Rated of 5
by Trezeline B. (Columbia, MD) The Devil in Silver
A very interesting character study of a working class white man from Queens, NY. Is he mentally Ill? You decide. The workings of Public Mental Institutions are also explored. Every character in the story is very well developed. You become very involved in their lives and learn a great deal. A really good read.
Rated of 5
by Nancy O. (Hobe Sound, FL) Simply superb. It's hard to find books that are better than this one.
There has been a veritable bumper crop of excellent novels this year, and I've just added The Devil in Silver to my favorites list. Set inside a New York hospital's psychiatric unit, this novel is anything but the book of "literary horror" it's being touted as. While there is a "Devil" involved, and there are other real-life horrors to be found, the focus is more on the newest inmate, a man named Pepper -- whose only familiarity with mental institutions before his admission is One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest -- and a lively cast of characters who also populate the unit. It's also a novel about the importance of being able to understand other people's points of view, appreciating others for who they really are, and so much more.
I absolutely loved this book. It's a mix of dark humor that made me laugh (including some pop-culture refs that fit in perfectly) and satire that is spot on the money. At the same time, there are some incredible discoveries made by the characters in this book that made me step back and take a look at myself as well. The writing, as with all of Victor LaValle's novels, is excellent and to use that old cliche, it's a novel that will haunt you long after you've put it down. But what truly stands out here are the people in this book, "bonkers and beautiful" all at the same time. I really can't do justice to this novel here, but I can recommend it without any reservations. It is simply stunning, for a multitude of reasons I'd need pages to express; it's also one you have to experience for yourself.
A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
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Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
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Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
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British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales.(May 20 2013) Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate...
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of 5
by Trezeline B. (Columbia, MD) 
