Journal Entry 1 by amyem from Cambridge, Massachusetts USA on Tuesday, August 02, 2005

I got this as part of a random selection box and have never really been interested in reading it. The premise is a family of orphans and what they do to stay together. Bound for a meetup next week.

 

Journal Entry 2 by amyem at Diesel Cafe - Davis Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts USA on Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Released 6 yrs ago (9/13/2005 UTC) at Diesel Cafe - Davis Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts USA

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RELEASE NOTES:

For Meetup 

Journal Entry 3 by nillabreen from Stoneham, Massachusetts USA on Tuesday, October 11, 2005

It didn't ring a bell at first, but I think a friend mentioned this book to me once. I think she said it was good. thank you!
:-) 

Journal Entry 4 by nillabreen from Stoneham, Massachusetts USA on Tuesday, October 09, 2007

This weird, spare, dark book explores laughter as an expression grief, fear, and desperation. It's an excellent and literary book that explores the creative way one young man found to cope with random persecution.

The book was published in 2000 and deals with terrorism as a central theme. Necessarily, any such book will seem dated. But terrorism was still terrifying before 2001, and this book is disturbing in its creatively understated exploration of the psychological effects of smaller-scale terrorist attacks.

The reader never learns whether the Plum & Jaggers stalker is Ranier Moore, and this can only have been a deliberate and omission meant to underline the fact that the identity of the stalker does not matter. The stalker is there to show the psychological consequences of persecution and random violence.

The book has a hopeful ending, with the children returning to Italy and reuniting with the family that took them in after their parents were killed by a terrorist bomb. The reader gets the impression that maybe they will be ok after all.

At least, a reader who read the book when it was first published in 2000 might think that. This reader, however, did the math and knows what's going to happen: Sam was 7 when his parents were killed in 1974. He is 32 when he returns to Italy. This means his return to Italy took place in 1999. That gives him just enough time to really get attached to the feeling that he's going to be ok now, before that safe feeling is violently snatched away when terrorists use hijacked passenger jets as missiles to attack the United States and the whole world shudders in a paroxysm of grief, fear, anger, and war. An ending that the author surely meant to be hopeful turns out to be like some kind of horror movie, like that part in 1408 where John Cusack wakes up on the beach and thinks that it was all a dream, but that's just the haunted room's trick to lull him into a false sense of security in order to magnify the terror he's going to feel when he discovers that he never left that room.



 

Journal Entry 5 by nillabreen at Algiers Coffee House in to a fellow bookcrosser, Bookcrossing Meetup -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Released 4 yrs ago (10/9/2007 UTC) at Algiers Coffee House in to a fellow bookcrosser, Bookcrossing Meetup -- Controlled Releases

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Released at the October bookcrossing meetup. 

Journal Entry 6 by fzhasan from Cambridge, Massachusetts USA on Friday, October 12, 2007

Looking forward to reading it. 

Journal Entry 7 by fzhasan from Cambridge, Massachusetts USA on Saturday, November 24, 2007

It went pretty fast. Not a bad read. 

Journal Entry 8 by nillabreen from Stoneham, Massachusetts USA on Wednesday, December 12, 2007

This came around again at the December 2007 Boston Bookcrossing Meetup. I'm placing it on reserve to be released at an official OBCZ when we get one. 

Journal Entry 9 by nillabreen at Somerville, Massachusetts USA on Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Released 3 yrs ago (3/4/2009 UTC) at Somerville, Massachusetts USA

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CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

To tobysrus to populate our new OBCZ at the youth hostel in Boston. 

Journal Entry 10 by BostHostelOBCZ from Boston, Massachusetts USA on Saturday, March 07, 2009

Initial stock for the opening of our new OBCZ at the Boston Hostel! Happy travels little book!

 

Journal Entry 11 by BostHostelOBCZ at Boston Youth Hostel OBCZ in Boston, Massachusetts USA on Sunday, March 08, 2009

Released 3 yrs ago (3/8/2009 UTC) at Boston Youth Hostel OBCZ in Boston, Massachusetts USA

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In the OBCZ Bookcase at the far back wall in the lobby. 

Journal Entry 12 by myluxa from Curitiba, Paraná Brazil on Sunday, April 12, 2009

This book is really really good! I found it on a bookshelf in the Hi Hostel in Boston, MA around march 16th and left it on my backpack until the time come for it to be read, and I was glad when I finally did it! It's great! :D

CAUGHT IN BOSTON MASSACHUSSETS UNITED STATES OF AMERICA