Friday, January 18, 2008

Matt recommends "The Echo Maker"


Winner of the 2006 National Book Award, Richard Powers's The Echo Maker is a penetrating novel about a young Nebraska man who, after a terrible car accident, develops a real neurological disorder that causes patients to think that the people closest to them are imposters. When his older sister flies back home to help him recover, her desperate attempts to convince him that she really is his sister become the springboard for a fascinating and moving exploration of the complexities of identity. Set against the glorious natural spectacle of the migration of sandhill cranes along the Platte River, The Echo Maker is a smart, beautifully-written book that has as much to say about living in a post-9/11 world as it does about what it means to be human. The best book I've read in years, it's one that will stay with you long after you finish it. For adult readers.

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