Breakout Books: Summer 2005
Discover the breakout books of Summer 2005, from Jennifer Saginor's revealing memoir *Playground* to Elizabeth Kostova's gripping debut *The Historian*. Explore must-read fiction and biographies that defined the season.
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Carnivore Diet
by Julia Slavin
With this story of a politician's wife who is desperately trying to hold her family together, Slavin has unleashed a hilarious and disturbing tale where the reach of fantasy is as long as the arm of the federal government. "Haunting and inventive."--"Harper's Bazaar."
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The Historian
by Elizabeth Kostova
An "innovative" (The New Yorker) retelling of the story of Dracula. Told with the flourish and poise of a talented storyteller, Kostova turns the age-old tale into a compelling "late night page-turner" (San Francisco Chronicle) When a young woman discovers a cache of ancient letters, she is thrown into the turbulent history of her parents' dark pasts. Uncovering a labyrinthine trail of clues, she begins to reconstruct a staggering history of deceit and violence. Debut novelist Elizabeth Kostova creates an adventure of monumental proportions, a relentless tale that blends fact and fantasy, history and the present, with an assurance that is almost unbearably suspenseful and utterly unforgettable.
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Lord Vishnu's Love Handles
by Will Clarke
Psychically-gifted but tragically-shallow Travis Anderson milks his premonitions only to acquire an upper-middle-class lifestyle without having to make an effort. But recent visions threaten his yuppie contentment.
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Oh Pure and Radiant Heart
by Lydia Millet
Oh Pure and Radiant Heart plucks the three scientists who were key to the invention of the atom bomb—Oppenheimer, Leo Szilard and Enrico Fermi—as they watch history's first mushroom cloud rise over the desert on July 16th, 1945...and places them down in modern-day Santa Fe. One by one, the scientists are spotted by a shy librarian who becomes convinced of their authenticity. Entranced, bewildered, overwhelmed by their significance as historical markers on the one hand, and their peculiar personalities on the other, she, to the dismay of her husband, devotes herself to them. Soon the scientists acquire a sugar daddy—a young pothead millionaire from Tokyo who bankrolls them. Heroes to some, lunatics or con artists to others, the scientists finally become messianic religious figureheads to fanatics, who believe Oppenheimer to be the Second Coming. As the ever-growing convoy traverses the country in a fleet of RV's on a pilgrimage to the UN, the scientists wrestle with the legacy of their invention and their growing celebrity, while Ann and her husband struggle with the strain on their marriage, a personal journey married to a history of thermonuclear weapons.
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Playground
by Jennifer Saginor
The daughter of Hugh Hefner's personal physician, Saginor was six when she visited the Mansion for the first time. It became her fantasy escape from the rules of her parents and structure of school. More than a peek into a sex-infused world, this is a candid exploration of a complex, confused, dysfunctional family set against the backdrop of the ultimate playground.
