long time doing so. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone...
Not Dubus' best July 21, 2008
As one who loved House of Sand and Fog, I was disappointed in this one. It's long, and I kept waiting for it to grab me. It really never did. I'm hoping Dubus' next one is much better.
Editor of Michele Cozzens' award winning women's fiction A Line Between Friends
 worth reading July 20, 2008
A little X rated reading but worth reading. Sad story but worth it. I would recommend it, especially in the winter. Maybe a little to heavy for summer, for some.
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