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Alice McDermott and the Wisconsin Book Festival

October 17th, 2006 Mary K. - Central

The upcoming, Wisconsin Book Festival has many great authors on the schedule and it will be a busy weekend for all of us book lovers.  One author that I am particularily anticipating is Alice McDermott, who will be at the Central Library on Sunday, at 2:30. 

I have just finished her most recent novel, After This.  This is one of those books that I want to read slowly, to savor the language and the writing.  It is the story of the Catholic Keane family, as well as a portray of the times they live in, starting with the post-World War II era and extending into the sixties.   All four children in the family experience the sixties and the Vietnam war in different ways.   The Catholic church is a big part of their lives and we see the Church changing along with the family and their faith.  The chapters could be described as vignettes, since each focuses on a specific incident or family member.  Read this book for the literary style and for the story of a family and the tumultous era they grow up in.  And come to the library on Sunday to hear McDermott read from the book.

Entry Filed under: General, Literary Fiction