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The Double Bind
The Double Bind
Chris Bohjalian | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book completely caught me by surprise. I couldn't put it down... it tells the tale of Laurel, a young woman who was attacked while in college -- an attack that left quite an impression on her. Currently Laurel works for a homeless shelter. When one of her residents dies, her boss gives Laurel (an amateur photographer herself) a box of his photographs. Convinced he was somehow tied to a rich family, quite infamous in Laurel's hometown, she goes on a quest to learn everything she can about the man and his family. The book adds an extra layer as it weaves much <i>The Great Gatsby</i> lore into its own story.
  
    Quicksand

    Quicksand

    Steve Toltz

    (0 Ratings) Rate It

    Book

    'A tour de force of sustained brilliance' Mail on Sunday Wildly funny and unceasingly surprising,...

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Reggie Watts recommended Brazil (1985) in Movies (curated)

 
Brazil (1985)
Brazil (1985)
1985 | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi

"This is an amazing film, so visually stunning and strange and melancholic. It’s a good film to remind me of a time period that I was living at that time; it made me feel very heavy, you know, as a kid in 1985. I would have been twelve or thirteen, and it was just a formative time of existence. It affected me in a pretty intense way, just simply by its mood alone. Terry Gilliam’s imagination was so surreal and rich. And the propulsion of the story with the atmosphere in this world, and the gadgets and inventions and trials that all these characters have to go through, it’s a fantastic voyage of the mind."

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[Last Days of Last Island] by [Bill Dixon] shows that being rich doesn't always come with common sense. In the mid 1800 in America the rich were looking for new ways to enjoy their wealth. In Louisiana the plantation owners found a beautiful island off the coast. It had great views and fishing. Also the breezes were a nice change from the temperatures inland in the South.

The catch is this "island" was little more than a large sandbar. What we know as barrier islands. This did not deter them from building it up as a resort for the well to do. What could go wrong?

There was no weather forecasting as their is today and the Gulf Coast was as prone to hurricanes then as it is now. There also was no easy escape since the only way to the island was by boat.

[Dixon] tell the tragic story of life and death on Last Island during the Hurricane of 1856. The research is well done and the narrative makes the saga of the inhabitants real in this pre Civil War natural disaster. Although he does get quite repetitive with details it was still a very informative read.