http://blog.booklistonline.com/2006/07/17/swofford-takes-right-turn-at-exit-a/ Behind the Book Reviews--The Official Blog of Booklist Online Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:48:21 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 http://blog.booklistonline.com/2006/07/17/swofford-takes-right-turn-at-exit-a/#comment-236 Likely Stories » Blog Archive » Aloha to Youth Tue, 22 Aug 2006 20:56:16 +0000 http://blog.booklistonline.com/2006/07/17/swofford-takes-right-turn-at-exit-a/#comment-236 [...] On Monday, thanks in part to the 50 pages I read while my cranky-from-the-heat three-month-old passed out on my chest, I finished Anthony Swofford’s Exit A (which I started discussing on Monday). It got off to a great start, but the second half was a letdown. While the two main characters are confused teens in the confusing world of Yokota Air Force Base, outside Tokyo, Swofford does a great job with setting, characterization, pace, and plot. Once they’re adults, the story loses momentum. In particular, a lengthy part exploring Severin’s troubled marriage to a professor in San Francisco feels like another book entirely - and a less interesting book at that. In the second half, I was never sure where Swofford was going, and it felt like he didn’t know, either. [...] […] On Monday, thanks in part to the 50 pages I read while my cranky-from-the-heat three-month-old passed out on my chest, I finished Anthony Swofford’s Exit A (which I started discussing on Monday). It got off to a great start, but the second half was a letdown. While the two main characters are confused teens in the confusing world of Yokota Air Force Base, outside Tokyo, Swofford does a great job with setting, characterization, pace, and plot. Once they’re adults, the story loses momentum. In particular, a lengthy part exploring Severin’s troubled marriage to a professor in San Francisco feels like another book entirely - and a less interesting book at that. In the second half, I was never sure where Swofford was going, and it felt like he didn’t know, either. […]

]]> http://blog.booklistonline.com/2006/07/17/swofford-takes-right-turn-at-exit-a/#comment-191 Likely Stories » Blog Archive » Aloha to Youth Fri, 18 Aug 2006 17:46:11 +0000 http://blog.booklistonline.com/2006/07/17/swofford-takes-right-turn-at-exit-a/#comment-191 [...] « Swofford Takes Right Turn at Exit A Of Mastery and Masterpieces » [...] […] « Swofford Takes Right Turn at Exit A Of Mastery and Masterpieces » […]

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