Mystery Ride

by Robert Boswell

Book Overview

A thoughtful, funny and penetrating portrait of a modern American family that explores the breaches and bonds between husbands and wives, parents and children, and introduces one of the most antic... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060975857
• ISBN13: 9780060975852
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: PerfectBound
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Nothing Ambiguous Towards Curling Up With This

What an enthralling exploration into the lives of a modern day American Family, found in Robert Boswell's Mystery Ride. Angela is a strong female embodiment to a character women can relate to. Looming forty, she feels like her life is spinning out of control. Steven, her ex-husband is a small-town boy, about to take on the intricate task of caring for their daughter during the Iowa summer of 1987. The character development of Dulcie, Angela and Steve's guileless mutinous 15-year-old is what fuels this novel with erotic, yet sordid glee. From pooping on guys getting fresh to peeing in her pants to revolt from her mother, Dulcie is far from rational but it ensues a justly great read. Nicely detailed and sexy! Highly recommended.

Stunning

Boswell has touched upon something profound in Mystery Ride. Through a richly drawn family of characters and their subtle, complex interactions, he has instructed us about the nature of true love, without over-romanicizing it. This is a work so delicately beautiful and bittersweet that the reader is frequently moved to tears, and comes away from it loving life, treasuring loved ones, feeling wiser.

Characterization that drives

Fabulous characters, a deft Larry McMurtry "Leaving Cheyenne" feel. I want more.

An overlooked gem

Robert Boswell's work has been uneven, but in this novel he pulls everything together. The blazing romance and failed marriage of Stephen and Angela is one of the subtlest and most insightful portraits of real love in modern literature. Dulcie, their daughter, is an unforgettable holy terror who brings out the worst in everyone around her and very nearly steals the show. Boswell never takes the obvious road in this story--Dulcie makes sure that everything will go awry at one point or another. But her savage humor and flair for anarchy, brilliant as they are, only serve to highlight what may be Boswell's greatest feat: his portrayal, in Stephen, of a truly contented man. Happiness is a hard thing to write about, but Boswell does it and still keeps you turning the pages. Tremendous stuff.

A Modern American Family

A good look at the struggles of a broken American family. The desperate acts of the teenage daughter are graphically depicted and will make any mother's heart ache. Strongly recommended for anyone interested in the realities of the American family today. This was my first Boswell but it won't be my last.