Dream State
Although Puchner’s novel is a long, deep ride that traverses half a century, it never labors under the weight of its broad scope. Instead, with every chapter, the story feels animated only by the spontaneous possibilities of moments in which loyalty is respected or ignored, passion resisted or sated ... The book’s effect is hypnotically telescopic, a vision of people we come to know across decades. Puchner’s manipulation of time is among his novel’s most magical elements.
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Exuberant, gritty, glittering ... Big, every which way ... Real tenderness and wit saturate every page.
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At its best when Puchner allows his characters to be unpredictable even to themselves ... Moments of precision shine, and I found myself wishing they had been set free of the dream smothering the landscape.
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