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Title: Long, Last, Happy

Subtitle: New and Collected Stories

Author: Barry Hannah

Narrator: Brian Troxell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-16-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 7 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Barry Hannah's death on March 1 brought writers and fans out of the woodwork to mourn an irrevocable loss to American letters. Now, combining the best of the four story collections he published during his lifetime - Airships, Captain Maximus, Bats Out of Hell, and High Lonesome - and drawing from his final, never-before-seen manuscript, Long, Last, Happy will cement his legacy and serve as the definitive collection of his finest work in the story form.

From his first collection, Airships, Barry Hannah made the literary world sit up and take notice. His ferocious, glittering prose and sui generis worldview introduced listeners to a literary New South - a fictional landscape that Vanity Fair Daily has summarized as covering "women, God, lust, race, nature, gay Confederates, good old boys, bad old boys, guns, animals, fishing, fighting, cars, pestilence, surrealism, gritty realism, the future, and the past...tossed together in glorious juxtapositions". Long, Last, Happy confirms Barry as one of our most brilliant voices.

Members Reviews:

Good intro to an American original

Other reviews here suggest that Hannah is still controversial. Unlike, say, readers of Samuel Beckett or Ben Marcus, with their reputations for difficulty, readers who buy without sampling Hannah are often in for a shock. He's always had trouble finding his audience because he's such a singularity: Southern, yes, but not easy like Flannery O'Connor or stylistically elegant like stream-of-consciousness Faulkner, he's a creative, twisty wordsmith while being down home and earthy, alien to most Lofty Northeastern postgraduate tastes, possessing an essentially comic vision when timeless literature supposedly calls for solemnity.

Years ago I was hooked by "Airships." Philip Roth's blurb convinced me to buy the book, and the many notable tributes that followed suggest that Hannah is a writer's writer: the more you value originality and inventiveness, the more you'll be impressed. I read everything he published thereafter.

So I bought this compilation only for the three stories previously unpublished. They were worth it: late Hannah was the best ever. Some writers were obviously influenced by him but he was, and always will be, sui generis. He can slow your reading speed, but every sentence is remarkable, and there is no filler at all. My favorites are here, "High Water Railers" and "Get Some Young," to name two. I would recommend "Long, Last, Happy" to readers who want a great introduction to this richly American original.

The Master In His Nearly Full and Sadly Final Glory

Hannah was one of God's greatest gifts to language. Hannah twisted and turned it made it astonish, made it hilarious and grotesquely real. No, he's not often easy reading. He might even be, probably is, an acquired taste. He didn't write page turners. He is too astonishing, page by page, too hilarious, to tell a straight narrative. He was the very best at what he did and I wish he were describing it because words fail me. The only way to know him is to read him, and there's no one more worth reading. He was the great magician of the sentence.

Sin and Mystery

"Long, Last, Happy", Barry Hannah's posthumously published collection of short stories, thirty-one in all, comprises a fitting memorial to the man who would be Faulkner.

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Title: Lake Como

Author: Anita Hughes

Narrator: Julie McKay

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-02-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 15 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Hallie Elliot has a perfect life. She is an up-and-coming interior designer in one of San Francisco's most sought-after firms and has just recently become engaged to Peter, a brilliant, young journalist. But when she stumbles upon Peter and her boss in what seems to be a compromising position, her trust in her perfect life is shaken. So Hallie escapes to Lake Como, Italy, to spend time with her half sister, Portia Tesoro, an Italian blueblood dealing with the scandal of a public estrangement from her cheating husband.

While staying in the Tesoro villa, Hallie falls in love with the splendor and beauty of Lake Como and finds work designing the lakeside estate of a reclusive American tech mogul. The caretaker of this beautiful estate is a handsome man named Angus, and Hallie finds herself drawn to his charm and kindness despite hints of a dark secret in his past. But just as Hallie is beginning to find her footing on Italian soil, she uncovers a family secret that upends all the truths she's believed about herself and calls into question the new life she's built in Lake Como.

Sisterhood, family, career, and sumptuous descriptions of Italian life fill the minutes of this newest offering by Anita Hughes. Lake Como is a heartbreaking and heartwarming story of love, self-discovery, and the quest for truth.

Members Reviews:

Great read

excellent books. I enjoyed every aspect of it and the narrator was wonderful. How they change their voices is a great talent in my book

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Title: Ancestor Stones

Author: Aminatta Forna

Narrator: Adjoa Andoh

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-19-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Abie follows the arc of a letter from London back to Africa to a coffee plantation that now could be hers if she wants it. Standing among the ruined groves she strains to hear the sound of the past, but the layers of years are too many.

Thus begins the gathering of her family's history through the tales of her aunts - four women born to four different wives of a wealthy plantation owner, her grandfather. Asana, Mariama, Hawa, and Serah: theirs is the story of a nation, a family, and four women's attempts to alter the course of her own destiny.

Aminatta Forna was born in Scotland and raised in West Africa and the UK. Her most recent novel The Hired Man is a tale of love, loss, betrayal, and war in Croatia. Her previous novel The Memory of Love (April 2010), was winner of the 2011 Commonwealth Writers Prize Best Book Award, and shortlisted for the Orange Prize 2011, the IMPAC 2012, and the 2011 Warwick Prize.

Critic Reviews:

"Forna succeeds in creating an inventive and memorable narrative" (The Observer)

"Her lyrical first novel derives much power from personal history. It's a passionate book" (The Sunday Telegraph)

Members Reviews:

Beautiful, faithful story

It is important that those of us who live in relatively peaceful countries read about the struggles of those less fortunate where war and unrest are commonplace. Interwoven in this story are the rich traditions of their heritage, their daily lives and traditions which are just wonderful. Beautifully narrated.

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Titre: Les derniers jours de nos pères

Auteur: Joël Dicker

Narrateur: Hugues Boucher

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 12 hrs and 51 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 05-13-15

Éditeur: Audiolib

Evaluation: 4 sur 5 sur 7 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Résumé de l'éditeur:

Londres, 1940. Soucieux de pallier l'anéantissement de l'armée britannique à Dunkerque, Winston Churchill a une idée qui va changer le cours de la guerre : créer une branche particulière des services secrets, le Special Operations Executive (SOE). Quelques mois plus tard, le jeune Paul-Émile quitte Paris pour Londres dans l'espoir de rejoindre la Résistance. Rapidement recruté par le SOE, il est intégré à un groupe de Français qui deviendront ses compagnons de cœur et d'armes. Entraînés et formés de façon intense aux quatre coins de l'Angleterre, ceux qui passeront la sélection se verront bientôt renvoyés en France occupée pour contribuer à la formation des réseaux de résistance. Mais sur le continent, le contre-espionnage allemand est en état d'alerte...

Un grand roman d'action au plus près de la réalité historique mais aussi des émotions quotidiennes. Une belle apologie de l'héroïsme caché.

©2015 / 2012 Éditions de Fallois / L'Âge d'Homme (P)2015 Audiolib

Avis des membres:

Le moins bon livre de Joel Dicker

Moins de rythme que ses deux autres livres que j'ai dévoré ( la vérité sur l'affaire Harry Quebert et les Baltimores). On ne s'attache pas vraiment aux personnages. Mais ca reste prenant.

Five Stars

un peu long, mais intéressant

Five Stars

Great

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Title: Innocents

Author: Cathy Coote

Narrator: Lucky Summer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-06-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 9 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Written when Cathy Coote was 19, Innocents is a taut, wickedly clever descent into the anatomy of an obsession, the debut of a precociously assured and provocative young literary voice.

Forcing someone vulnerable and naive into a sexual relationship to satisfy a twisted desire is perverted, even evil. But when the perpetrator is a 16-year-old schoolgirl, is she culpable? And if the victim is her 34-year-old teacher, shouldn't he have known better?

When the nameless young narrator of Innocents decides to seduce her teacher, she immediately realizes that the power of her sexuality is greater than she ever imagined. She leaves the aunt and uncle who are her guardians and moves in with her teacher; together, they quickly embark on a journey into their darkest desires.

Unforgettable, disturbing, and morally complex, Innocents permanently unsettles our notions of innocence, experience, and power, and suggests that we all are culpable.

Members Reviews:

Hot but crazy

16 year old virgin girl with sex continually on her mind finds a way to seduce her older teacher, driving him gradually to do more and then finally too far for her. At which point, was there a winner or a loser and what happens now? The sex is well written, and after the initial seduction it becomes more like where is this going? Where it ends is in ambivalence. I know who he is, but she is still a young woman with sexual power and needs, preparing for whatever next move feels right. Interesting character study.

What did I just read?

The only reason this got 2 stars was because the book made me think... Really hard, my brain hurts!

First of all this book is written like a letter (Which I did not like), its being written by an unnamed 16-year-old girl to her 34-year-old lover/teacher. In her account of their affair she is taking responsibility for her manipulation of him... This leads me to believe that she's come to an understanding of her faults so I wanted to like her (but I don't). Shockingly I didn't dislike him (I kinda felt sorry for him??) but I think that's because of the way she wrote the letter, she writes him very nave and easily manipulated. It's very clear they're both obsessed with each other which is disturbing. The whole relationship is disturbing. Not the teacher/student taboo, just this weird obsessive relationship with this sickly manipulative young girl who at the end we shockingly realize has learned nothing!!

Needless to say I hated and didn't fully understand the ending. I finished the book with my mouth hanging open saying WTF!!!

In addition to all of this the book was also very slow and drawn out at times which made it hard to read.

The only 2 good things here was it intrigued me enough to need to know the ending, and it made me think.

:: Not my Cup of Tea ::

Well, I hate to say it but I just could not get into this book. The idea behind it is great but for me, the author just doesn't deliver. The book is written in a way that appears as a letter to her older lover. The main character; a sixteen year old girl, seduces her teacher, moves in with him, and draws twisted photos of people in the buff. All in all, that's all I got from this book. The characters (both) are totally unlikeable. The dark and twisted thoughts of the main character are the only thing I liked about this book. However, those were few and far between. This was just not my cup of tea.

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Title: Making Your Mind Up

Author: Jill Mansell

Narrator: Anna Parker-Naples

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-05-15

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 98 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Love is a complicated thing...

Lottie Carlyle is happy enough. Living in a beautiful cottage with her two adorable - sometimes - kids in an idyllic village, on good terms with her ex-husband, and with friends all around, everything is going just fine. But when she meets her new boss, her peaceful world is thrown into delightful, exciting, and frustrating chaos. Tyler is perfect for Lottie, but her kids do not agree. To make matters worse, the handsome and mysterious Seb appears on the scene, intriguing - and distracting - Lottie and charming her children, making it more and more difficult for her to make up her mind....

Cover art by Lisa Mallet

Critic Reviews:

"Very nicely done.... Jill Mansell's chorus of sharp-witted youth, shaking sticks at the foibles of their elders, is delightful." (Daily Express)

"A smashing read that both delights and surprises the reader." (The Sun)

Members Reviews:

Nice story, bad American accent

I always enjoy Jill Mansell's stories, but this one was harder because of the poor portrayal of the American accents in the story which I found distracting.

Narration was good, story was OK

I was attracted to this story because like Lottie, I too am a single mother and I have a great relationship with my ex. Lottie is comfortable with her ex and even with her ex's girlfriend. I also like that Lottie is described physically as someone who dresses casually, is curvy and also likes to dress up when the occasion calls for it. She seems like a real person.

The one thing that drove me crazy about Lottie and her ex is that their children have NO MANNERS. If a child of mine lacks manners at any moment, I don't hesitate to call them out and correct them. Lottie's children have no discretion and she and her ex don't set boundaries for the children. It's the whole I-can't-date-you-because-my-children-won't-allow-it-even-though-we-fancy-the-pants-off-each-other scenario.

The smaller stories that accompany Lottie's are endearing--a dying employer and a childless woman. I love Cressida, and her tentative steps into romance.

The one thing I did not buy was the American characters' choice of words when speaking. A lot of British idioms sounded strange coming from them. It didn't sound like something an American would say. The other thing that was strange was talk of dollars instead of pounds, words that were substituted for an American audience.

I liked the narrator, Anna Parker-Naples, and she was pretty good at distinguishing the characters from each other.

Making Your Mind Up

Any additional comments?

This was a lovely and easy story. It had some great characters which I really enjoyed. I wasn't a huge fan of the kids in this book. I found them really whinny and annoying. The rest of them I loved.

Well worth a listen :)

This book puts the comedy in romantic comedy!

This book is so entertaining that my husband even enjoyed the snippets that he was forced to listen to in my car.

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Título: La iniciación [Initiation]

Autor: Malenka Ramos

Narrador: Daniela Tobar

Formato: Unabridged

Duración: 14 hrs

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 04-29-15

Editor: Audible Studios

Calificaciones: 5 de 5 de 2 votos

Categorías: Fiction, Contemporary

Resumen del editor:

¡La versión original y sin límites que nadie se atrevió a publicar! Continúa la Trilogía Venganza iniciada con DE RODILLAS; Con Dominic, Samara conoció una vida que nada tiene que ver con la real, conoció a una familia que se rige por sus normas, por sus parafilias, por una sexualidad atrevida y poco compasiva. Lo moralmente incorrecto alberga quizá más sentimientos y más amor que solo ha podido comprender siendo testigo de cada uno de los momentos que ha pasado con ellos. Cada uno de los miembros de Quimera posee su propio tormento y sus demonios, sin embargo, aunque su vida pasa con destellos de normalidad, la mansión ha albergado la historia de más personas que pronto formaran parte de la vida de Samara. ¿Acaso tan sólo una mujer es capaz de ponersede rodillas antes un hombre? No.... Quimera le demostrará una vez más que todo lo que pasa a su alrededor está unido con finos hilos de un destino que todos tienen asignado para un fin y mientras Dominic, el hombre que más daño le hizo y a la vez le dio el amor más profundo, seguirá demostrando que no hay nada a su alrededor que él no controle. Bienvenidos a Quimera....

Please note: This audiobook is in Spanish.

Opiniones de los miembros:

El Mundo Si Esta Preparado para Venganza

Actualmente el mercado literario está saturado de temas de BDSM, sin embargo Venganza atrae y mantiene la atención del lector por la versatilidad de la autora para exponer las parafilias de los Quimeros y a la vez mostrar su lado más sensible, vulnerable, amable y divertido sin caer en la predicción del personaje, por ejemplo: la oscuridad de Dominic tiene destellos de colores que difícilmente se puede encontrar en otro protagonista masculino, es único en su sentir, intenso en su amor-odio, encontró su princesa pero él sigue siendo el caballero negro, la ama con locura pero no ha dejado de ser implacable, puede estar en calma pero él mismo se encarga de recordarnos a todos que "nada es lo que parece".

Carlo es un personaje maravilloso, amo su humor y su amor por sus hermanos de Quimera, su aire chulesco es tan engañoso que me encanta cuando nadie ve venir su azote, cuando se sale con la suya sin que nadie lo haya anticipado, o cuando sorprende por ser tierno y afectuoso.

Los Malsabeda y su perversidad, que no pretenden disimular, simplemente queda una con ganas de más.

Es una historia excelente y gracias a Dios el mundo ha demostrado que si esta preparado para más Venganza!! Así que a esperar ansiosa el 3er ebook y la edición de la trilogia en papel.

Felicidades Male!!

Fabulosa continuación.

Otro libro que no pude soltar hasta terminarlo. Esta segunda parte te permite conocer más a fondo a los personajes secundarios de esta particular familia quimérica. Me sigue sorprendiendo cómo conforme uno lee la historia puede llegar a entender ciertos temas que tal vez en la vida real ni siquiera uno los considera. Puedo decir que demuestra que el amor es amor sin importar quién da o recibe, de ahí que llegas a entender la complicada relación entre Samara y Luis.

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Título: El lejano país de los estanques [The Distant Land of the Ponds]

Subtitular: Bevilacqua

Autor: Lorenzo Silva

Narrador: Gustavo Bonfigli

Formato: Unabridged

Duración: 8 hrs and 20 mins

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 04-22-15

Editor: Audible Studios

Calificaciones: 5 de 5 de 3 votos

Categorías: Fiction, Contemporary

Resumen del editor:

El cuerpo desnudo de una joven austriaca pende atado de las manos en un chalet mallorquín. Ni los signos de violencia, ni la pestilencia de una muerte estival ocultan su inquietante belleza. En el revólver hallado en la basura abundan las huellas de una sesentona suiza de fama libertina, pero la vida turbia de la joven, Eva Heydrich - un ser irresistible consagrado tanto al placer como a la destrucción - , sugiere que la sencillez del crimen es sólo la punta de un iceberg. En Madrid, la Guardia Civil confía el caso al experimentado sargento Rubén Bevilacqua, o Vila para sus compañeros, ex-psicólogo desempleado para quien Jung era sólo un aficionado, y a la inexperta agente Virginia Chamorro, cuya eficacia policiaca será puesta a prueba por primera vez. De incógnito entre nudistas teutones, turistas desenfrenados, y mafiosos locales, Bevilacqua y Chamorro se adentrarán en el reverso oscuro de una apacible urbanización mallorquina tratando de desentrañar los últimos días de la joven asesinada. Con esta audio novela, Lorenzo Silva da inicio a las andanzas policiales de una atípica pareja de guardias de la Benemérita.

Please note: This audiobook is in Spanish.

Opiniones de los miembros:

Five Stars

Excelente thriller. En la linea de lo que uno esperaria de Lorenzo Silva.

Correction to description

ISBN 8423329917

Pages: 244

Publisher: Ediciones Destino (2002)

Lorenzo Silva caminaba hacia una carrera literaria sin éxitos relevantes cuando apostó por la novela de género. Con las tres novelas publicadas hasta ahora de la heterodoxa pareja de guardias civiles formada por el sargento Bevilacqua y la agente Chamorro, creció en éxito. Si la primera consiguió ventas interesantes y críticas favorables, la segunda -El alquimista impaciente- le reportó el premio Nadal y la tercera, La niebla y la doncella, recién aparecida, entró de inmediato en las listas de éxitos.

El lejano país de los estanques abre esta serie y ofrece un buen ejemplo de las razones de su favorable acogida, si bien la trama policiaca no está a la altura de la siguiente entrega. Es una novela interesante por su dibujo de personajes, que además dan la intención de ir creciendo con el paso de las páginas; es fácil imaginar que Silva no tenía la intención de convertir a Bevilacqua y Chamorro en ejes de una serie, pero el crecimiento de ambos personajes -en particular del reflexivo sargento- se hace obvio para el lector a lo largo de la novela.

Inicialmente, cabe deducir que El lejano país de los estanques es una novela policiaca sólo en la forma; el fondo es una reflexión sutil sobre la fugacidad de la juventud, a partir del retrato de la vida en una zona de veraneo mallorquina. En ella aparece el cadáver de la austriaca Eva Heydrich, una joven de 25 años que, sin decir una sola palabra en toda la novela, causa en ella la misma conmoción que su llegada provocó en la cala balear.

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Título: Sangre en el ojo [Blood in the Eye]

Autor: Lina Meruane

Narrador: Katia Duran

Formato: Unabridged

Duración: 5 hrs and 41 mins

Idioma: Español

Fecha de publicación: 04-22-15

Editor: Audible Studios

Calificaciones: 1 de 5 de 1 votos

Categorías: Fiction, Contemporary

Resumen del editor:

"Sin ti me moriría" ¿Es una frase retórica? Decir: Te quiero más que a mi vida ¿Compromete a quien lo dice? Esta es la historia de una emergencia médica ocurrida a una escritora chilena fuera de su país. Es la historia de un derrame, primero en un ojo y después en el otro. Es, entonces, la historia de una ceguera vivida entre Santiago y Nueva York y por extensión una exploración subjetiva de lo que cada uno de esos lugares significa para la protagonista. Nueva York aparece como el lugar del inicio y acaso del final de una enfermedad, el sitio de las operaciones y de una recuperación incierta. Una historia en donde el presente se deja invadir por el pasado y, lo más terrible, por un futuro incierto. Pero es también y sobre todo la historia de la extraña relación amorosa que surge en esa situación límite y la pregunta sobre la incondicionalidad de eso que llamamos amor. Una novela en la que el amor se hace pregunta y el oyente debe arriesgarse a dar respuesta.

Please note: This audiobook is in Spanish.

Opiniones de los miembros:

Great novel

Great novel by talented chilean novelist Lina Meruane. Fast-paced, smart and sharp. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Titre: Orange is the new black [French Edition]

Auteur: Piper Kerman

Narrateur: Rachel Arditi

Format: Unabridged

Durée: 12 hrs and 25 mins

Langue: Français

Date de publication: 04-16-15

Éditeur: Audible Studios

Evaluation: 3.5 sur 5 sur 6 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Résumé de l'éditeur:

Piper Kerman est une jeune femme comme tant d'autres : elle a un emploi, un compagnon, une famille aimante. Elle est très loin de la jeune casse-cou qui avait livré une valise d'argent pour un trafiquant de drogues dix ans plus tôt. Mais le passé l'a rattrapée. Condamnée à quinze mois d'incarcération dans une prison pour femmes du Connecticut, la jeune cadre dynamique de bonne famille devient le matricule 11187-424. Le choc est brutal. De sa première fouille corporelle à sa libération, Piper Kerman apprend à naviguer dans cet étrange univers aux codes absurdes et aux lois arbitraires. Elle rencontre des femmes issues de tous les milieux, qui la surprennent par leur générosité, leur humour et leur ouverture d'esprit.

Déchirant, drôle et parfois rageant, le récit de Piper Kerman nous offre un témoignage rare et précieux sur le quotidien des détenues américaines. Car c'est en grande partie pour elles que Piper a écrit ce livre : pour témoigner au nom de toutes celles qui n'ont pas la possibilité de s'exprimer.

>> Ce livre audio en version intégrale vous est proposé en exclusivité par Audible et est uniquement disponible en téléchargement.

©2104 Presses de la Cité. Traduit de l'anglais par Jacques Martinache (P)2015 Audible FR

Avis des membres:

I'll Steer Clear of Orange Jumpsuits, Please

Prison fascinates and horrifies me. My favorite TV show is Prison Break, so I thought I'd give Orange is the New Black show a try. While the TV show wasn't for me, I'm glad I read this memoir about an upper-middle-class woman who goes to prison for a year. I had the pleasure of meeting the author at a book reading/signing at a women's prison, and she is lovely in real life.

Piper Kerman's real-life story chronicling her year in prison is insightful and thought-provoking.

At times the writing impressed me, like this vivid description:

"Miss Sanchez had long Frito-chip fingernails painted Barbie pink."

There are interesting insights into prison life.

"Prison is quite literally a ghetto in the most classic sense of the word, a place where the US government not puts not only the dangerous but also the inconvenient--people who are mentally ill, people who are addicts, people who are poor and uneducated and unskilled. Meanwhile, the ghetto in the outside world is a prison as well, and a much more difficult one to escape from. In fact, there is basically a revolving door between our urban and rural ghettos and the formal ghetto of our prison system."

My favorite "character" is the Russian wife of a mobster, Pop. Pop is the head cook, and gives invaluable advice to Piper.

This story makes the reader inevitably wonder how she would handle imprisonment. I resonated with Piper helping an inmate write a paper. I also would try to fit exercise into my daily routine to stay sane.