Paul Lussier
Autore di Last Refuge of Scoundrels; A Revolutionary Novel
Sull'Autore
Paul Lussier is an independent producer with Warner Bros. Studios living in Los Angeles, California. (Bowker Author Biography)
Opere di Paul Lussier
Etichette
Informazioni generali
- Sesso
- male
Utenti
Recensioni
Statistiche
- Opere
- 2
- Utenti
- 108
- Popolarità
- #179,297
- Voto
- 2.4
- Recensioni
- 2
- ISBN
- 7
Alas, this novel is neither historically accurate, informative, nor remotely entertaining. The main characters, John & Deborah, are unbelievable and unsympathetic. The plot is a disaster, so full of flashbacks, unnecessary complexity, and backfill (author to reader: "Oh, wait, I forget to mention ...") that it's almost incoherent at times. And themes/metaphors are inconsistent or laughably overused. (Honestly, if the author mentioned that danged turtle one more time ... possibly one of the most strained metaphors I've come across in my many, many years of reading!)
Worst of all, the author engages in so much hyperbole that any illusion of credibility (essential to good historical fiction) is rapidly dispelled. It simply isn't credible (much less entertaining) that ALL the founding fathers were uniformly venal, vain, and stupid; that ALL of the events of the revolution are wildly misunderstood; and that his heroine/whore ends up assuming a pivotal role in basically ALL of the major events of the revolution. This author appears so determined to prove that everything we know about the revolution is wrong, he's exaggerated his own thesis to the point of absurdity.
I get the author's premise: that the revolutionary war wasn't so much about revolting against England as revolting against the current social order. But it's one thing to make a point; another to do so convincingly. I do believe there's a good book to be written about this topic. Unfortunately, appears we'll have to wait until a less partisan historian - and more talented author - comes along.… (altro)