What do you think?
Rate this book
And She Was
Sweeping across centuries and into the Aleutian Islands of Alaska's Bering Sea, And She Was begins with a decision and a broken taboo when three starving Aleut mothers decide to take their fate into their own hands. Two hundred and fifty years later, by the time Brandy, a floundering, trashy, Latin-spewing cocktail waitress, steps ashore in the 1980s, Unalaska Island has absorbed their dark secret—a secret that is both salvation and shame. In a tense interplay between past and present, And She Was explores Aleut history, mummies, conquest, survival, and the seamy side of the 1980s in a fishing boomtown at the edge of the world, where a lost woman struggles to understand the gray shades between heroism and evil, and between freedom and bondage.
291 pages, Paperback
First published February 7, 2006
30 people are currently reading
611 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews
August 1, 2011
I almost didn't read this book. I started reading it and wasn't sure I wanted to read a story about a trashy character with a seamy lifestyle. But I perservered about 6 more lines and was hooked. The history is captivating, and Brandy is one of those self-imposed unloveables that you can't help but love. This book ties together ancient secrets and present day soul searching in a way that keeps you turning pages just to see what will happen next. Loved it!
April 9, 2021
This book suffers from "The Last Samurai Syndrome." The story is about the history of a native people (in this case the Aleut, specifically Aleut women) seen through the lens of a white "hero." Eventually, the white hero (Brandy) comes to love and respect the native people, to the point where they believe themselves more native than white, showcased by Brandy's rejection of the other white women in the area, because they are bleached blonde, which is far inferior to her natural blond hair (her words, not mine). Even when Brandy is explicitly told by the Aleut women that she has intruded on their culture and secrets, she finds their lack of inclusion offensive and decides that theft is in order to prove to herself she belongs with them.
I really like Brandy's general story. Messed-up parents leading to a messed-up life and and being unapologetically "trashy." I even like how her habits of following men inadvertently lead her to finally being isolated enough to start taking a hard look at herself and deciding what she wants out of life.
I also liked how the author used snapshots of time to give the history of the Aleut people. But the artistic license the author took with Aleut history had a heavy white lens on it. In the Author's Note, Dyson admits she created the running secret in the book based on what SHE would do as a mother. And while there are definitely some universal truths to motherhood, there are cultural differences that shouldn't be ignored. How likely *is* it that Aleut women would break that specific taboo of their culture? We don't know, because the author doesn't actually consult any Aleut voices in writing her book (I checked). Though she does take the time to lay out exactly what is known fact, what is conjecture, and what is pure fiction. This respect for the truth can't be ignored.
Overall I did enjoy the story, and in the right hands, would make a STUNNING film. But from the perspective of someone who spent a lot of time learning about indigenous cultures from around the world and listening to Native voices, this book unfortunately falls on the wrong side of the appreciation/appropriation line.
I really like Brandy's general story. Messed-up parents leading to a messed-up life and and being unapologetically "trashy." I even like how her habits of following men inadvertently lead her to finally being isolated enough to start taking a hard look at herself and deciding what she wants out of life.
I also liked how the author used snapshots of time to give the history of the Aleut people. But the artistic license the author took with Aleut history had a heavy white lens on it. In the Author's Note, Dyson admits she created the running secret in the book based on what SHE would do as a mother. And while there are definitely some universal truths to motherhood, there are cultural differences that shouldn't be ignored. How likely *is* it that Aleut women would break that specific taboo of their culture? We don't know, because the author doesn't actually consult any Aleut voices in writing her book (I checked). Though she does take the time to lay out exactly what is known fact, what is conjecture, and what is pure fiction. This respect for the truth can't be ignored.
Overall I did enjoy the story, and in the right hands, would make a STUNNING film. But from the perspective of someone who spent a lot of time learning about indigenous cultures from around the world and listening to Native voices, this book unfortunately falls on the wrong side of the appreciation/appropriation line.
November 22, 2007
"You may not be familiar with the kind of places where bars are considered attractions. Where the best place to be, the only place, is the worst place. But I understood." Yup. I understand.
"Thad and I were used to sitting in bars together. We both came easy to bar-stool intimacy. Having a boyfriend who is equally matched when it comes to mingling is essential for spending long afternoons at the bar." Bar stool intimacy, just one turn on the road to my heart, it's true.
"Latrinealia, or the art of bathroom writing, goes all the way back to the Roman Emire." Who knew? Latrinealia and Dyson's imagination weave a fascinating tale.
"Like water that drip by drip hollows out a cave, the solitude eroded my pretense of adequacy. Reading helped." Indeed it does.
"The Aleutians are the world's longest archipelago, a thousand miles of volcanoes, pushing the detritus of two warring tectonic plates out from fissures in the crust, the final dumping ground for Pacific geological garbage...These are the seams of the world, geologist Juergen Kienle wrote, and it's never going to calm down. That's where things are happening." Chew on that. Gorgeous.
"I don't really make friends. Belly just assumed our friendship, and I went along." I think I do this and I'm not sure what I think about that.
This is Dyson quoting from the 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' which reminds me again, that I need to read this book. "You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. (No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it's going to rise tomorrow.) When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals it's always because those dogmas or goals are in doubt." Exactly.
"Thad and I were used to sitting in bars together. We both came easy to bar-stool intimacy. Having a boyfriend who is equally matched when it comes to mingling is essential for spending long afternoons at the bar." Bar stool intimacy, just one turn on the road to my heart, it's true.
"Latrinealia, or the art of bathroom writing, goes all the way back to the Roman Emire." Who knew? Latrinealia and Dyson's imagination weave a fascinating tale.
"Like water that drip by drip hollows out a cave, the solitude eroded my pretense of adequacy. Reading helped." Indeed it does.
"The Aleutians are the world's longest archipelago, a thousand miles of volcanoes, pushing the detritus of two warring tectonic plates out from fissures in the crust, the final dumping ground for Pacific geological garbage...These are the seams of the world, geologist Juergen Kienle wrote, and it's never going to calm down. That's where things are happening." Chew on that. Gorgeous.
"I don't really make friends. Belly just assumed our friendship, and I went along." I think I do this and I'm not sure what I think about that.
This is Dyson quoting from the 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' which reminds me again, that I need to read this book. "You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in. (No one is fanatically shouting that the sun is going to rise tomorrow. They know it's going to rise tomorrow.) When people are fanatically dedicated to political or religious faiths or any other kinds of dogmas or goals it's always because those dogmas or goals are in doubt." Exactly.
August 8, 2021
I tried to read this book four years ago but was immediately annoyed with the main character, a self-obsessed and seemingly shallow white woman. But my aunt gave me this book to borrow, so I gave it another chance and I’m really glad I did. At times I hated Brandy (the main character), other times I loved her, but mostly I was indifferent toward her. This was weird for me, as I am used to loving main characters (otherwise, why would I care about their story?) But this book showed me why — I got to see Brandy grow, change, learn. I got to see her admit things that I can relate to but don’t want to admit to myself. She felt very human and real to me in a way that many main characters don’t. She wasn’t a pure, noble hero. She wasn’t a hero at all. She was human. With many, many flaws. And at first, I was disgusted with her, but by the end, I was rooting for her wholeheartedly.
I am ALWAYS wary of white authors who write about BIPOC. The Aleut storyline was my favorite part of this book, but I shudder to think what she may have gotten wrong (I know this is a fictional novel, but still, it’s based on history). I appreciated the note at the end of the book where the author notes what was based on actual happenings and what was based on her imagination. Still. I am wary.
All that to say, this book took me on a deep emotional journey and pierced my soul and imagination. I loved it. I am very sad to move on from it now.
I am ALWAYS wary of white authors who write about BIPOC. The Aleut storyline was my favorite part of this book, but I shudder to think what she may have gotten wrong (I know this is a fictional novel, but still, it’s based on history). I appreciated the note at the end of the book where the author notes what was based on actual happenings and what was based on her imagination. Still. I am wary.
All that to say, this book took me on a deep emotional journey and pierced my soul and imagination. I loved it. I am very sad to move on from it now.
August 1, 2025
Honestly so incredible- read while on a trip to Alaska
August 16, 2010
This was an interesting book. I just randomly picked it up off the shelf at the library and gave it a shot.
The main character, Brandy, tends to simply follow where a man she's interested in goes. The current man has led her to an isolated Aleutian town in Alaska. She picks up a job as a cocktail waitress and attempts to get comfortable in a strange place. However, as she begins to learn who the people are, she begins to uncover odd practices among the Aleut women. This story is woven alongside another story of flashbacks to Aleutian history of when women were forced to make difficult decisions to help their people survive. This weaving of stories really kept my interest because I find indigenous cultures and history interesting.
The Brandy side of the story I got frustrated with because she wasn't a strong enough woman character for me. She depended on men to define who she was and where she was in the world. Though she tended to use them for this and wasn't invested in any relationship with them (other than for a place and sex) it was frustrating to see her simply float along without owning her space in society. I think this was obviously the point of her character, but I still didn't enjoy her until closer to the end when she began to realize that she could be alone and still be someone.
The history of the Aleut people and the women selected in the novel to push the story along were very interesting. The Aleut women were very well developed and deep characters who had many different motivations for their actions. I enjoyed the character Little Liz who is initially presented as a drunk crazy woman, but who is eventually revealed to be a woman with a dark and difficult past. The fact that the Aleut women believed in the mystical powers of eating dead men's flesh in order to commit murder in order to protect their society was riveting. All the choices these women had to make were made to seem rational and valid even though they had to go to insane lengths to protect everyone.
Overall, the book was different and interesting. I found the native people far more interesting than the white main character because they were better written and rounder characters. I would suggest this book for those who like to read about different cultures and people.
The main character, Brandy, tends to simply follow where a man she's interested in goes. The current man has led her to an isolated Aleutian town in Alaska. She picks up a job as a cocktail waitress and attempts to get comfortable in a strange place. However, as she begins to learn who the people are, she begins to uncover odd practices among the Aleut women. This story is woven alongside another story of flashbacks to Aleutian history of when women were forced to make difficult decisions to help their people survive. This weaving of stories really kept my interest because I find indigenous cultures and history interesting.
The Brandy side of the story I got frustrated with because she wasn't a strong enough woman character for me. She depended on men to define who she was and where she was in the world. Though she tended to use them for this and wasn't invested in any relationship with them (other than for a place and sex) it was frustrating to see her simply float along without owning her space in society. I think this was obviously the point of her character, but I still didn't enjoy her until closer to the end when she began to realize that she could be alone and still be someone.
The history of the Aleut people and the women selected in the novel to push the story along were very interesting. The Aleut women were very well developed and deep characters who had many different motivations for their actions. I enjoyed the character Little Liz who is initially presented as a drunk crazy woman, but who is eventually revealed to be a woman with a dark and difficult past. The fact that the Aleut women believed in the mystical powers of eating dead men's flesh in order to commit murder in order to protect their society was riveting. All the choices these women had to make were made to seem rational and valid even though they had to go to insane lengths to protect everyone.
Overall, the book was different and interesting. I found the native people far more interesting than the white main character because they were better written and rounder characters. I would suggest this book for those who like to read about different cultures and people.
November 8, 2009
This is one of the best books I've read in a very long time. It takes place in the Aleutian Islands and follows the story of the mother's mother's mother's mothers that survived and tried to save their people during the Russian conquest, the American Occupation, and WW2. It also tells the story of Brandy--a very smart 31 year old that doesn't act like she's very smart at all. She drifts from guy to guy, following one here, one there--which is how she ended up in the Aleutians with a fisherman named Thad. The only problem is, Thad loves Brandy and that's on the top of the list of things a guy should never do if he wants Brandy in his life.
At first the connection between the women from so long ago and Brandy seems to not exist and we just have to trust Dyson that it does. Which is easy--just gliding along, enjoying the book. Then mother's mother's mother's initiate their daughters, who initiate theirs, who initiate theirs and those daughters are still alive on the island, doing what they've had to do to survive, when Brandy arrives. She threatens them by being smart enough and curious enough and brave enough to figure it out. It seems like she might even be killed for finding out their secret. But instead she leaves the island and the mothers and even the part of her that refuses to live for herself and not some guy.
I really, really liked this book.
At first the connection between the women from so long ago and Brandy seems to not exist and we just have to trust Dyson that it does. Which is easy--just gliding along, enjoying the book. Then mother's mother's mother's initiate their daughters, who initiate theirs, who initiate theirs and those daughters are still alive on the island, doing what they've had to do to survive, when Brandy arrives. She threatens them by being smart enough and curious enough and brave enough to figure it out. It seems like she might even be killed for finding out their secret. But instead she leaves the island and the mothers and even the part of her that refuses to live for herself and not some guy.
I really, really liked this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 1, 2021
This is a fantastic debut set in the Aleutian Islands in the mid 1980’s. When Brandy follows her boyfriend to this remote setting, she is left to her own devices as he ships off to sea on a fishing trawler. She manages to find work at one of the toughest bars in the world. Here, one of her favorite pastimes – collecting bathroom graffiti – causes her to get embroiled in a mystery of sorts that spans generations. Paralleling Brandy’s tale is that of three women and their female ancestors. In the 1700’s when explorers discover these remote islands, the men of the Aleutian society leave to protect their homes against the invaders. While the men are off fighting, the women and children are forced to fend for themselves. As hunting is a men’s task and all the men are gone, food is becoming scarce. Three women are forced to take matters into their own hands and in doing so they leave themselves open to being banished from their society. This is a story of self discovery and growth as well as one that gives insight to cultural differences and taboos. And She Was is a truly amazing read that I cannot recommend highly enough. Dyson’s writing is impeccable and the story will appeal to a very broad audience.
April 19, 2014
3.5 stars. i only read this because my grandma was aleut and lived on dutch...until the US government put them all in internment camps 'for their own protection' while they spied on japan, and where they were forced to live in abandoned fish canning factories on the mainland and give up their ways of life, where many died, and the survivors came back home to their island ransacked and looted by american troops, but i digress.
it's chick-lit-y on the surface, and i guess at its core as well, but deeper than most of the narcissistic, girl-power-but-only-if-power-doesn't-make-me-look-fat crap that gets written.
it's been a while since i read it, but i remember the story and that i enjoyed it. i considered reading it again, and probably will someday, but for now, i will remember it fondly and hope it lives up to expectations next go round.
i won't summarize the plot since others have already done it, but i will say that there are creepy secrets and intrigue, if you will, and who doesn't love a girl who gets around town in a beat-up, old motorcycle. someone already said that it makes you want to live on dutch harbor for a while, and i agree with that. if you're into that sort of thing.
it's chick-lit-y on the surface, and i guess at its core as well, but deeper than most of the narcissistic, girl-power-but-only-if-power-doesn't-make-me-look-fat crap that gets written.
it's been a while since i read it, but i remember the story and that i enjoyed it. i considered reading it again, and probably will someday, but for now, i will remember it fondly and hope it lives up to expectations next go round.
i won't summarize the plot since others have already done it, but i will say that there are creepy secrets and intrigue, if you will, and who doesn't love a girl who gets around town in a beat-up, old motorcycle. someone already said that it makes you want to live on dutch harbor for a while, and i agree with that. if you're into that sort of thing.
March 18, 2008
I borrowed this from my friend sarah a year ago and I just finally finished it. Wonderful story, makes you want to go live in Dutch Harbor/Unalaska for a while. And yet, scares you off at the same time. It's about a girl named Brandy who follows her fisherman boyfriend out to Dutch Harbor/Unalaska (the tip island of the Aleutian Chain) for no reason other than she has no where else to go and is used to following a man. The book tells her story, she's the daughter of a 'drunk and a slut' who is living on this tiny island alone while her boyfriend fishes in the crazy sea. Alongside her story is the story of an Aleut woman named Aya who is watching her culture crumble under the attack of Russian fur traders who are raping and pillaging all of the villages along the aleutian islands. She has lost her husband and daughter to the sea and starvation and breaks many cultural taboos in order to feed her village (she hunts and kills whale). This heritage continues down through the generations and always there are at least 3 women working to protect their village through breaking severe taboos and ostracizing themselves through their work.
June 24, 2013
At first, I was expecting the worst of this book. The narrator/main character is a sort of good-time girl, drifting from man to man on a sea of bad jobs and drugs, and paragraphs like the following are how we are meant to get to know Brandy:
"When I say I'm blond I mean that I'm really blond, the the color is real and that it's very blond. The color of loose women and trailer trash. It's the kind of hair that demands a sleazy respect. I didn't realize how much I'd let my hair control me, define me, until I came to Dutch Harbor." Seriously?!
The book alternates between Brandy's story, occurring in 1986, and a series of events occurring over generations in three Aleut families in the Dutch/Unalaska area. This kept me connected to the story enough to learn enough about Brandy to kind of care about her and stick with the book.
I enjoyed the Alaska connection - and the story overall was interesting. I really liked Dyson's ending - no caving in to temptation to resolve everything and make it all pretty, but gave some satisfaction anyway. I somehow think that, in another writer's hands, this topic and these people could have been much more compelling.
"When I say I'm blond I mean that I'm really blond, the the color is real and that it's very blond. The color of loose women and trailer trash. It's the kind of hair that demands a sleazy respect. I didn't realize how much I'd let my hair control me, define me, until I came to Dutch Harbor." Seriously?!
The book alternates between Brandy's story, occurring in 1986, and a series of events occurring over generations in three Aleut families in the Dutch/Unalaska area. This kept me connected to the story enough to learn enough about Brandy to kind of care about her and stick with the book.
I enjoyed the Alaska connection - and the story overall was interesting. I really liked Dyson's ending - no caving in to temptation to resolve everything and make it all pretty, but gave some satisfaction anyway. I somehow think that, in another writer's hands, this topic and these people could have been much more compelling.
September 10, 2010
Not an easy book for me to get into or continue through, but rewarding all the same. To say the premise of the book is that a woman named Brandy waits on the Aleutian Islands for a man to return from fishing is too simplistic, although that is the plot of the book. Sadly, it has been the plot of too many women's lives. Brandy is rootless but has absorbed much in her wanderings up and down the west coast of North America. She is often drunk and horny, and does not seem interested in actually putting her brain or muscles to any good purpose. Interspersed with Brandy's story is one of how the native Aleut women have dealt with their brutal landscape, ancient customs and rituals, Russian invaders, and modern social do-gooders who do little good. The effect is to make you question how, in many environments, people can be expected to do anything other than survive. Yet, Dyson's characters are drawn so well that she makes you believe that their survival is proof that even cold, wind, oppression, starvation, isolation, and self-abuse cannot completely snuff out the human spark.
August 5, 2008
In recounting the roles of women through the years in the Aleutian islands, one is forced to confront the expectations of women in our society today. I had a friend who was very much like the narrator of the book in that she defined herself in terms of the man she was currently dating, so I could relate to those scenes where she agonizes over her failure to direct her own life.
One little gem is buried in the end of the book - the description of wind and what feelings it stirs up brought back wonderful memories for me.
One little gem is buried in the end of the book - the description of wind and what feelings it stirs up brought back wonderful memories for me.
June 4, 2014
The premise of this book sounded intriguing and I really expected to like it. For me the two stories didn't work though, and I found myself slogging through to get to the end, hoping it would pull together in a satisfying way. Unfortunately it never did--I never engaged with any of the characters, the back and forth between past and present never meshed, and by halfway through I just felt like, "who cares...".
December 28, 2015
I had to get about 30% into this book before I liked what I was reading, before it became more complex. The Aleutian Islands and its people, the Russians, the missionaries, WWII and it's relocation of the Aleuts, and the story of a woman who finds herself there in the 1980s. It is 250 years of the women of these islands that hold the secret that protects their families and struggles to hold them together.
March 11, 2009
Haunting! The contrast and yet the connection between a blonde named Brandy and the brave Aleut women who were central to the story was alluring. I loved this book, but it was not like anything I have ever read. I would say give it a try, and give it time to grab you!
January 7, 2012
Excellent. This is a book and story you want to keep reading. I want more from this author!
March 30, 2019
I thought I would like this book because I am fascinated with Alaska. However, after reading about 50 pages I gave up because I just didn't care about the characters. I am not interested in Brandy and her escapades with drinking and drugs. I didn't really enjoy the story about the native people set 250 years in the past either. I'm sure that the two stories come together at some point but I just don't care enough to get there.
January 16, 2023
I really liked this book in the end but maybe part of the reason why it was hard for me to feel attached to it was that I stopped reading halfway through. Overall, I did connect with the characters, I think Brandy is a unique protagonist in that she can be an asshole a lot of the time, she’s not perfect at all. My one issue with the book was it felt a little outdated. Maybe just the way that indigenous people were prorated could have been more inclusive.
November 9, 2020
Dyson's debut novel is spunky and brain-tugging, yet confusing. I often felt as though I were reading an academic paper rather than a fiction book and found myself reading and re-reading certain paragraphs in order to understand what she was getting at. Still, I adored every one of her characters and fell head over heels in love with her setting. This one just took me a long while to digest.
March 21, 2019
I would give this 3.5 stars. I wish she had spent more time on the history of the Aleutian people, and less time focusing on her blond hair and coke habit. It was entertaining, and kept me interested, but at times seemed a bit shallow, when depth would have actually served the novel better.
April 9, 2023
One of my absolute favorite books. I remembered how good the plot was, and how Dyson managed to deftly weave these different storylines and themes together, but I forgot how good the writing is!
Criminal that it's not more widely known.
Criminal that it's not more widely known.
November 3, 2018
The wind is not a river.
This book and a lot of solid history to tell between the search for meaning in a modern women’s search for herself.
This book and a lot of solid history to tell between the search for meaning in a modern women’s search for herself.
January 3, 2022
Author writes well and keeps the reader engaged. Interesting twist of subject matter. Wasn't a fan of the ending nor the ever present blonde discussion. But all in all not a bad read.
June 27, 2024
great intro to some of the important Aleut historical event and cultural practices in a fiction format, some part draged too long than necessary, such as the whole spiel about being a true blond?
January 25, 2022
Great book. I would recommend it.
June 5, 2010
304 pages.
Like the comic books that animate and inspire it, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is both larger than life and of it too. Complete with golems and magic and miraculous escapes and evil nemeses and even hand-to-hand Antarctic battle, it pursues the most important questions of love and war, dreams and art, across pages brimming with longing and hope. Samuel Klayman--self-described little man, city boy, and Jew--first meets Josef Kavalier when his mother shoves him aside in his own bed, telling him to make room for their cousin, a refugee from Nazi-occupied Prague. It's the beginning, however unlikely, of a beautiful friendship. In short order, Sam's talent for pulp plotting meets Joe's faultless, academy-trained line, and a comic-book superhero is born. A sort of lantern-jawed equalizer clad in dark blue long underwear, the Escapist "roams the globe, performing amazing feats and coming to the aid of those who languish in tyranny's chains!" Before they know it, Kavalier and Clay (as Sam Klayman has come to be known) find themselves at the epicenter of comics' golden age.
But Joe Kavalier is driven by motives far more complex than your average hack. In fact, his first act as a comic-book artist is to deal Hitler a very literal blow. (The cover of the first issue shows the Escapist delivering "an immortal haymaker" onto the Führer's realistically bloody jaw.) In subsequent years, the Escapist and his superhero allies take on the evil Iron Chain and their leader Attila Haxoff--their battles drawn with an intensity that grows more disturbing as Joe's efforts to rescue his family fail. He's fighting their war with brush and ink, Joe thinks, and the idea sustains him long enough to meet the beautiful Rosa Saks, a surrealist artist and surprisingly retrograde muse. But when even that fiction fails him, Joe performs an escape of his own, leaving Rosa and Sammy to pick up the pieces in some increasingly wrong-headed ways.
More amazing adventures follow--but reader, why spoil the fun? Suffice to say, Michael Chabon writes novels like the Escapist busts locks. Previous books such as The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and Wonder Boys have prose of equal shimmer and wit, and yet here he seems to have finally found a canvas big enough for his gifts. The whole enterprise seems animated by love: for his alternately deluded, damaged, and painfully sincere characters; for the quirks and curious innocence of tough-talking wartime New York; and, above all, for comics themselves, "the inspirations and lucubrations of five hundred aging boys dreaming as hard as they could." Far from negating such pleasures, the Holocaust's presence in the novel only makes them more pressing. Art, if not capable of actually fighting evil, can at least offer a gesture of defiance and hope--a way out, in other words, of a world gone completely mad. Comic-book critics, Joe notices, dwell on "the pernicious effect, on young minds, of satisfying the desire to escape. As if there could be any more noble or necessary service in life." Indeed. --Mary Park.
Like the comic books that animate and inspire it, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is both larger than life and of it too. Complete with golems and magic and miraculous escapes and evil nemeses and even hand-to-hand Antarctic battle, it pursues the most important questions of love and war, dreams and art, across pages brimming with longing and hope. Samuel Klayman--self-described little man, city boy, and Jew--first meets Josef Kavalier when his mother shoves him aside in his own bed, telling him to make room for their cousin, a refugee from Nazi-occupied Prague. It's the beginning, however unlikely, of a beautiful friendship. In short order, Sam's talent for pulp plotting meets Joe's faultless, academy-trained line, and a comic-book superhero is born. A sort of lantern-jawed equalizer clad in dark blue long underwear, the Escapist "roams the globe, performing amazing feats and coming to the aid of those who languish in tyranny's chains!" Before they know it, Kavalier and Clay (as Sam Klayman has come to be known) find themselves at the epicenter of comics' golden age.
But Joe Kavalier is driven by motives far more complex than your average hack. In fact, his first act as a comic-book artist is to deal Hitler a very literal blow. (The cover of the first issue shows the Escapist delivering "an immortal haymaker" onto the Führer's realistically bloody jaw.) In subsequent years, the Escapist and his superhero allies take on the evil Iron Chain and their leader Attila Haxoff--their battles drawn with an intensity that grows more disturbing as Joe's efforts to rescue his family fail. He's fighting their war with brush and ink, Joe thinks, and the idea sustains him long enough to meet the beautiful Rosa Saks, a surrealist artist and surprisingly retrograde muse. But when even that fiction fails him, Joe performs an escape of his own, leaving Rosa and Sammy to pick up the pieces in some increasingly wrong-headed ways.
More amazing adventures follow--but reader, why spoil the fun? Suffice to say, Michael Chabon writes novels like the Escapist busts locks. Previous books such as The Mysteries of Pittsburgh and Wonder Boys have prose of equal shimmer and wit, and yet here he seems to have finally found a canvas big enough for his gifts. The whole enterprise seems animated by love: for his alternately deluded, damaged, and painfully sincere characters; for the quirks and curious innocence of tough-talking wartime New York; and, above all, for comics themselves, "the inspirations and lucubrations of five hundred aging boys dreaming as hard as they could." Far from negating such pleasures, the Holocaust's presence in the novel only makes them more pressing. Art, if not capable of actually fighting evil, can at least offer a gesture of defiance and hope--a way out, in other words, of a world gone completely mad. Comic-book critics, Joe notices, dwell on "the pernicious effect, on young minds, of satisfying the desire to escape. As if there could be any more noble or necessary service in life." Indeed. --Mary Park.
July 11, 2015
Really, the only reason this book is getting three stars instead of two is because I learned something new, and I dearly love to learn.
Lots of books have a back and forth type of story where history and present are told side by side. Normally I don't really mind, but it was so hard for me to get into this book. I wanted to read about history or I wanted to read the current story, but I really didn't think they meshed well at all.
In the present (the 1980s) this book follows a woman in her 30s with an interesting view of everything. She pretty much moves through life by hopping from guy to guy and following them around. It's very important we understand that not only is she blonde but that she is a for real never dyed from birth to the grave blondie girl whatever. Gotta tell you, that part is freaking annoying.
Anyway, Brandy (named after the liquor) follows a guy to the end of the world - Alaska. The Aleutian mountains. And this is where I started to get a little more invested in the story.
To tell the truth, I didn't realize there were a people called the Aleuts - people who had settled in that area and carved out a living for themselves before the Russians came and raped and enslaved them to death. Then American bought Alaska and pushed them around a bit and then put them in camps during World War II to keep them out of the way, where many died of preventable illness or disease. Huh, I wonder why I've never heard of this in any of my history classes? This is just another case of something that I really hate, just glossing over pieces of history that make us uncomfortable. If we don't talk about it, how easy it is to forget and move on, how easy the potential to make similar mistakes.
Back to this book, we follow the arrival of the Russians and how this changes the lives of three women and their descendants, all the way up to Brandy arriving in Unalaska.
Brandy's story is sometimes good. Sometimes all I wanted to read was her story. The story of the Aleuts was also good, and sometimes I just wanted to read that. Altogether, the book was a bit of a mess that felt hard to really enjoy. I felt myself just pushing through it, sort of bored. Which I hate, because the writing wasn't bad and like I said, the story should have been great.
I'm not entirely sure why I didn't end up liking this one much. I just know that I feel like it was just okay, but the history (with some really well written and gripping scenes) and the opportunity to learn push this up into worth reading territory. Maybe it'll tickle your fancy in a way that just didn't work with mine.
Lots of books have a back and forth type of story where history and present are told side by side. Normally I don't really mind, but it was so hard for me to get into this book. I wanted to read about history or I wanted to read the current story, but I really didn't think they meshed well at all.
In the present (the 1980s) this book follows a woman in her 30s with an interesting view of everything. She pretty much moves through life by hopping from guy to guy and following them around. It's very important we understand that not only is she blonde but that she is a for real never dyed from birth to the grave blondie girl whatever. Gotta tell you, that part is freaking annoying.
Anyway, Brandy (named after the liquor) follows a guy to the end of the world - Alaska. The Aleutian mountains. And this is where I started to get a little more invested in the story.
To tell the truth, I didn't realize there were a people called the Aleuts - people who had settled in that area and carved out a living for themselves before the Russians came and raped and enslaved them to death. Then American bought Alaska and pushed them around a bit and then put them in camps during World War II to keep them out of the way, where many died of preventable illness or disease. Huh, I wonder why I've never heard of this in any of my history classes? This is just another case of something that I really hate, just glossing over pieces of history that make us uncomfortable. If we don't talk about it, how easy it is to forget and move on, how easy the potential to make similar mistakes.
Back to this book, we follow the arrival of the Russians and how this changes the lives of three women and their descendants, all the way up to Brandy arriving in Unalaska.
Brandy's story is sometimes good. Sometimes all I wanted to read was her story. The story of the Aleuts was also good, and sometimes I just wanted to read that. Altogether, the book was a bit of a mess that felt hard to really enjoy. I felt myself just pushing through it, sort of bored. Which I hate, because the writing wasn't bad and like I said, the story should have been great.
I'm not entirely sure why I didn't end up liking this one much. I just know that I feel like it was just okay, but the history (with some really well written and gripping scenes) and the opportunity to learn push this up into worth reading territory. Maybe it'll tickle your fancy in a way that just didn't work with mine.
November 22, 2025
Well I been pondering what to write in review of this book because there is just so. Much. To it.
It is full of a hard spoken truth people don't wish to recognize or put words to, and it sort of gives note on that's why history repeats itself and were repeating it now, as if it's the first time and never has been done before. I don't want to give a spoiler as to what- I want people to read the book and come to the hard truth near the end.
I will say. Brandy isn't an easy character to like and I appreciate this. Many people may focus on her being white- after all this story focuses on Aleut people and their histories, along with several other world histories mentioned. If you like history- read this book. It is a good anthropological social history of people in various placed/ times.
Not only do I appreciate that Brandy isn't a very agreeable person and isn't a hero even, she is just a storyteller and we're listening to her story while.many others are weved through.
Some people I am certain will try and tarnish this as cultural appropriation? Or white hero syndrome. Or anything to put a negative hand onto the fact a white blond woman was the protagonist and storyteller while events unfolded in Alaska. This is such a boiled down and stripped viewing of the story, and would make me believe it wasn't read completely.
To end, and sort of forshadow the ending so SLIGHT warning here for content: this is a story about the healing of women and how women should support one another and how they can move beyond the past and tradition and grow to a healthier life.
I urge people to read the whole thing. Getting to know those you dislike sometimes really pays off.
Also, made me listen to the Talking Heads- which I hasn't heard this song in forever.
In the end 5/5 and strongly recommend.
It is full of a hard spoken truth people don't wish to recognize or put words to, and it sort of gives note on that's why history repeats itself and were repeating it now, as if it's the first time and never has been done before. I don't want to give a spoiler as to what- I want people to read the book and come to the hard truth near the end.
I will say. Brandy isn't an easy character to like and I appreciate this. Many people may focus on her being white- after all this story focuses on Aleut people and their histories, along with several other world histories mentioned. If you like history- read this book. It is a good anthropological social history of people in various placed/ times.
Not only do I appreciate that Brandy isn't a very agreeable person and isn't a hero even, she is just a storyteller and we're listening to her story while.many others are weved through.
Some people I am certain will try and tarnish this as cultural appropriation? Or white hero syndrome. Or anything to put a negative hand onto the fact a white blond woman was the protagonist and storyteller while events unfolded in Alaska. This is such a boiled down and stripped viewing of the story, and would make me believe it wasn't read completely.
To end, and sort of forshadow the ending so SLIGHT warning here for content: this is a story about the healing of women and how women should support one another and how they can move beyond the past and tradition and grow to a healthier life.
I urge people to read the whole thing. Getting to know those you dislike sometimes really pays off.
Also, made me listen to the Talking Heads- which I hasn't heard this song in forever.
In the end 5/5 and strongly recommend.
June 20, 2012
Cindy Dyson's And She Was is amongst the most profound and astounding writing I have read so far this year. She has a crisp, clear writing style, but she also has a story that gets under your skin. I felt, at the end, like I had just come out of a sweat lodge and sweat lodges are scary for me, I get taken to the edge and miraculously, when I don’t die, I get returned cleansed, new, restored.
She really gets and relays the sensuality and the angst of what it is for a woman, for a human being, to figure in with the bigger questions that can haunt not just the seekers, but even the most reluctant of us when we cannot shut them down. She hands us the larger quest, all chaotic and blurry, which is remarkable, especially when there are so many opportunities to just opt out rather than have to witness our desire for it as it all runs amok. But regardless of the very real possibility of getting stretched out between a postmodern dying of thirst and the overwhelm of getting washed up in the mess of it all, like the protagonist, we still have to open our eyes and look at that sucker. And, surprise, sometimes we get watered where we need it and find ourselves stronger and able to grow truer.
I wished she were a friend of mine. The way she writes, I'd swear she knows, deep down in her own psyche, what we are really made of, all of us, and it's darn good-to-the-bone to be seen that well. And she sure knows her stuff about being a mother. (Something I so appreciate. We are fiercer than we ever knew.)
This is a book I will never forget.
She really gets and relays the sensuality and the angst of what it is for a woman, for a human being, to figure in with the bigger questions that can haunt not just the seekers, but even the most reluctant of us when we cannot shut them down. She hands us the larger quest, all chaotic and blurry, which is remarkable, especially when there are so many opportunities to just opt out rather than have to witness our desire for it as it all runs amok. But regardless of the very real possibility of getting stretched out between a postmodern dying of thirst and the overwhelm of getting washed up in the mess of it all, like the protagonist, we still have to open our eyes and look at that sucker. And, surprise, sometimes we get watered where we need it and find ourselves stronger and able to grow truer.
I wished she were a friend of mine. The way she writes, I'd swear she knows, deep down in her own psyche, what we are really made of, all of us, and it's darn good-to-the-bone to be seen that well. And she sure knows her stuff about being a mother. (Something I so appreciate. We are fiercer than we ever knew.)
This is a book I will never forget.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 127 reviews