The Garden of Last Days

by Andre Dubus III

Book Overview

In his stunning follow-up to the #1 best-selling House of Sand and Fog, Andre Dubus draws us into the lives of three deeply flawed, driven people whose paths intersect on a September night in Florida. April, a stripper, has brought her daughter to work at the Puma Club for Men. There she encounters Bassam, a foreign client both remote and too personal, and free with his money. Meanwhile, another man, AJ, has been thrown out of the club, and he's drunk...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393335305
• ISBN13: 9780393335309
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 1.09 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

An authentic look at the minds of the 9/11 hijackers

I didn't expect to love this novel, but it is a real page-turner and very well researched and written. I haven't looked into the factual correctness of the story, but it certainly felt authentic, and if so was the best rendering I can imagine of what was going on in the minds of the Sept. 11th hijackers. Dubus illustrates just how troubled and conflicted those young men really were. I haven't read many 9/11 novels yet, but I would put this at the top of that list.

Wonderful, absolutely wonderful!!

Well, Andre Dubus III does it again! I loved "House of Sand and Fog" and I love "The Garden of Last Days" equally as much. Absolutely unputdownable, the book was welded to my hands for hours on end. What a great plot and what excellent characterisation. I won't elaborate on plotline, as many other reviewers have written excellent summaries of it, but I will comment on how well paced the novel is, how wonderfully the characters are developed and how quickly you are sucked into the vortex of these characters' lives on the eve of the catastrophic events of 9/11. I found the character of Bassam particularly intriguing and I have to disagree with the 1 and 2 star reviewers; I thought Bassam was a very well realised character. The clash between his seduction by the haram (forbidden) ways of the US and his chosen path as a jidhadist was never short of fascinating. I thought Dubus bought this character to life, with all his doubts, fears and implacable hatred of the Western way of life, that he gets seduced by, in spite of himself. I rate this novel a 5-star effort and I highly recommend "The Garden of Last Days" to one and all.

WORTH THE WAIT!!!!

After reading the House of the Sand and Fog, I was worried that the author could not possibly live up to this masterpiece. And he absolutely has. As with Sand and Fog, I simply could not stop reading this book. The characters were, in equal measures, likeable and contemptible and completely compelling. I loved everything about this book: the writing style, prose, character portrayal and story which draws you into its horrifying vortex.

Fantastic Read!

Like so much of Dubus' writing, the pull between the choices characters make and the circumstances they let happen to them dance to a volatile tune of fightening possiblities. The book reads quickly depsite it's size and the pace of events pulls you through the story -- I had trouble putting it down! The details of events and range of characters makes for a rich and compelling story. I highly recommend this book!!!

Astounding and Emotional

This is a gritty and graphic novel of the last days of one of the 9/11 highjackers and his chance meeting with April, an exotic dancer. Although the club scenes are filled with salacious details of the strip club life, the protagonist April retains her sense of self and has the reader hoping she will find her way. Part of this sympathy is developed through April's toddler daughter, Franny, based on Franny's innocence and state of jeopardy throughout the novel. Other important characters, from Jean the old woman who helps April with babysitting, to AJ, a wife-beating man with a temper problem and a soft heart for little kids, and his wife Deena, with her broken dreams, make up just a part of the rich tapestry of this novel. It is long; it is difficult; it is beautifully written. Stephen King called my attention to this novel with his review in ET, and I certainly agree. This book is not to be missed. Amazing! By the author of "The House of Sand and Fog"--longer, more suspenseful, and equally heartbreaking.