"All you have to do to become somebody's God is disappear." The speaker is Mayan Atassi, the wise and frighteningly vulnerable heroine who captivated readers of Mona Simpson's 'Anywhere But Here' and who now narrates that novel's immensely powerful successor.

Mayan's god is her father, who left her when she was a child. Up until now she has worshiped him by waiting for him to come back. But at the age of 28 Mayan sets out to find him. Her quest is an epic, wrenching search that leads her across two continents to the high edge of madness. It leads the reader to a poignant understanding of the nature of love and lovelessness, fathers and fatherlessness, and of the loyalties that make us who we are -- even when they threaten to destroy us.

Released on Wednesday, December 03, 2003 at Bookrelay in Bookrelay, postal release USA.

On the way to SpikesMom as part of the BookRelay...

Mona Simpson's name makes me think of the book Mona in the Promised Land.

This will be an interesting adventure...

Since this book's been on Mt. TBR, I've heard it mentioned over and over again. Held up as a great work, something you don't want to miss.

So I grabbed it from the mount today and started to read... and really don't like it. I got about three pages in and it's just too whiny. I flipped through it some, and all I see is "I didn't think I'd find him," no matter what page I turn to.

I just don't like books that are downers, and this one sure seems like one. I might be wrong; I may not have given it enough of a chance. I'm not sure.

But I wasn't willing to find out.

Thanks SpikesMom, I will give this book a try and see if I like it better than you. More journal entries to come once I get around to reading this.

Wow, it sure took me a long time to finish this one. I guess that tells you a little a bit about how I felt about this book :)

To start, I must say that I enjoy Mona Simpson's writing style. She has a very interesting way of writing that was quite enjoyable.

What I didn't really like was the previously mentioned 'whininess' of the book. I had a hard time identifying with the 'heroine' and sometimes even found it hard to sympathize with her.

Despite this, I would consider reading Mona Simpson's other writing because like I said, I did enjoy her writing.

Released on Friday, December 03, 2004 at about 8:00:00 PM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Millcreek Mall in Erie, Pennsylvania USA.

RELEASE NOTES:

Left in one of the dressing rooms at Elder Beerman's at arond 21:45.