Title: Drinking Closer to Home
Author: Jessica Anya Blau
Publisher: Harper Perennial; Original edition
Publication Date: January 18, 2011
Paperback: 368 pages
ISBN: 978-0062001344
Genre: Fiction
They say you can never really go home again. Adult siblings Anna, Portia, and Emery are about to discover just how true that is.
My Review:
Drinking Closer to Home by Jessica Anya Blau is a book I think one will either really enjoy or not, unfortunately I was in the latter category. The story opens in 1993 California where Louise has suffered from a massive heart attack and her children, Anna, Portia, Emery, along with Emery’s boyfriend, Alejandro, fly back to California and stay with their father, Buzzy, in Buzzy’s and Louise Stein’s new home, Casa del Viento Fuerte. The Stein family is the quintessential dysfunctional family, as readers will learn through flashbacks from when the children lived in Michigan in 1968 to present. Blau weaves together a witty, at times depressing yet never boring, plot. The characters are very vividly portrayed and as one would guess, quite flawed, Blau’s imagery leaves the reader with little difficulty envisioning the various settings and Blau’s creativity clearly shines through. So why did I not care for the book as much as I had hoped? I have read enough dysfunctional family books to find it more saddening than anything else and I really could not find one family member I really liked. If I had to choose, I would say I felt the most for Emery. I will caution the book contains some strong language and I would not recommend this book to those under 18. I do think Drinking Closer to Home would make for a lively discussion group choice.
Jessica Anya Blau is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University, where she received her Masters in fiction. Currently, she is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Goucher College in Maryland. She has been awarded scholarships from Bread Loaf and The Sewanee Writer’s Conference, and fellowships from Johns Hopkins University and Sewanee. Her stories have won numerous awards and have appeared in notable magazines and anthologies, as well as the textbook The Prose Reader, Essays for Thinking. Jessica’s first novel, The Summer of Naked Swim Parties, was selected as a Best Summer Reading Book by the Today Show, the New York Post and New York Magazine. The San Francisco Chronicle, along with other major newspapers, chose The Summer of Naked Swim Parties as a Best Book of 2008.
To learn more about Jessica Anya Blau or her books, please check out her Website, and like her on Facebook.
For more reviews of the book, please follow the Book Tour.
I received a complimentary copy of Drinking Closer to Home by Jessica Anya Blau from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
Sorry you had some problems with this one. I have a feeling I’ll like it more than you did.
I truly think it is a book one will either really enjoy or not. I have not read other reviews yet, I am going to guess mine is in the minority, I should really look at them.
That’s too bad that this one didn’t work that well for you — I have heard very mixed things about this one, so I think you’re right: either people really enjoy or they don’t. I know what you mean about dysfunctional families, though.
I appreciated the writing and I do not feel I wasted my time in reading the book, it just was not what I had expected or desired to read.
You have the wrong website address for Jessica Anya Blau. The correct address is Jessicaanyablau.com
I hope you can correct that.
It is corrected. Thank you for so politely pointing the error out to me.
You are not alone!!! I felt the same way! I thought I would be the odd man out too. I sincerely appreciate the author’s work but it just wasn’t for me. Come on over and read my thoughts if you get a chance.
Whew! It is a relief not to be alone.
Your review is well considered and to be respected. I however, found the book to be amazing — and I LOVED it. I wholeheartedly recommend It. It is the best book I have read in a long, long time.
Thank you. I am very pleased to hear you loved the book. One wonderful thing about books is how many different views one book will have and I always enjoy hearing the different views. I have yet to read any reviews, other than Staci’s, as I never, ever look at reviews before I read a book or write mine and after I usually get caught up in the next book on my list. As I stated in my review, I believe people will either really like the book or not. Again, it is wonderful to hear you enjoyed it.
I absolutely LOVED this book. It deals with real families like we all have. It’s the next book in my book group and I think if you want another point of view read the review from the New York Journal of books: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/review/drinking-closer-home. Please read this review before and keep an open mind before dismissing this book.
I am pleased to hear you enjoyed the book. The great thing about literature is everyone has a differing opinion. I personally think Anna Karenina by Tolstoy is the best work of literature ever written, but not everyone agrees and many I know dislike the book I happen to think is the best book ever.
In my review is a link to the tour, websites, etc., so readers can read all sorts of differing opinions.
This review was merely my opinion of the material, nothing more, nothing less.
I’m sorry this wasn’t a good fit for you but I agree that it might make an excellent book club pick! Thanks for being a part of the tour. Hopefully the next book you pick up will be better.
It would be a wonderful book club discussion pick. I think I would have benefitted more if I had other’s top bounce ideas off.