What do you think?
Rate this book
Panorama
A debut novel that spins towards a single moment, a plane crash on New Year's Day, and then away from it, as the families of the victims navigate intertwined paths in the wake of the tragedy.
Richard MacMurray, a cable news talking head, is paid handsomely to pontificate on the issues of the moment. On New Year's Day he is scheduled to appear on a prominent Sunday-morning talk show, but as he awaits the broadcast, the program is interrupted by news of a jet airline crash in Dallas killing everyone on board. Richard becomes aware that his sister Mary Beth was aboard the flight, leaving her six-year-old son Gabriel behind. Richard, his only living relative, must take Gabriel in.
Panorama dramatizes the ever-widening impact of a single moment over the span of one day--on the victims and their loved ones, but also the plane's mechanic, the airport janitor, and casual observers such as the teenager in a dingy motel who captures the plane's final moments on video. Within this novel's expansive scope, Kistulentz constructs an intimate, page-turning portrait of human loss.
Richard MacMurray, a cable news talking head, is paid handsomely to pontificate on the issues of the moment. On New Year's Day he is scheduled to appear on a prominent Sunday-morning talk show, but as he awaits the broadcast, the program is interrupted by news of a jet airline crash in Dallas killing everyone on board. Richard becomes aware that his sister Mary Beth was aboard the flight, leaving her six-year-old son Gabriel behind. Richard, his only living relative, must take Gabriel in.
Panorama dramatizes the ever-widening impact of a single moment over the span of one day--on the victims and their loved ones, but also the plane's mechanic, the airport janitor, and casual observers such as the teenager in a dingy motel who captures the plane's final moments on video. Within this novel's expansive scope, Kistulentz constructs an intimate, page-turning portrait of human loss.
390 pages, Hardcover
First published March 6, 2018
11 people are currently reading
1315 people want to read
About the author
Steve Kistulentz
6 books37 followersSteve Kistulentz is the author of the novel PANORAMA, (2018, Little, Brown & Co). PANORAMA was named a must-read by The New York Post and Entertainment Weekly.
He has also published two collections of poetry, Little Black Daydream (2012) and The Luckless Age (2010).
Kistulentz was born in Washington, DC. He earned a BA in English from the College of William and Mary, an MA from the Johns Hopkins University, an MFA from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and a PhD from the Florida State University.
His narrative nonfiction—mostly on the subject of popular culture—has appeared widely in journals.
Prior to writing, he spent nearly 20 years in national politics in Washington DC, directing political strategy for corporations mostly in the transportation and infrastructure areas.
Kistulentz’s poems work against the pervasive influence of nostalgia, occupying the space between histories; they often focus on what Yeats called “counter-truth,” the gap between the commonplace understanding of an event and its more nuanced or even imagined reinterpretation. Mike Krutel, writing in the American Book Review, compared the “lived-in landscapes” of The Luckless Age’s poems to John Berryman’s dream songs.
Kistulentz's honors include the Benjamin Saltman Award for The Luckless Age, as well as fellowship support from Writers at Work, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and an individual award from the Mississippi Arts Commission. He has taught at the Johns Hopkins University; the University of Iowa, where he was the Joseph and Ursil Callan Scholar; and the Florida State University, where he was an Edward and Marie C. Kingsbury Fellow for Excellence in Thought. He directs the graduate creative writing program at Saint Leo University in Florida.
He has also published two collections of poetry, Little Black Daydream (2012) and The Luckless Age (2010).
Kistulentz was born in Washington, DC. He earned a BA in English from the College of William and Mary, an MA from the Johns Hopkins University, an MFA from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and a PhD from the Florida State University.
His narrative nonfiction—mostly on the subject of popular culture—has appeared widely in journals.
Prior to writing, he spent nearly 20 years in national politics in Washington DC, directing political strategy for corporations mostly in the transportation and infrastructure areas.
Kistulentz’s poems work against the pervasive influence of nostalgia, occupying the space between histories; they often focus on what Yeats called “counter-truth,” the gap between the commonplace understanding of an event and its more nuanced or even imagined reinterpretation. Mike Krutel, writing in the American Book Review, compared the “lived-in landscapes” of The Luckless Age’s poems to John Berryman’s dream songs.
Kistulentz's honors include the Benjamin Saltman Award for The Luckless Age, as well as fellowship support from Writers at Work, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and an individual award from the Mississippi Arts Commission. He has taught at the Johns Hopkins University; the University of Iowa, where he was the Joseph and Ursil Callan Scholar; and the Florida State University, where he was an Edward and Marie C. Kingsbury Fellow for Excellence in Thought. He directs the graduate creative writing program at Saint Leo University in Florida.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
March 13, 2018
Simply the best first novel I've ever written.
Except for the others, which didn't get published.
Except for the others, which didn't get published.
August 1, 2018
I’m sorry, but what a boring book. I put it down, picked it up and did this at least three more times, thinking the story would grab me at some point..It didn’t. I flipped forward and still, nothing. I expected so much more and thought the plot would be interesting when I first chose this book. Not.
Characters have blah personalities. They live bland lives. One is an insurance salesman trying to sell insurance in a hotel bar to the recently married bartender and his wife on New Years Eve - how sad, pathetic and distasteful is that???
The every day blather of all of them was like a white noise to me; I read the words, but it was not computing in my brain.
I thought (I was hopeful) that the eventful plane crash might bring an awakening of sorts to the action in the book, but it really didn’t.
This was an exasperating read. Not recommended.
Characters have blah personalities. They live bland lives. One is an insurance salesman trying to sell insurance in a hotel bar to the recently married bartender and his wife on New Years Eve - how sad, pathetic and distasteful is that???
The every day blather of all of them was like a white noise to me; I read the words, but it was not computing in my brain.
I thought (I was hopeful) that the eventful plane crash might bring an awakening of sorts to the action in the book, but it really didn’t.
This was an exasperating read. Not recommended.
May 17, 2018
This book tells the story of the lives of those involved in an airplane crash in Dallas and their families and friends, both before, during and after. It’s New Year Eve, 2000. There’s quite a large cast of characters, including Richard MacMurray, who is a cable news talking head, and his sister Mary Beth and her young son, Gabriel. Richard has just broken up with his girlfriend, Cadence, and is at a bit of a loss without her. Mary Beth has decided to take a short vacation with her boss/lover Mike in the hopes that they can discuss their future together, if any. She leaves her 6-year-old son Gabriel in the care of Sarah, one of Mike’s assistants, at Mike’s home.
The author lets it be known right at the start that there’s to be a crash. My hope in the book was that I would be caught up in the lives of these characters with the dread of the upcoming incident hanging over each chapter. But I never did get very involved in the characters’ lives and actually had a hard time concentrating on the book. There’s quite a bit about Richard’s work and the stories he talked about on TV, but again I really didn’t find much interest in them. I found some of the language and sexual scenes useless and tasteless. The characters I cared the most about were Mary Beth and her son Gabriel. I think the best part of the book was contained in the last thirty or so pages when Richard grapples with the decision of taking on the care of his nephew Gabriel.
I think this author has promise but his debut falls short.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and am under no obligation to give a review.
The author lets it be known right at the start that there’s to be a crash. My hope in the book was that I would be caught up in the lives of these characters with the dread of the upcoming incident hanging over each chapter. But I never did get very involved in the characters’ lives and actually had a hard time concentrating on the book. There’s quite a bit about Richard’s work and the stories he talked about on TV, but again I really didn’t find much interest in them. I found some of the language and sexual scenes useless and tasteless. The characters I cared the most about were Mary Beth and her son Gabriel. I think the best part of the book was contained in the last thirty or so pages when Richard grapples with the decision of taking on the care of his nephew Gabriel.
I think this author has promise but his debut falls short.
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and am under no obligation to give a review.
March 7, 2018
Thank you so much Little, Brown and Company for providing my free copy – all opinions are my own.
This is one very unique debut novel! The story centers around the plane crash of Panorama Airlines Flight 503 which left no survivors. Each character and story line in this novel is touched in one way or another by this tragedy. For instance, Richard MacMurray, a television pundit, finds out his estranged sister Mary Beth was on Flight 503. As the only living relative, he is left with the responsibility of caring for her son, Gabriel. The clever aspect of this novel is how Kistulentz shows these lives parallel to each other as they relate to the crash. At times, it almost feels intrusive, and it certainly kept my attention.
It took me a bit to get into, but once I did, I really enjoyed the originality and attention to detail in Panorama. As I got to know the characters, I wasn’t quite sure when their lives would intersect with Flight 503, but I always knew their ultimate fate. This is a very thought-provoking, heartbreaking, and enthralling read that I highly recommend. I will definitely read any book Kistulentz comes out with next!
This is one very unique debut novel! The story centers around the plane crash of Panorama Airlines Flight 503 which left no survivors. Each character and story line in this novel is touched in one way or another by this tragedy. For instance, Richard MacMurray, a television pundit, finds out his estranged sister Mary Beth was on Flight 503. As the only living relative, he is left with the responsibility of caring for her son, Gabriel. The clever aspect of this novel is how Kistulentz shows these lives parallel to each other as they relate to the crash. At times, it almost feels intrusive, and it certainly kept my attention.
It took me a bit to get into, but once I did, I really enjoyed the originality and attention to detail in Panorama. As I got to know the characters, I wasn’t quite sure when their lives would intersect with Flight 503, but I always knew their ultimate fate. This is a very thought-provoking, heartbreaking, and enthralling read that I highly recommend. I will definitely read any book Kistulentz comes out with next!
April 11, 2022
I see that the author did happen to predict the death of Bob Saget: "One network thought the most important story of the week was the death of a comic actor - cause undetermined but suspected to be blunt head trauma, the result of a drunken fall in his own bathroom...."
Aside from that, there was nothing interesting here. The novel was published in 2018, but it seemed like Kistulentz had started writing it twenty years earlier (it's set in 1998). It has the feel of a novel that the author intends to situate in the "present," but as he works and works on the manuscript, the present recedes farther and farther into the past, giving everything a very stale overcast. Nothing feels fresh: the characters' names, jobs, actions, sex lives. Job auditions are recorded on compact discs, nudie pictures are in the form of Polaroids. References to Kato Kaelin and D.C.'s "crack-smoking mayor" left me shuddering. There was too much sex and masturbation, or maybe half of it was just reflection or fantasizing. The author had his favorite words and catchphrases - "austerity program" kept popping up in reference to diets, and there were references to "Soviet eyebrows" and "Soviet-colored muck." One character, a youngish man, wears a stylish business suit that his paramour "knew to be a costume." Yet a few pages later when he's in a motorcycle jacket and Ramones t-shirt, he also suspects himself of "wearing a costume." He can't win.
The dust jacket suggests that our protagonist Richard will adopt the newly-orphaned son of his sister, who dies in a plane crash in the middle of the novel. But by the end of the book the two of them still haven't met up.
Overall, just an odd book that seemed as if it had fallen into a gap between genres: trying to be literary fiction, but not aiming high enough or trying hard enough, it landed closer to Arthur Hailey.
November 28, 2017
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
“It is a kind of delicious cheating to flip ahead, to know how everything turns out; to read the last page is to learn exactly how inevitable the events are in a particular story.”
Life, however is disorderly and not tied in neat endings set to a beautiful soundtrack. If we knew what would happen and could prevent or change it, nothing would ever happen. In Panorama a careless oversight causes a tragedy with life altering consequences for everyone involved. Richard MacMurray works in television, a well known tv pundit, part-time gadfly. While he is a guest on a news show, digging into an argument about the First Amendment, the anchorman gets word of breaking news, a Special Report– trigger words for Richard after tragedy struck his own father Lew, decades ago. Tragedy has found him again, this time his sister Mary Beth is one of the victims in a jet airline crash, leaving behind her little boy Gabriel, but he doesn’t quite know this yet. Before long, he will.
Richard is the remaining family, and knows it is now on him to take in his nephew. How will he be a father to a little boy who is very much a stranger to him? He isn’t the only person left reeling. Mary Beth had just begun dating her Boss Mike Renefro, fresh in the relationship not quite solidified but getting there, wanting to be more and now consumed by worry for the little boy whose mother is never coming back, Mike is a sort of outcast from those grieving, unofficial as he isn’t legally tied to the victim. Mike, who has no say in anything, who has no right to be ‘involved’ but desperate, knowing he must get to Mary Beth’s son, to be the one to tell him what has happened, rules be damned. Gabriel, a ‘strange and lonely’ child who feels the force of being the only child of a single mom, a boy who has a plan to be more ‘normal’, to be more likable and blend in with all those kids who leave him out, once his mother returns from her trip he will tell her how he will fix things. It’s too late, but he doesn’t know this, he has no clue his mother has died in a plane crash. There is something tender and horrifying, as if he is suspended in time, free from the devastating knowledge, but only a short reprieve. We wish he never had to find out.
This captures a moment that pulls so many into it’s tragic orbit, teenagers that are going about their day getting up to the things young people do that get footage of the crash, knowing it’s gold for any news station. There is Sarah who has been caring for Gabriel while Mary Beth is on her vacation and waits for his mother’s return but soon has to pass him over to temporary guardian Maura Valle, who just doesn’t have the heart to tell the little boy his mother won’t be coming back. How does one go about being the person who delivers news that will rupture a child’s world forever? From a janitor, to a mechanic, a brother, a son and everyone in between, the reader witnesses how a moment can change everything. None of them get to skip to the ending, to change their mistakes or avoid the flight. Fate is set.
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
Coming soon from Little, Brown and Company
“It is a kind of delicious cheating to flip ahead, to know how everything turns out; to read the last page is to learn exactly how inevitable the events are in a particular story.”
Life, however is disorderly and not tied in neat endings set to a beautiful soundtrack. If we knew what would happen and could prevent or change it, nothing would ever happen. In Panorama a careless oversight causes a tragedy with life altering consequences for everyone involved. Richard MacMurray works in television, a well known tv pundit, part-time gadfly. While he is a guest on a news show, digging into an argument about the First Amendment, the anchorman gets word of breaking news, a Special Report– trigger words for Richard after tragedy struck his own father Lew, decades ago. Tragedy has found him again, this time his sister Mary Beth is one of the victims in a jet airline crash, leaving behind her little boy Gabriel, but he doesn’t quite know this yet. Before long, he will.
Richard is the remaining family, and knows it is now on him to take in his nephew. How will he be a father to a little boy who is very much a stranger to him? He isn’t the only person left reeling. Mary Beth had just begun dating her Boss Mike Renefro, fresh in the relationship not quite solidified but getting there, wanting to be more and now consumed by worry for the little boy whose mother is never coming back, Mike is a sort of outcast from those grieving, unofficial as he isn’t legally tied to the victim. Mike, who has no say in anything, who has no right to be ‘involved’ but desperate, knowing he must get to Mary Beth’s son, to be the one to tell him what has happened, rules be damned. Gabriel, a ‘strange and lonely’ child who feels the force of being the only child of a single mom, a boy who has a plan to be more ‘normal’, to be more likable and blend in with all those kids who leave him out, once his mother returns from her trip he will tell her how he will fix things. It’s too late, but he doesn’t know this, he has no clue his mother has died in a plane crash. There is something tender and horrifying, as if he is suspended in time, free from the devastating knowledge, but only a short reprieve. We wish he never had to find out.
This captures a moment that pulls so many into it’s tragic orbit, teenagers that are going about their day getting up to the things young people do that get footage of the crash, knowing it’s gold for any news station. There is Sarah who has been caring for Gabriel while Mary Beth is on her vacation and waits for his mother’s return but soon has to pass him over to temporary guardian Maura Valle, who just doesn’t have the heart to tell the little boy his mother won’t be coming back. How does one go about being the person who delivers news that will rupture a child’s world forever? From a janitor, to a mechanic, a brother, a son and everyone in between, the reader witnesses how a moment can change everything. None of them get to skip to the ending, to change their mistakes or avoid the flight. Fate is set.
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
Coming soon from Little, Brown and Company
October 30, 2017
This is an interesting dramatization of what happens to those who's lives are forever transformed by a devastating disaster....in this case the crash of an airliner. Not just the effect on family and friends of those killed, the employees of the airline, but even those on the peripheral of the tragedy with no connection whatsoever except being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This book is due to be released in March, 2018.
Recommended!
This book is due to be released in March, 2018.
Recommended!
April 6, 2018
Well, I’m never flying again.
March 9, 2018
Panorama could not have a finer name. It is a cascade of stories intricately woven into a tapestry of characters so real we can mourn those who die and empathize with those who live on in a world we know too well. The pace and the power of Panorama could only be crafted by an unflinchingly honest artist, such as Steve Kistulentz
March 6, 2018
There was no obvious call to make, no one left to be informed. Only known living relative. He knew then what he had always known, that the history of the telephone itself is a history of heartbreak.
While it is certainly a story of tragedy and unexpected death, Panorama also highlights those moments before, when we don't yet know what's coming, and they way in which those who are affected respond after such an event. I was very impressed with the writing and found myself pleasantly invested in the characters.
Great debut!
March 30, 2018
I blazed through this book, so I’d qualify it as a page-turner.
I’m still contemplating my impressions of this book with jacket copy that says it is about a plane crash (no spoiler here). Said crash took some 150-ish pages to occur, with much slow build and the introductions of a cast of many characters before that plane finally came down. The slow build of tension was effective, to me, anyway, as a recovered phobic flyer.
The characters were many, indeed! In fact, this was really an overstuffed, full flight, 727 of a novel. Consequently, some of the characters got lost along the way.
The use of cable news media and its subculture was clever, but added yet another layer on top of the layer describing the airport as a microcosm/parallel universe that is ever-changing. The media worked as a device to keep characters in place and the crash/disaster of the day set up, but almost seemed like it belonged in another book.
The crash itself was anticlimactic and oddly technical (not that I wanted more gorey details)....however, the insider information/focus on an airline’s corporate approach to “an incident” was interesting.
The impact of the crash...well, that was the stealth debris field of this book. The story began on new year’s eve, with the false hopes of hotel ballroom partiers and the resolutions that even the most cynical make at the end of the year.
After meeting so many people (who had a lot of sex along the way - airport hotel setting?), the message of this book was really - wake up, tell the people you love that you love them, don’t end up with regrets for a rushed drop-off in the outer lane at the airport...the meaningful lessons we think we have learned along the way in life but really, we tend to forget. So there’s a resolution for us readers.
This is a first novel by a well-trained writer and poet who name-checked all the right writers. I see promise for more big sprawling literati type novels, in a good way. I somehow liked the old school guys guys characters, vast amounts of steak they seemed to eat, and their vulnerabilities. In today’s #world, those old school male characters felt almost risky, but real, on the page.
The sad lifestyle that corporate frequent flyer travel begets, the epic failures to communicate, the regret for the unsaid, the frantic scramble to remember because suddenly it’s too late....hidden beneath its (sometimes contrived) writing and scope, this book had a sentimental heart and message that worked.
I’m still contemplating my impressions of this book with jacket copy that says it is about a plane crash (no spoiler here). Said crash took some 150-ish pages to occur, with much slow build and the introductions of a cast of many characters before that plane finally came down. The slow build of tension was effective, to me, anyway, as a recovered phobic flyer.
The characters were many, indeed! In fact, this was really an overstuffed, full flight, 727 of a novel. Consequently, some of the characters got lost along the way.
The use of cable news media and its subculture was clever, but added yet another layer on top of the layer describing the airport as a microcosm/parallel universe that is ever-changing. The media worked as a device to keep characters in place and the crash/disaster of the day set up, but almost seemed like it belonged in another book.
The crash itself was anticlimactic and oddly technical (not that I wanted more gorey details)....however, the insider information/focus on an airline’s corporate approach to “an incident” was interesting.
The impact of the crash...well, that was the stealth debris field of this book. The story began on new year’s eve, with the false hopes of hotel ballroom partiers and the resolutions that even the most cynical make at the end of the year.
After meeting so many people (who had a lot of sex along the way - airport hotel setting?), the message of this book was really - wake up, tell the people you love that you love them, don’t end up with regrets for a rushed drop-off in the outer lane at the airport...the meaningful lessons we think we have learned along the way in life but really, we tend to forget. So there’s a resolution for us readers.
This is a first novel by a well-trained writer and poet who name-checked all the right writers. I see promise for more big sprawling literati type novels, in a good way. I somehow liked the old school guys guys characters, vast amounts of steak they seemed to eat, and their vulnerabilities. In today’s #world, those old school male characters felt almost risky, but real, on the page.
The sad lifestyle that corporate frequent flyer travel begets, the epic failures to communicate, the regret for the unsaid, the frantic scramble to remember because suddenly it’s too late....hidden beneath its (sometimes contrived) writing and scope, this book had a sentimental heart and message that worked.
June 27, 2018
Loved this book. I always enjoy when the obvious action (plane crash) happens almost off-screen. Panorama deals with the lead-up and fallout of a tragedy. It examines well the intricacy of cause and effect, in ways that are obvious and ways that are subtle and unpredictable.
Similarly, much of the characters' backstories happen off-page. When it comes to Mary Beth's ex husband, we get very very little, yet her son is a key piece in the book. Richard's father was the congressman killed in Jonestown, an incident Richard remembers vaguely, but it doesn't exactly plague him. Still, it affects him, informs his world view and decision-making without the character looking directly at it. This is the coolest thing about the book, I think, and in a way Richard is a stand-in for all of us who have witnessed a national tragedy unfold in realtime on television, and part of the book's conversation is how these televised traumas affect the psyche of our nation.
True to its title, some characters only appear for a chapter. Some characters aren't as delved-into as others, but that's ok, that's how life is. You still get the impression of them as fully realized, real people. It's what I liked about Mad Men, how some characters simply aren't there the next season, and there's no explanation. You don't always get an explanation, and I felt the tension of that reality in Panorama.
Kistulentz's prose is super rich. The technical details of the plane crash and how the media news cycle works and what it's like to grow up in Washington D.C. feel so authentic. It makes you think about the endless lives and industries behind every little thing you see every day and fail to give a second look. Can't wait for his next one.
Similarly, much of the characters' backstories happen off-page. When it comes to Mary Beth's ex husband, we get very very little, yet her son is a key piece in the book. Richard's father was the congressman killed in Jonestown, an incident Richard remembers vaguely, but it doesn't exactly plague him. Still, it affects him, informs his world view and decision-making without the character looking directly at it. This is the coolest thing about the book, I think, and in a way Richard is a stand-in for all of us who have witnessed a national tragedy unfold in realtime on television, and part of the book's conversation is how these televised traumas affect the psyche of our nation.
True to its title, some characters only appear for a chapter. Some characters aren't as delved-into as others, but that's ok, that's how life is. You still get the impression of them as fully realized, real people. It's what I liked about Mad Men, how some characters simply aren't there the next season, and there's no explanation. You don't always get an explanation, and I felt the tension of that reality in Panorama.
Kistulentz's prose is super rich. The technical details of the plane crash and how the media news cycle works and what it's like to grow up in Washington D.C. feel so authentic. It makes you think about the endless lives and industries behind every little thing you see every day and fail to give a second look. Can't wait for his next one.
April 16, 2018
The more books I review, the more I realize my response to whatever book I'm reading is influenced by a book I've read before. I came to Panorama after reading and enjoying Before the Fall by Noah Hawley, thus I was primed for suspense.
Panorama begins in the traditional pattern of suspense--a flash forward in which we learn that an accident has occurred--but tells us right away who and what was responsible. The actual crash of the airliner takes place at about the one-third point of the novel.
So if not suspense, what carries the reader through Panorama? First, the fine writing. Steve Kistulentz tells the story with control and authority. Some of my favorite parts of this novel were the lyrical passages in which the author provided a panoramic (pardon the pun!) view of the emotional and cultural landscape of America, evoking past masters such as Dos Passos, Steinbeck, and Sinclair Lewis.
Second, the characters. Panorama has a large cast and each person plays a small, but important role in the tragedy. Third, the theme of the book, to me at least, was that although all of these characters were connected by the accident, each existed in his or her own lonely sphere. The isolation of everyday life hit home most toward the end of the novel, in which we see an orphaned young boy pining for his mother.
Panorama is an accomplished novel and one worth reading if you're interested in an intelligent, measured treatment of a sensational event.
Panorama begins in the traditional pattern of suspense--a flash forward in which we learn that an accident has occurred--but tells us right away who and what was responsible. The actual crash of the airliner takes place at about the one-third point of the novel.
So if not suspense, what carries the reader through Panorama? First, the fine writing. Steve Kistulentz tells the story with control and authority. Some of my favorite parts of this novel were the lyrical passages in which the author provided a panoramic (pardon the pun!) view of the emotional and cultural landscape of America, evoking past masters such as Dos Passos, Steinbeck, and Sinclair Lewis.
Second, the characters. Panorama has a large cast and each person plays a small, but important role in the tragedy. Third, the theme of the book, to me at least, was that although all of these characters were connected by the accident, each existed in his or her own lonely sphere. The isolation of everyday life hit home most toward the end of the novel, in which we see an orphaned young boy pining for his mother.
Panorama is an accomplished novel and one worth reading if you're interested in an intelligent, measured treatment of a sensational event.
December 31, 2017
Whilst the central plot is about Panorama flight 503, I found this novel to be about living in our times, right now, with all our self-doubt, perceived imperfections, struggles with career choices versus family obligations, families drifting apart, living your life under scrutiny....I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Memories, ruminations about love, love lost.....ahh, what’s not to like.
The plot line dealt with loss and survival with a delicate balance of poignancy,love and weakness.
The plot line dealt with loss and survival with a delicate balance of poignancy,love and weakness.
July 10, 2018
I found this book annoying. It made it sound on the cover like it was all about him adopting the boy but the entire book was just a lead up to that. Way too much airplane detail and sex.
August 24, 2018
A plane crash on the eve of the last Millennium causes ripples amongst an interconnected group of people, including a loudmouth talk show host, his ex-girlfriend, his sister, her son, and a host of other players in this ambitious first novel from Steve Kistulentz.
There’s a scene in the classic 1980 movie “Airplane!” where Lloyd Bridges’ character is looking at weather map and says “Johnny, what you make of this?” And Johnny says “I can make it a hat, I can make a brooch…” or something about a Pterodactyl. Anyway, it’s kind of how I felt about this book. On the one hand, I have genuine appreciation for the organization of the whole thing, the way the story is put together amongst the vast array of interconnected characters. But I couldn’t make it into a hat or a brooch and certainly not a pterodactyl…
The bits about the ex-lover of the talk show host, and how she wasn’t getting exactly what she wanted from her new young lover...well, that could make for salacious reading, I suppose. Just not for me. There was no humor to speak of, and on that line I was hoping maybe it would approach Jonathan Franzen’s “Freedom” in the way it made me involved with its many characters even though they were pretty unlikable. It is possible that another person could pick up the same book and be absorbed by the drama. You are welcome to it, I’m just about to return it to the library.
It is pretty brilliantly put together and there is definitely potential for me to read his next book. But as for this one, it’s gonna have to be just ok.
There’s a scene in the classic 1980 movie “Airplane!” where Lloyd Bridges’ character is looking at weather map and says “Johnny, what you make of this?” And Johnny says “I can make it a hat, I can make a brooch…” or something about a Pterodactyl. Anyway, it’s kind of how I felt about this book. On the one hand, I have genuine appreciation for the organization of the whole thing, the way the story is put together amongst the vast array of interconnected characters. But I couldn’t make it into a hat or a brooch and certainly not a pterodactyl…
The bits about the ex-lover of the talk show host, and how she wasn’t getting exactly what she wanted from her new young lover...well, that could make for salacious reading, I suppose. Just not for me. There was no humor to speak of, and on that line I was hoping maybe it would approach Jonathan Franzen’s “Freedom” in the way it made me involved with its many characters even though they were pretty unlikable. It is possible that another person could pick up the same book and be absorbed by the drama. You are welcome to it, I’m just about to return it to the library.
It is pretty brilliantly put together and there is definitely potential for me to read his next book. But as for this one, it’s gonna have to be just ok.
December 17, 2018
Wow, I loved this novel. And what an interesting way to write about a plane crash. We get inside the heads of a seemingly disparate panorama of people. What they have in common is the crash of Panorama flight 503, but the tension is in finding out who it is that ends up on that flight and how those loved ones who depend on them cope in the aftermath, how they deal with the words that are left unsaid, the last moments together. A compassionate, original, thought-provoking book. I was utterly consumed by the intertwining stories. Each character seemed like a cherished friend and I mourned along with them.
March 11, 2018
I really enjoyed this book. The book is centered around a plane crash and tells the stories of a few of the victims both central and peripheral to the crash. The characters were interesting enough to get invested in, but what made the book for me was the language. It sizzled, it popped, it reminisced, it grieved. Undoubtedly, for whatever reason, it spoke to me.
April 14, 2020
From the moment I started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down. It’s written in a unique style that can be hard to read, but it’s special. Quite special.
March 19, 2018
A beautiful story of the love of family, life changing in an instant and how we rebuild from the wreckage. So well written!
July 31, 2018
Great book. I loved the structure and the examination of these characters' lives. On a sentence level, a real pleasure to read. Reads lightning quick. You can feel the momentum throttling up very similar to the moment before taking off in a plane.
January 20, 2020
“Panorama” is first novel by Steve Kistulentz. It’s the story of a plane from Salt Lake City crashing upon landing at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport. All the passengers and crew were killed. Kistulentz uses the old “foxhole” approach to characters in his book. There’s one of almost any kind of identity among those killed and those affected by the crash. “Single man”, “single mother”, “married couple with the husband traveling to Dallas to care for his dying mother”, etc. No one character stands out as particularly interesting though the story does center on Richard MacMurray, a TV lawyer from Washington DC, whose life is in flux. His sister is the “single mother”, with a 6 year old son, who will need a parent to raise him.
Steve Kistulentz’s plot is a good one and the book could be better than it was. For instance, there are six or so sex scenes in the book. Now, in general, sex scenes don’t bother me as a reader as long as they are organic to the plot. But in “Panorama”, they seem to have been dropped into the plot as if the publisher told Kistulentz to make the book more exciting. As a reader, I met the important characters but they seemed rather uninteresting. I really didn’t care much what happened to them. Now, maybe most victims in a tragedy ARE uninteresting. Maybe the most interesting thing about them is how they met their end. Anybody else have an idea?
Inexplicably, “Panorama” does have a few pieces of really beautiful writing. I wish there were more, but it does show that Steve Kistulentz is capable of writing well. Let’s hope book #2 is better than “Panorama”.
Steve Kistulentz’s plot is a good one and the book could be better than it was. For instance, there are six or so sex scenes in the book. Now, in general, sex scenes don’t bother me as a reader as long as they are organic to the plot. But in “Panorama”, they seem to have been dropped into the plot as if the publisher told Kistulentz to make the book more exciting. As a reader, I met the important characters but they seemed rather uninteresting. I really didn’t care much what happened to them. Now, maybe most victims in a tragedy ARE uninteresting. Maybe the most interesting thing about them is how they met their end. Anybody else have an idea?
Inexplicably, “Panorama” does have a few pieces of really beautiful writing. I wish there were more, but it does show that Steve Kistulentz is capable of writing well. Let’s hope book #2 is better than “Panorama”.
February 27, 2018
Television news pundit Richard MacMurray is in the middle of examining his life in Washington, D.C., when he finds out his estranged sister was aboard Panorama Airlines Flight 503, which crashed in Dallas with no survivors. Her death leaves MacMurray as the only living relative of her young son, Gabriel, and just another of the characters in Panorama touched by the disaster.
This debut novel by Steve Kistulentz takes place over the course of a day and follows several storylines leading up to and after the crash. But Panorama (Little, Brown and Company, digital galley) always returns to MacMurray who sees a chance to make something new of his life as he focuses on retrieving Gabriel.
As the title suggests, Panorama provides a wide and unbroken view of the lives of the people touched by the disaster. In fact it feels a little voyeuristic, knowing what we know, to watch as characters go about their daily lives before the crash. Following the disaster the reader is exposed to the intimate and life changing affects an airplane crash can have on everyone from airline employees to victims’ families. But Kistulentz handles the stories with dignity and gives us a life affirming, if heartbreaking, drama that feels ripped out of the headlines.
This debut novel by Steve Kistulentz takes place over the course of a day and follows several storylines leading up to and after the crash. But Panorama (Little, Brown and Company, digital galley) always returns to MacMurray who sees a chance to make something new of his life as he focuses on retrieving Gabriel.
As the title suggests, Panorama provides a wide and unbroken view of the lives of the people touched by the disaster. In fact it feels a little voyeuristic, knowing what we know, to watch as characters go about their daily lives before the crash. Following the disaster the reader is exposed to the intimate and life changing affects an airplane crash can have on everyone from airline employees to victims’ families. But Kistulentz handles the stories with dignity and gives us a life affirming, if heartbreaking, drama that feels ripped out of the headlines.
March 7, 2018
3 1/2 stars
This was a well written study of the modern American psyche. It centers around a plane crash, and the people directly involved, as well as in the periphery of the event. I feel like the book is more about the everyday lives of people, rather than the tragedy. The tragedy is more the thread that ties the lives of disparate people together. Loss is a theme that permeates the text, but the plane crash is used as much as an opportunity to study coverage of such events in the media, and handling of these events by bureaucracy, as it is to study the reactions of all the people closest to the event. There is a strong sense of loneliness and isolation to the story. All the characters, in one way or another feel very alone, from an isolated janitor who works at an airport, and just longs to be acknowledged, to couples who are engaging in various kinds of intimacy. All in all, it was pretty depressing.
There is no doubt the book is timely, interesting and well written, but I felt like the author was being a bit too heavy handed. It felt like he was trying to write the next great American novel, and for me, that intention overshadowed the story. It was just too jarring at times. By the end of the novel, I WAS invested in the story, and some of the characters, but I could never quite got past the intent. I would have appreciated more subtlety, and a little less pretension. I am probably biased though, because I am particularly bothered by what I interpret as pretension literature. It is one of my reading quirks, so make of this review what you will. :P
*I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Indigo Books and Music Inc. in exchange for an honest reveiw*
This was a well written study of the modern American psyche. It centers around a plane crash, and the people directly involved, as well as in the periphery of the event. I feel like the book is more about the everyday lives of people, rather than the tragedy. The tragedy is more the thread that ties the lives of disparate people together. Loss is a theme that permeates the text, but the plane crash is used as much as an opportunity to study coverage of such events in the media, and handling of these events by bureaucracy, as it is to study the reactions of all the people closest to the event. There is a strong sense of loneliness and isolation to the story. All the characters, in one way or another feel very alone, from an isolated janitor who works at an airport, and just longs to be acknowledged, to couples who are engaging in various kinds of intimacy. All in all, it was pretty depressing.
There is no doubt the book is timely, interesting and well written, but I felt like the author was being a bit too heavy handed. It felt like he was trying to write the next great American novel, and for me, that intention overshadowed the story. It was just too jarring at times. By the end of the novel, I WAS invested in the story, and some of the characters, but I could never quite got past the intent. I would have appreciated more subtlety, and a little less pretension. I am probably biased though, because I am particularly bothered by what I interpret as pretension literature. It is one of my reading quirks, so make of this review what you will. :P
*I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Indigo Books and Music Inc. in exchange for an honest reveiw*
March 9, 2018
New Year’s Eve - Denver
Arnold Bright, airline mechanic, is tired from working double time to support and please his family. So, he decides to forego doing a thorough check of the rail rudder assembly of a plane reading for flight the next day.
Richard MacMurray is a well known television commentator. He is single and his girlfriend has broken up with him. He lives in Washington DC and travels often for various news broadcasts.
Mary Beth is Richard’s sister. She was married for a number of years. During that time, she tried to conceive, but was unsuccessful. But when her husband left her, she found out she was pregnant. Now, her son Gabriel is 6-years-old and the light of her life. Mary Beth works as an Office Manager for Mike who is a successful life insurance salesman in Dallas. They have been dating but Mary Beth realizes that it’s just going anywhere. Mike still calls her son “the kid.” Mary Beth and Mike have traveled to Denver for a New Year’s Eve vacation. Mary Beth is due to fly back on New Year’s Day. She misses Gabriel and worries about being away from him.
The story centers in on various people who are alone in life. It gives lots of background information on them. As the hours pass for the departure of Panorama Flight 503 from Denver to Dallas, the author peeks in on various people adding commentary. As the plane is preparing to land in Denver, the horrific event takes place and the plane crashes killing all aboard - Mary Beth included.
Next, we see the special airline crew trained to step in and handle the aftermath of a disaster. There are certain things they can and cannot say and the author goes into great detail about that.
When Richard learns his sister, Mary Beth, was on the plane, he realizes as the only known next of kin, he will be responsible for caring for Gabriel.
I found this book to be chock full of dialogue that was so boring it became just blah-blah-blah. There was so nail-biting buildup to a disaster and the characters were bland and unremarkable. Unfortunately, I simply did not care for this book.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Arnold Bright, airline mechanic, is tired from working double time to support and please his family. So, he decides to forego doing a thorough check of the rail rudder assembly of a plane reading for flight the next day.
Richard MacMurray is a well known television commentator. He is single and his girlfriend has broken up with him. He lives in Washington DC and travels often for various news broadcasts.
Mary Beth is Richard’s sister. She was married for a number of years. During that time, she tried to conceive, but was unsuccessful. But when her husband left her, she found out she was pregnant. Now, her son Gabriel is 6-years-old and the light of her life. Mary Beth works as an Office Manager for Mike who is a successful life insurance salesman in Dallas. They have been dating but Mary Beth realizes that it’s just going anywhere. Mike still calls her son “the kid.” Mary Beth and Mike have traveled to Denver for a New Year’s Eve vacation. Mary Beth is due to fly back on New Year’s Day. She misses Gabriel and worries about being away from him.
The story centers in on various people who are alone in life. It gives lots of background information on them. As the hours pass for the departure of Panorama Flight 503 from Denver to Dallas, the author peeks in on various people adding commentary. As the plane is preparing to land in Denver, the horrific event takes place and the plane crashes killing all aboard - Mary Beth included.
Next, we see the special airline crew trained to step in and handle the aftermath of a disaster. There are certain things they can and cannot say and the author goes into great detail about that.
When Richard learns his sister, Mary Beth, was on the plane, he realizes as the only known next of kin, he will be responsible for caring for Gabriel.
I found this book to be chock full of dialogue that was so boring it became just blah-blah-blah. There was so nail-biting buildup to a disaster and the characters were bland and unremarkable. Unfortunately, I simply did not care for this book.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
March 7, 2018
This was a well-written book that just fell a little flat for me. The plot sounded intriguing - readers get to see the events leading up to a tragic plane crash, as well as the immediate aftermath for loved ones left behind. But the execution left me wanting more. The pre-crash portion felt long and moved slowly, then everything after just felt a little rushed. Everyone's story is neatly wrapped up in the span of a couple really short chapters (they had an epilogue feel to them - quick little snippets to tie up all the loose ends). I also had a hard time connecting with any of the characters (of which there were many), possibly because there was so much moving around between storylines. Richard was definitely the most developed and interesting character, but he still felt a little empty to me (or maybe, in the words of his ex-girlfriend, a little "stagnant.") His character grows by the end, but because it was so rushed, it felt inauthentic.
All that being said, I just read a very similar book (Before the Fall) that had a similar feel to it. That one also didn't impress me. Perhaps I should steer clear of books involving plane crashes for a while.
*e-ARC provided by NetGalley
All that being said, I just read a very similar book (Before the Fall) that had a similar feel to it. That one also didn't impress me. Perhaps I should steer clear of books involving plane crashes for a while.
*e-ARC provided by NetGalley
March 6, 2018
None of these people can talk to each other and then there is a plane crash and those who are alive still can't talk to each other. People who would like to make connections, but can't. People who don't want to make connections, but don't want to admit that. We readers see the misunderstandings but that doesn't help anyone in the book. Just sad people living sad and lonely lives. Not really my kind of book, I guess. Certainly not what I expected from the blurb. I did not find this to be a page-turner.
I received an eARC from Netgalley.
I received an eARC from Netgalley.
April 12, 2018
I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway.
The back of the book tells you that this is about a plane crash and the relationship-building that must happen afterward between a man and his now-orphaned nephew. However, 60% of the book is the buildup to the pre-announced crash, including getting to know people who end up on the plane and people who don't end up on the plane ... 30% about the process of communicating with the families of the victims, and then maybe 10% about the aftermath. Don't bother.
The back of the book tells you that this is about a plane crash and the relationship-building that must happen afterward between a man and his now-orphaned nephew. However, 60% of the book is the buildup to the pre-announced crash, including getting to know people who end up on the plane and people who don't end up on the plane ... 30% about the process of communicating with the families of the victims, and then maybe 10% about the aftermath. Don't bother.
August 25, 2023
This novel by Steve Kistulentz is a mixed bag. It builds to a plane crash on New Year’s Eve and the impact on various characters. It reads like the disaster films Poseidon Adventure and Towering Inferno. There is a frustration as you learn about the individuals. You shouldn’t be mystified as to why there is so much detail about their lives. I kept wanting to skip ahead to the crash. Kistulentz is a talented writer that knows how to use metaphors and descriptive language. Unfortunately the story and plot just aren’t compelling enough to peak our interest.
June 16, 2018
I can not recommend Panorama. I believe there is great promise in Kistulentz’s writing, but this one did not create any mystery or tension for me. There are so many other good novels out there that explore the effects of these types of tragedies.
Thank you to NetGalley, Little, Brown, and Co, and Steve Kistulentz for the copy for review.
Full review can be found here: https://paulspicks.blog/2018/04/27/pa...
Please check out all my reviews: https://paulspicks.blog
Thank you to NetGalley, Little, Brown, and Co, and Steve Kistulentz for the copy for review.
Full review can be found here: https://paulspicks.blog/2018/04/27/pa...
Please check out all my reviews: https://paulspicks.blog
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews