Cloud Cuckoo Land

by Lisa Borders

Young female street musician's search for a home, both real and spiritual.

Genres: Fiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2002

About the author

Lisa Borders is the author of The Fifty-First State and Cloud Cuckoo Land, a 2003 Massachusetts Book Awards honoree. Her third novel, Last Night at the Disco, will be published in October 2025. She also writes short humor and is a frequent McSweeney's contributor. A New Jersey native, Lisa now lives in Central Massachusetts with her partner and two rescue cats.

Reviews

[Jack Ferris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel reminds you to give everybody and everything a second chance (even the 80s).

Miri, its protagonist, can be frustrating. Her friends try to advise her against making the wrong choices. She can see herself making the wrong choices. But because we, as readers, are let into her story early enough to know why she's making all of those choices. Given her history, she often has little choice; the weight of her emotional baggage tugs her down every path that she takes. When obvious questions like "Why don't you get a job?" are posed, it's Miri we side with, because we know exactly why she can't.

We all have that person in our lives. The talented, intelligent one with a difficult history who disappears for days at a time, who crashes on the couch unannounced, who has great insight into our lives and makes us own up to our moral errors, but cannot seem to recognize the same mistakes in themselves. Miri reminds us why we have to be patient and why they're worth it.

Miri is a runaway who, much of the time, is really running from herself, mirrored in the book's setting, the music scene of the late 80s and early 90s. The lost malaise of her "La Vie Boheme" captures both the highs and the lows or the era: the self-assessment, the disappointment with the heroes of the past, the difficulty finding anyone or anything to care about (and certainly not letting anyone know that you care!) is all a part of Miri's journey. It's one that you'll want to be along for.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

It isn't just that the writing is strong and powerful, you want to stay with the main character long beyond the last page. I wish I had Borders' gift to create such real characters and seamless, in-depth plots.

[Nancy S · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read! Watching Miri find her way in the world kept me interested throughout. Lisa Borders' descriptive writing made it easy to picture the places and events as if I was right in the midst of the action.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's hard to find novels that combine amazing writing with a real sense of story; this is one that has both.

[Henry Stimpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

great book. Read it ages ago, so don't remember the details, but the first person narrator is compelling and memorable.

[Linda Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several stories happening at once- sometimes confusing. But it all came together in the end. Very different than All The Light You Cannot See.

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I first started, I saw that it was a story within a story. But then it had a layer or two more. I was amazed at how the author brought the varying timelines together. The stories were compelling in their own. I liked the absurdity colored by myths - or is it vice versa? — and some of the themes that the author addresses. LONG but worth it.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent weekend read. Told in the first person, the book's biggest flaw is a sense of distance between the main character, Miri, and her own story. The story, which has the capacity to be very powerful, lacks any great emotions - no sense of self-pity, which I liked, but also no sense of joy or accomplishment or hope, either.

I know very little about the foster care system or the life of a homeless teenager, but I never got the feeling that the author did, either. And the chronology is indicated more by chapter titles and less by any real sense of time passing in the story.

The strange lack of a feeling of time passing meshes oddly with Miri's lack of involvement with her own story - she talks of squatting in abandoned houses in the same flat tone as she talks of finding a miraculous benefactor who lets her live with him for free (and no strings attached), then they somehow manage to form a band that gets national recognition, which seems to come with no real effort on their part, even though some part of the narrative said it took them three years. But Miri never seems to care that much about either the good things or the bad things that happen to her. The result is that the reader is left feeling confused about how to feel. Happy? Sad? Hopeful? Apathetic? Afraid?

There were also annoying logistical details - when she first finds herself homeless in Philadelphia, Miri is constantly running away from situations - a scammed dinner or the like - and magically always manages to take her bag and guitar case with her, even when she's pretending just go to the ladies' room. When she finally does forget the guitar, it's a relief.

Overall, it wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't outstanding. I enjoyed the Philadelphia scenes and there are a few really good descriptive passages in the book. And the author does effectively convey the desperation of being trapped in a van with your bandmates while on tour. It may not be realistic, but I certainly felt a little claustrophobic (that's a compliment).

As a first novel, I think this book shows a lot of promise for the author, so I hope she has continued to write, as I would certainly give her other books a try.

[Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the character development. Give yourself some time in your schedule before you open the first page - hard to put down.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borders is a raconteur on the order of Pat Conroy. Her characters come alive from the page, and we feel as if we've known them for a good, long time.