| WITH HIS STUNNING DEBUT NOVEL, SHE S COME UNDONE, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman s painful yet triumphant journey of self-dis- covery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with 1 Know Tbis Much Is True a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful furce of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal dtis novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself,the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world When you re the sane brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your hands the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at your feet. And if you re into both survival of the fittest and being your brother s keeper--if you ve promised your dying mother then say so long to sleep and hello to the middle of the night.Grab a book or a beer Get used to Letterman s gap-toothed smile of the absurd, or the view of the bedroom ceiling, or the indifference of random selection. Take it from a godless insomniac. Take it from the uocrazy twin the guy who beat the biochemical rap. 1)ominick Birdsey s entire life has been compromised and con- stricted by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man (thefive-foot-six- inch sleeping giant who snoozed upstuirs weekdays in the spare room and built submarines" at night), and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy- and self-con- scions: She holds a loose fist to her fact" to cover her defective mouth her perpetual apology to the world for a birth defect over which she d had no control. Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities: the seemingly strong and protective yet fearful Dominick, his mother s watchful "monkey"; and the seemingly weak and sweet yet noble Thomas, his mother s gentle "bunny." From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness--and ultimately self- protection--in a house of fear dominated by Ray, a bully who abuses his power over these stepsons whose biological father is a mystery. I was still afraid of his anger but saw how he punished weakness-- pounced on iL Out of self-preservation I hid my fear,Dominiek con- fesses. As for Thomas, he just never knew how to play detense. He just didn t get it. But Dominiek s talent fur survival comes at an enormous cost, includ ing the breakup of his marriage to the warm,beautiful Dessa, whom be still loves. And it will be put to the ultimate test when Thomas, a Bible-spouting zealot, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick s lives. |
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