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Guests | October 15, 2009

Michelle Wildgen: IMG A Few Initial and Not-Comprehensive Meditations on Group Novels



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The Dew Breaker

by Edwidge Danticat

The Dew Breaker Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

From the universally acclaimed author of Breath, Eyes, Memory and Krik? Krak! a brilliant, deeply moving work of fiction that explores the world of a “dew breaker”—a torturer—a man whose brutal crimes in the country of his birth lie hidden beneath his new American reality.

We meet him late in his life. He is a quiet man, a husband and father, a hardworking barber, a kindly landlord to the men who live in a basement apartment in his home. He is a fixture in his Brooklyn neighborhood, recognizable by the terrifying scar on his face. As the book unfolds, moving seamlessly between Haiti in the 1960s and New York City today, we enter the lives of those around him: his devoted wife and rebellious daughter; his sometimes unsuspecting, sometimes apprehensive neighbors, tenants, and clients. And we meet some of his victims.

In the book’s powerful denouement, we return to the Haiti of the dew breaker’s past, to his last, desperate act of violence, and to his first encounter with the woman who will offer him a form of redemption—albeit imperfect—that will change him forever.

The Dew Breaker is a book of interconnected lives—a book of love, remorse, and hope; of rebellions both personal and political; of the compromises we often make in order to move beyond the most intimate brushes with history. Unforgettable, deeply resonant, The Dew Breaker proves once more that in Edwidge Danticat we have a major American writer.

Review:

"Danticat's voice is that of a seasoned veteran, her pages wise and saddened, struggling on 'the pendulum between regret and forgiveness.' Searing fiction with the lived-in feel of the best memoir." Kirkus Reviews

Review:

"Danticat's masterful depiction of the emotional and spiritual reverberations of tyranny and displacement reveals the intricate mesh of relationships that defines every life, and the burden of traumatic inheritances: the crimes and tragedies that one generation barely survives, the next must reconcile." Booklist (Starred Review)

Review:

"Breathtaking....With terrifying wit and flowered pungency, Edwidge Danticat has managed over the past 10 years to portray the torment of the Haitian people....In The Dew Breaker, Danticat has written a Haitian truth: prisoners all, even the jailers." Richard Eder, New York Times Book Review

Review:

"Riveting....Like a young Cassandra, gifted with the sight whether she wants it or not...Danticat leads her readers into the underworld. It's furnished like home." Kai Maristed, Los Angeles Times

Synopsis:

From the acclaimed author of "Breath, Eyes, Memory" comes a powerful story of a man known as a "dew breaker," a Haitian torturer, whose past crimes lie beneath his new American reality.

About the Author

Edwidge Danticat was born in Haiti and moved to the United States when she was twelve. She is the author of several books, including Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah Book Club selection; Krik? Krak!, a National Book Award finalist; and The Farming of Bones, an American Book Award winner. She is also the editor of The Butterfly’s Way: Voices from the Haitian Dyaspora in the United States and The Beacon Best of 2000: Great Writing by Men and Women of All Colors and Cultures.

Table of Contents

The book of the dead — Seven — Water child — The book of miracles — Night talkers — The bridal seamtress — Monkey tails — The funeral singer — The dew breaker.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 3 comments:
Mtt, August 16, 2006 (view all comments by Mtt)
I am only on the third or fourth story, but I am enjoying the book. I only have one slight issue in the story "The Book of Miracles" I am becoming confused about who is who. Danticat, in my opinion, doens't make it very clear as to who is giving the perspective. In the story Seven the couple lived in a basement and i assumed that this couple was Ka's parents, but now that I read in "The Book of Miracles" they rent their apartment I am extremely confused. Help...
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(3 of 6 readers found this comment helpful)
outdoorbabs, April 9, 2006 (view all comments by outdoorbabs)
I couldn't disagree with the previous reviewer more. This incredible collection of linked short stories is beautifully written and moved me as much as any book ever has. From the first story about a grown daughter and her scarred father, I was seduced by Danticat's beautiful prose. And with each new "chapter" I was brought further into the web of the many lives affected by the acts of the father. The tension in each individual story was enough to keep me reading, but I was also drawn in as I wondered how each new story fit with the previous stories. The final chapter which brings it all together in Haiti in the 60's is incredible. The fact that I continued to read even through the scenes that were painful enough to make me cringe is testiment to what an incredible writer Danticat is. Beautiful writing that looks at a very difficult story with truth... even when it's uncomfortable. HIGHLY recommended!
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(8 of 11 readers found this comment helpful)
stoner65, April 5, 2006 (view all comments by stoner65)
Not only was I assigned to read "The Dew Breaker" but i also had to write many papers about it. This is by far the worst book I have ever read, not only is their nine inter-related stories that make really no sense what so ever, it's plain out boring and stupid. If you are not assigned to read this book for school related reasons well then your just a need to find a hobby. The story is basically about how Edwidge's personal beliefs relate to Haiti and how she lived her life. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
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(9 of 18 readers found this comment helpful)
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781400041145
Author:
Danticat, Edwidge
Publisher:
Knopf Publishing Group
Location:
New York
Subject:
General
Subject:
Short Stories (single author)
Subject:
Haiti
Subject:
Torture
Subject:
Haitian Americans
Subject:
Brooklyn
Subject:
Brooklyn (new york, n.y.)
Copyright:
Edition Number:
1st ed.
Series Volume:
bk. 2
Publication Date:
March 2004
Binding:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Pages:
256
Dimensions:
874x600x96 98

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