The Livable Zone girdling the planet is maintained by a huge Pipe that pumps out the mysterious compound FOX…but now, the pipe is on fire. The  unnamed narrator and his friends, a group of former military special forces soldiers turned contractors, are tapped to put out the fire. Along the way, the narrator muses about how the world got to this point, going back over his entire life growing up with his best friend Gonzo, joining the military, and being on the front-lines when the Go-Away bombs were deployed. The Go-Away bombs were supposed to make whatever they landed upon simply go away—that is, cease to exist in any meaningful way, as opposed to being destroyed as by a conventional bomb. But it turned out that messing with the fabric of existence was the biggest mistake humanity ever made and all that loose Stuff—former matter, now identityless—floating around out there started interacting with human consciousness in some terrifying ways…thus the need for the the Pipe and the magical FOX which neutralizes the Stuff.  And thus we come full-circle, as the team of friends works to put out the fire. The only problem is, in the process, some raw Stuff spilled right down the fronts of Gonzo and the narrator and now the narrator’s wife and friends are acting like they don’t know who he is and our narrator starts to wonder just what FOX is, after all, and who really owns the Pipe.

Complex, fast-paced, and ever-so-twisty, The Gone-Away World­ is impossible to categorize except to say it’s a heck of a lot of fun. Part mystery, part espionage novel, part coming-of-age story, part apocalypse, and 100% engrossing. You won’t know quite what you’re reading, but you won’t be able to stop.

Middle-aged Talmadge is a solitary type. He’s been alone on his sprawling orchard in the Pacific Northwest since he was a teenager and his younger sister vanished…run off or kidnapped, it was never clear. Every once in a while, a band of Nez Perce horse traders camps on his land and helps with the fruit picking, and he spends some time with the local midwife, Caroline Middey.  But otherwise, Talmadge is alone. When two pregnant teenagers steal some of his fruit from a stand in town, he doesn’t give chase. When the same two girls show up on his land, living in his orchard, he begins cooking extra food and putting it out on the front porch for them. He is beginning to win them over; the girls, feral as cats, are beginning to trust him as they’ve never trusted a man before. But when the man from whom the girls were running shows up to find them, a shocking act of violence will change all of their lives forever.

Set in the early years of the 20^th century, there is nevertheless a timeless quality to this novel. Talmadge’s orcharded valley is a haven for him and for the girls alike. Rich, lush descriptions of the natural world and Talmadge’s simple life draw the reader into his world, but Coplin does not sentimentalize. Talmadge’s world is also a hard one, and the girls’ lives have not been easy, nor do they get any easier. Captivating and eloquent.

Mark your calendars: the Chicago Humanites Festival begins in October and runs through November 11th. The Readers' Advisors are excited about several programs, such as the one featuring Richard Ford!

Take a look:

http://www.chicagohumanities.org/Genres/Literature.aspx

When Blame was published several years ago, it was on many “Best Book of the Year” lists.  After reading it, I understand why.  Michelle Huneven is a talented writer, up there with the likes of Ann Patchett…but unfortunately less well known.  Blame is a riveting, though-provoking novel with wonderful characters.  The main character is a twenty-eight-year-old history professor who wakes up in jail after another alcoholic blackout. This time, however, she ends up being charged with a crime and is sent to prison.  The novel follows her life in prison and after.  Blame is a story about rebuilding a life from the bottom up.  It is a story about friendship, love, guilt, and forgiveness.  I guarantee that you will want to stay up late reading it.