(originally posted on February 21, 2010)
On the one hand, I wish I had read this book when it came out in hardcover. On the other hand, I'm glad I waited because THE BELIEVERS demands total attention and now was the time for me to give it. The characters are so caustic and yet inspire such empathy. The narrative moves briskly yet embeds a considerable amount of detail. The dialogue is spot-on and hyper-literate, and Heller is catlike in her observations of family dysfunction, leftist politics and religiosity of all stripes, seeing all and asserting power over her characters, paradoxically, by giving them the floor to screw up and triumph. It is marvelous. Amazon | B & N | Indiebound | Borders | Powell’s
Comments