I just finished reading a new book by the author Amy Bloom, called Away.
First, a little background:
Amy Bloom is the author of two novels, two collections of short stories, and she has been a nominee for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She has written for the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, and many other publications. She is trained as a psychotherapist, lives in Connecticut and teaches at Yale University.
Amy Bloom first attracted readers’ attention in 1993 with the publication of her story collection Come to Me, a finalist for the National Book Award about which the New York Times says: “Her voice is sure and brisk, her language often beautiful; the result is humorous as well as heartrending fiction.”
Oh, look – and here’s something else I recently learned about Amy Bloom – she recently got married! Mazel tov, Amy!
Bloom’s latest bestseller is Away. Set in the Roaring 1920s, Away is told through the eyes of Lillian Leyb, a courageous and beautiful Jewish woman who embarks on a n odyssey that takes her from the world of the Yiddish theater on New York’s Lower East Side, to Seattle’s Jazz District, and up to Alaska to be reunited with the daughter she believed she lost in Russia. Publishers Weekly says: “Bloom’s tale offers linguistic twists, startling imagery, sharp wit and a compelling vision of the past. Bloom has created an extraordinary range of characters, settings and emotions.”
Anyway, I finished reading the book, and in thinking it over I thought “this book is brilliant.” It wasn’t always an easy read, wasn’t always the kind of book that you can’t put down or can’t wait to get back to, but brilliant nonetheless. It occurred to me that what the author was doing in this book was writing a female Jewish Odyssey. And then I wondered – what do other readers think about this book. I decided to go poking around the online book community to see what I can learn about what others think about Amy Bloom’s Away and to see whom I can meet with whom I can chat about this rich and perplexing book.
So that’s what I’m going to do…
First, a little background:
Amy Bloom is the author of two novels, two collections of short stories, and she has been a nominee for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She has written for the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, and many other publications. She is trained as a psychotherapist, lives in Connecticut and teaches at Yale University.
Amy Bloom first attracted readers’ attention in 1993 with the publication of her story collection Come to Me, a finalist for the National Book Award about which the New York Times says: “Her voice is sure and brisk, her language often beautiful; the result is humorous as well as heartrending fiction.”
Oh, look – and here’s something else I recently learned about Amy Bloom – she recently got married! Mazel tov, Amy!
Bloom’s latest bestseller is Away. Set in the Roaring 1920s, Away is told through the eyes of Lillian Leyb, a courageous and beautiful Jewish woman who embarks on a n odyssey that takes her from the world of the Yiddish theater on New York’s Lower East Side, to Seattle’s Jazz District, and up to Alaska to be reunited with the daughter she believed she lost in Russia. Publishers Weekly says: “Bloom’s tale offers linguistic twists, startling imagery, sharp wit and a compelling vision of the past. Bloom has created an extraordinary range of characters, settings and emotions.”
Anyway, I finished reading the book, and in thinking it over I thought “this book is brilliant.” It wasn’t always an easy read, wasn’t always the kind of book that you can’t put down or can’t wait to get back to, but brilliant nonetheless. It occurred to me that what the author was doing in this book was writing a female Jewish Odyssey. And then I wondered – what do other readers think about this book. I decided to go poking around the online book community to see what I can learn about what others think about Amy Bloom’s Away and to see whom I can meet with whom I can chat about this rich and perplexing book.
So that’s what I’m going to do…
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