Final Judgment

by Eliot Asinof

At once brilliantly incisive and playful, this gripping story -with its carefree yet cutting style -takes us inside the life of its spirited narrator, Kenneth Flear, an acclaimed novelist and author... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1933480246
• ISBN13: 9781933480244
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Bunim & Bannigan Ltd
• Length: 213 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.6" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Compelling & thought-provoking

`Final Judgment' is the kind of book that simply sweeps you along -it tugs at your conscience, makes you smile, makes you sad, makes you think. This compelling book kept me up all night, and the second I finished it I couldn't wait to put it into the hands of a friend. The author uses the plot to depict various American stances towards the Iraq war - from the blandly indifferent to the passionately concerned - and while he makes no bones about his own disillusionments with the government, he manages to make the story both enjoyable and thought-provoking. The novel is set in a university town near Boston and the protagonist is Professor Kenneth Flear, whose charming, insightful voice - laced with cynicism and a dry sense of humor -beautifully offsets the earnestness and intensity of the haunting young heroine, a student called Anne Miner. The book delves into the Flear family dynamics (especially the poignant father-son relationship) and also offers a behind-the-scenes peek into the workings of the publishing industry - from a title's initial commissioning to its publicity campaign. (Look out for some interesting guest appearances in the climax, including one from Barack Obama!) But more than anything else, this book is about how the paths of the two central characters cross, and how it changes both their lives irrevocably. "Only dead men can tell the truth in this world," said Mark Twain of his anti-war short story `The War Prayer'. `Final Judgment', too, is a scathing indictment on war, and while its author is no more, I know that the truths he tells in this book will continue to live on in the minds of readers like me.