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 enlarge | Author: Andre Dubus Iii
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $0.01
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Rating:  749 reviews
Sales Rank: 13462
Media: Paperback
Edition: Trade
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 365
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9
ISBN: 0375727345
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780375727344
ASIN: 0375727345
Publication Date: March 1, 2000
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read -> Recycle -> Reuse!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Israel June 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
House of Sand and Fog could well be an allegory for the complex and embattled history of Israel with its Arab neighbors, and of course, with Iran. What is Israel's claim? "The Holy Land was promised to us by our Father"...Kathy inherited the house from her Dad. She feels entitled. the tribes of Israel were wrongfully evicted from their true home early in their history, and when they finally came back to claim it, they found other people living there. But the Persian family can, especially now, represent Iran itself, in its currently extremely hostile relationship with Israel. The Behrani's son, who is the most innocent of every character in the book, of course is victim of the collective failures of the so-called "mature" adults around him. So are the truly innocent among us sacrificed to our wars. If there is offense at the less-than-admirable character of Kathy symbolically representing Israel, i need only refer to Hosea. hasn't the modern state of Israel compromised itself? hasn't it gone to extreme lengths to do what it feels it must to defend itself...even going so far as to bring itself and the world to the point of total destruction? If there is any level of allegory in this novel, it would seem to humanize Israel's enemies and render one sympathetic to their situation. On the other hand, the Colonel as a representative of Middle Eastern world-view, is over-strong, denies the humanity of Kathy-as-Israel and lacks all compassion for her until it is too late. The consequences accruing to the Behrani family and those accruing to Kathy combine to prevent a peaceful resolution, on the other hand, the narrative taunts the reader with countless instances of opportunities for making a better choice. this modern novel does attain the weight of classic tragedy. the moral of the story is: prophecies don't have to be fulfilled. we are given the freedom to choose. it doesn't have to end like that. Wonder if anyone will listen?
Mr. Dubus' portrait of the barely in recovery, relapsed addict Kathy could only come from first hand experience, or else it represents a miracle of intuitive genius i have never seen before. My only criticism of the novel is Kathy's walking into a Legal Aid office in San Francisco to find NOBODY in the waiting room! i find that hard to believe.
 Check it out from a library May 31, 2008
Do not spend money on this book. It is well-written, but as other reviewers have noted, the plot is too unbelievable at the end.
I grew to dislike the characters so much...perhaps that was the author's objective.
Still in the Fog As to What all Fuss Is About Regarding this Book May 1, 2008
I was all jazzed up and excited to read this book many years ago when Oprah had announced on her show that "House of Sand and Fog" was the next selection in her book club.
The book sounded like a great read, so I jumped right in and read the book in a few short days. After I finished reading this book, I couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about.
Sure Andre Dubus III can write, there isn't any doubt about that, HOWEVER, the storyline, some of the events that take place in this novel, and even the actions of some of the characters, seemed way off center.
Take for instance the main character, Kathy, who doesn't bother opening and reading the several attempts by the county to let her know about a tax problem against her home.... Because she ignores the letters, the county takes away her home and it is auctioned off for sale. Come to find out the county had made a mistake/error regarding the supposed tax issue. If Kathy had only dealt with the letters the county sent her in the first place, then perhaps she wouldn't have been in the predicament she found herself in in the first place.
Kathy also has an affair with a married cop named Les in the novel, whom falls in love with her. Les ends up getting all caught up in Kathy's drama and crossing the line illegally by terrorizing & holding the new family that purchased her home in the auction hostage. Les' actions are truly unfathomable to me.
I found both Kathy & Les to be very frustrating characters to read about in this novel, which is why I am giving the book such a low rating.
 California dreams May 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG focuses on the disputed ownership of a small house in near San Francisco. Kathy has inherited the house from her father. She and her husband moved there for a fresh start, one that ended when he aburptly moved out. Deeply depressed, Kathy ignored the notices from the county until the day she was evicted and her house sold at auction.
The new owner was an Iranian refugee, one who had remained loyal to the Shah and had to flee with his family and a few possessions after the revolution. Desperate to rebuild his fortune and unable to find work as an engineer he decides to speculate in real estate, purchasing Kathy's bargain priced house as his first step on the property ladder. The two are soon on a collesion path to disaster, accompanied by the sheriff's deputy who served the eviction papers to Kathy.
This is an excellent story, each group of characters is so well written that the reader will go from being quite sympathetic to them to totally disliking them and then back again. As the story continues it becomes all too apparent that things will not end well. Each character has numerous opportunities to change the course of events but at each juncture makes the wrong choice and speeds the tragedy along. This is also why four stars instead of five, many of the choices that are made are so amazingly short sighted, so childishly selfish that they do not coincide with the thoughtful, insightful characters they have been protrayed as just a few pages before.
Overall though this is a wonderful book, and although a tragic one. It has the makings of a classic rather than a flash in the pan bestseller. Do not be surprised to see it appear on a college required reading list sometime in the future.
engrossing March 24, 2008
A beautifully written and fascinating character study. The author is not afraid to dig deep into each character, and the nature of prejudice. Heartbreaking and lovely.
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