Broken Ground

by John Keeble

Book Overview

2011 Outstanding Title, University Press Books for Public and Secondary School Libraries

Broken Ground employs a construction project in the Oregon desert as the basis for a story with far-reaching political and moral implications. Hank Lafleur has been sent to supervise the project, which is a prison-for-profit financed by a multinational corporation under government contract, and meant to house felons, illegal immigrants, and, as...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0295990481
• ISBN13: 9780295990484
• Release Date: October 2010
• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Length: 456 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.6" x 7.9"
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

A novel about the invisible realities of America today.

I read it about a decade ago when it came out. An excerpt from it was published while John Keeble was still working on it, and I remember being struck by the style, the elaborate artistry in it, the strength of language, primarily the strength of the verbs he uses. Every now and then during these past few years I take out this book when I want to be reminded of the care a writer puts into his sentences. What is most striking here is the writer's calm voice that conjures for us the power of visionary dread. Broken Ground is also rich in its knowledge of the land, the people, the smell of the air, the brightness and darkness of the Pacific Northwest where a privately run prison is being built...all add up to a frightening vision of the realities around us in the postmodern age. Lynn Sharon Schwartz described this novel as one of the best political novles of the 1980s. I agree with her. By Thomas Palakeel