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 enlarge | Author: Chris Bohjalian
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
Buy Used: $0.11
You Save: $24.89 (100%)
New (55) Used (102) Collectible (24) from $0.11
Avg. Customer Rating:  231 reviews
Sales Rank: 61766
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.7
ISBN: 1400047463
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781400047468
ASIN: 1400047463
Publication Date: February 13, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More.
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| Customer Reviews:
 The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian May 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a book whose characters stayed in my mind for a long time after I read it (and re-read it). It is engrossing, at times strange and enigmatic, and beautifully and compassionately written. I can't remember reading a novel where I really cared and thought about the character so intensely, for so long. Highly recommended!
 A good read with an unsatisfying resolution May 4, 2008
11 out of 15 found this review helpful
I had not read Chris Bohjalian's work, and picked up an audio download of The Double Bind (Vintage Contemporaries). That may NOT have been the perfect choice since it's so much harder to flip back, and this book demanded it. However, the reading by Susan Denaker was effective and the recording well-produced.
This book is difficult to review without spilling secrets, an important consideration in a story where clues are laid down all the way through and the big surprise is at the end. The main character, Laurel, had been viciously attacked while biking on a Vermont country road and her emotional recovery from that awful experience is by no means complete. She is a social worker at an agency for the homeless in Burlington, Vermont, and becomes obsessed with the photographs left behind by a deceased client. Her pursuit of the homeless photographer's story takes her back and forth from Vermont to her childhood home on Long Island.
The story is woven through with the fictional characters from Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, discussed as though they had really existed; the author refers to this slice of 1920s society as "hollow, sullen and morally insolvent." The reader must hold this thread along with the strands of Laurel's stories, present and past, and the photographer's history. Together these strands weave a seemingly complex knot, which disappears like Houdini's Vanishing Knot with the final revelations of the book.
I love a psychologically complex story with a surprise ending. When it's well done, the reader may reconsider the plot elements and leave the book with a new appreciation for the author's skill. In The Double Bind Bohjalian laid his smoke screen down too well, obscuring the "truth" of the book. Multi-layering is a good thing in fiction - in this case fiction posing as fiction posing as reality - but readers may wish that Bohjalian had fit the layers together more carefully.
I would love to give the book more than three stars because of the interesting theme and smooth prose style; but measured against what he could have given us, this book falls short in the plotting details. I'll certainly read more of this author's work.
Linda Bulger, 2008
 Good Read April 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This one keeps you guessing until the end - a good read with interesting character development. I also liked the links to Gatsby, etc. - very cleverly done. This is not a fast-moving book, but one that tells a good story about people the author makes you care about.
Sad To See It End April 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am almost finished with the Double Bind and I am sad that it is almost over. I am ambivalent. I really want to finish it, to see what happens, but, then, I will be sorry that I am done. I can always gauge how much I enjoy a book by finishing it, and wishing there were more. That is exactly how I feel about this book. I find it very interesting and entertaining and I have to keep reminding myself that Daisy Buchanan and Tom are only fictional characters. The author brings them to life. The only way to cure my sadness about being done is to go out and get some more books by Chris Bohjalian. I can't wait.
 A waste of paper April 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I picked this book up in the airport based on the reviews and the interesting premise. Everything about this book has been a disappointment and I am sorry to say that I have given up on trying to complete it. I find none of the characters likeable or well-developed. The protagonist is just annoying and completely incomprehensible to me and the supporting characters seem to add nothing besides a way to showcase the grammar school level dialogue. The only voice that has any maturity or interest eerily comes out of a little girl who is repugnant at best. I know that NYT bestsellers do not necessarily indicate award worthy literature, but has the general public really reached this level of (anti)intellectualism? I would sooner pick up another Dan Brown novel than another book by this author. If I am going to follow the herd, the book should at least have a story line that progresses and prose that can best a 5th grader.
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