From Publishers Weekly
----------------------
Shors's third novel tells an absorbing story
weakened by melodrama, sentimentality and exposition. After
promising her dying her, a Vietnam War veteran, to take care
of his shelter for street children in Ho Chi Minh City, American
writer Iris agrees to take along her childhood friend Noah, now a
depressed veteran who lost his leg in Iraq. In Vietnam, they find
the shelter has drawn an appealing cast of Americans and
Vietnamese, all seeking escape and salvation, including two
children exploited by a brutal drug addict, and an impoverished
old woman whose granddaughter is dying of cancer. Though
interesting, most characters never overcome Shors's insistence on
telling, rather than showing, their inner lives ("he hurt and
hated so much"). Melodrama and mawkish foreshadowing ("I'm taking
the risks... and everything's going to be just the way it was
meant to be") will prove familiar to anyone who's watched a TV
movie. Though frustrating, this is the kind of novel
(provocative, polarizing, exotic) that should stir book group
discussion.
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Review
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"In a large cast of appealing characters, the
street children are the heart of this book; their talents,
friendships, and perils keep you turning the pages."
-Karen Joy Fowler, "New York Times" bestselling author of "The
Jane Austen Book Club"
"I loved this book and cared deeply about the characters brought
to life by Shors' clear sensitivity to the plight of the unseen
and unwanted in Vietnam."
-Elizabeth Flock, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Me &
Emma"
"Amid the wreckage of what's known in Vietnam as the "American
War," Shors has set his sprawling, vibrant novel. All of his
characters--hustlers, humanitarians, street children--carry
wounds, visible or otherwise. And in the cacophony of their
voices, he asks that most essential question: "How can we be
better?"
-David Oliver Relin, bestselling author of "Three Cups of Tea"
"There is a tenderness in this moving, deeply descriptive novel
that brings all those frequently hidden qualities ofi
?In a large cast of appealing characters, the street children are
the heart of this book; their talents, friendships, and perils
keep you turning the pages.?
?Karen Joy Fowler, "New York Times" bestselling author of "The
Jane Austen Book Club"
?I loved this book and cared deeply about the characters brought
to life by Shors? clear sensitivity to the plight of the unseen
and unwanted in Vietnam.?
?Elizabeth Flock, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Me &
Emma"
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About the Author
----------------
John Shors traveled extensively
throughout Asia after graduating from Colorado College in 1991,
living for several years in Japan, where he taught English, and
then trekking across the continent, visiting ten countries and
climbing the Himalayas. More recently, Mr. Shors worked as a
newspaper reporter in his hometown, Des Moines, Iowa, before
entering public relations and moving to Boulder, Colorado.
Beneath a Marble Sky is his first novel.
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