Leaps of Faith

Rating:
Summary: A delightful, wonderful book
Review: "Leaps of Faith" is a work of love. It is warm, funny, sweet and moving, with elements of suspense and drama. Rachel Kranz tackles major themes of race, sexuality, family and betrayal. She searches her characters with great affection for the best they have to offer and finds an array of human qualities that contribute to a most satisfying reading experience. The book is stylishly written, but in a friendly, down-to-earth way, and at the end of the nearly 600 pages, I only wished for more. I can't wait for Rachel Kranz's next book.

Rating:
Summary: A delightful, wonderful book
Review: "Leaps of Faith" is a work of love. It is warm, funny, sweet and moving, with elements of suspense and drama. Rachel Kranz tackles major themes of race, sexuality, family and betrayal. She searches her characters with great affection for the best they have to offer and finds an array of human qualities that contribute to a most satisfying reading experience. The book is stylishly written, but in a friendly, down-to-earth way, and at the end of the nearly 600 pages, I only wished for more. I can't wait for Rachel Kranz's next book.

Rating:
Summary: Forget _Bonfire of the Vanities_; Read _Leaps of Faith_!
Review: Finally! *The* great read of the season has arrived. Rachel Kranz has fashioned a clever comedy of manners set in contemporary New York City that is by turns hilarious, moving and sexy. Thomas Wolfe's _Bonfire of the Vanities_ has nothing on _Leaps of Faith_, a real page-turner that manages to accomplish that rarest of literary feats: a novel that is light enough to keep one pleasantly entertained for more than 500 pages and simultaneously deep enough to make it worth your intellectual while. The novel takes on a whole slew of today's social issues -- gay marriage, police brutality, interracial relationships, class politics -- and makes them utterly human with a diverse cast of characters that you recognize and love from page one. Kranz deftly interweaves multiple plots and character voices so that you end up laughing and crying with Warren as he strives to marry Flip and become a father to his biracial niece Juliet, with Flip as he comes to terms with Warren's love and puts on a show with an experimental theater troupe, and with Rosie who struggles with "female problems" as she organizes a contentious group of workers at fictional Olympia University. This book is a series of overlapping conversations about everything everyone always thinks about but what only the few dare to say or do anything about, and as such it gently but firmly inspires you to get on with changing the world. In these cynical times, it is refreshing to read a book that points the way to new possibilities for living our lives, and does so not through cheap shock value but with a warm and clear-sighted acceptance of the way we live now. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Forget _Bonfire of the Vanities_; Read _Leaps of Faith_!
Review: Finally! *The* great read of the season has arrived. Rachel Kranz has fashioned a clever comedy of manners set in contemporary New York City that is by turns hilarious, moving and sexy. Thomas Wolfe's _Bonfire of the Vanities_ has nothing on _Leaps of Faith_, a real page-turner that manages to accomplish that rarest of literary feats: a novel that is light enough to keep one pleasantly entertained for more than 500 pages and simultaneously deep enough to make it worth your intellectual while. The novel takes on a whole slew of today's social issues -- gay marriage, police brutality, interracial relationships, class politics -- and makes them utterly human with a diverse cast of characters that you recognize and love from page one. Kranz deftly interweaves multiple plots and character voices so that you end up laughing and crying with Warren as he strives to marry Flip and become a father to his biracial niece Juliet, with Flip as he comes to terms with Warren's love and puts on a show with an experimental theater troupe, and with Rosie who struggles with "female problems" as she organizes a contentious group of workers at fictional Olympia University. This book is a series of overlapping conversations about everything everyone always thinks about but what only the few dare to say or do anything about, and as such it gently but firmly inspires you to get on with changing the world. In these cynical times, it is refreshing to read a book that points the way to new possibilities for living our lives, and does so not through cheap shock value but with a warm and clear-sighted acceptance of the way we live now. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Memorable and Epic
Review: I loved this book! It's a real page-turner. Ms. Kranz has captured the pulse of New York City with an exquisite array of pitch perfect voices running the spectrum of sexual orientation, gender and political position. It is epic in scope and yet very detailed and personal in each of its unique points of view. She has written a novel about intimacy and how we construct our intimate relationships that is political without being preachy. Her insightful glimpses into actor's lives, union organizers, traditional and non-traditional family structures and the web of relationships that keep them together are both painful and heartfelt. The characters have lingered with me long after the last page has been turned. The book reminds me of a fine tapestry, rich in texture and pattern, its story-lines beautifully woven together into a satisfying whole. I highly recommend this book!

Rating:
Summary: Memorable and Epic
Review: I loved this book! It's a real page-turner. Ms. Kranz has captured the pulse of New York City with an exquisite array of pitch perfect voices running the spectrum of sexual orientation, gender and political position. It is epic in scope and yet very detailed and personal in each of its unique points of view. She has written a novel about intimacy and how we construct our intimate relationships that is political without being preachy. Her insightful glimpses into actor's lives, union organizers, traditional and non-traditional family structures and the web of relationships that keep them together are both painful and heartfelt. The characters have lingered with me long after the last page has been turned. The book reminds me of a fine tapestry, rich in texture and pattern, its story-lines beautifully woven together into a satisfying whole. I highly recommend this book!

Rating:
Summary: The real "Sex in the City" - Leaps of Faith
Review: I was fascinated by the rich dialogue in this book: it's a novel consisting almost entirely of an interplay of voices. I was also amazed that a woman writer could write such compelling, and at times truly erotic, scenes between her two very appealing gay male characters. The last line of the novel, which invites us all to take "our turn" to speak, is just what I've been doing since I read it: talking to others about the issues the book raised concerning the ways in which each of us gets to find our voice and speak our commitments.

Rating:
Summary: A Well-Made Feel-Good Book
Review: I was fascinated by the rich dialogue in this book: it's a novel consisting almost entirely of an interplay of voices. I was also amazed that a woman writer could write such compelling, and at times truly erotic, scenes between her two very appealing gay male characters. The last line of the novel, which invites us all to take "our turn" to speak, is just what I've been doing since I read it: talking to others about the issues the book raised concerning the ways in which each of us gets to find our voice and speak our commitments.

Rating:
Summary: Buy it!
Review: If you are looking for a page turner with heart and soul, please don't hesitate one moment longer...just go out and buy this book. It is an absolutely wonderful read from beginning to end!

Rating:
Summary: The real "Sex in the City" - Leaps of Faith
Review: If you think Sara Jessica Parker expresses "Sex in the City" try reading Leaps of Faith by Rachel Kranz for a millenium feel that conveys characters who have heart, humor, and Chutzpa! A Brooklyn reader