Susan (SG) - , reviewed on 1/4/2014 + 25 more book reviews

The story Egan has to tell is fascinating, there's no doubt about it, and your heart breaks for the brave, hopeful, stubborn and desperate people who suffered through one of the worst ecological disasters of our country. But I'm surprised at how many of these reviews laud Egan as a great writer. He's really only a fair writer whose choppy, disorganized and sometimes hyperbolic writing style mars the narrative, and makes it difficult to figure out which of the countless people he seemingly randomly introduces will end up as the book's central cast of characters, and which will never be heard from again. I'm someone who rarely gives up on a book, but I quit reading this one before even reaching 100 pages. After that, I skipped around to find the "headlines" and read the epilogue, and that's it. A shame this fascinating and important story was not better told.

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