Your Oasis on Flame Lake

Rating:
Summary: I LOVED this book
Review: I was born and raised in Minnesota and I swear I know all of these characters! Lorna Landvik has her finger on the pulse of the Gopher State big-time and writes the way people talk, donchaknow. It was like Fargo only funnier and without the blood (okay, there's a little bit of blood....)

Rating:
Summary: Another funny one from the author of Patty Jane's House of C
Review: If you liked Sandra Dallas' books (Persian Pickle Club and Buster Midnight's Cafe) you are likely to enjoy Landvik's as well. Your Oasis on Flame Lake is a neighborhood gathering spot operated by the husband of one of the two gal pals that the story circles about. Divorce, drunkenness, adultery, hockey playing daughters, thugs, and auto accidents are all treated by Landvik's quirky and insightful pen.

Rating:
Summary: Not every writer could pull this off
Review: It takes someone with a great ear for voices to write a novel from five different perspectives. Finding one narrative voice, and a convincing and "true" narrative voice, at that, is difficult enough. To be able to carry off five is, well, quite an accomplishment. And in hearing (reading) these convincing voices, one realizes how much of life is truly subjective, and people are products of their perceptions.

Rating:
Summary: True to her Minnesotan roots
Review: Landvik's cast of characters capture small town Minnesota at its best (and worst). This book tackles it all - drugs, diversity, fidelity, ambition. To some, the characters may be total strangers, but to me they are old friends.

Rating:
Summary: Witty, humerous and serious
Review: Lorna Landvik has created a wonderful novel full of incredible characters, each unique and touching in their own way. From the tomboy to the anorexic, from the pudgy housewife to the car salesman, Landvik does an excellent job of slipping many small pieces of society into her work, each with its own cliches.

I thought her technique in allowning nearly all the characters to narrate was a wonderful idea, and really allowed the reader to get into the book, the minds of the characters and the author.

If you love a book that'll make you laugh and cry, than Your Oasis is on Flame Lake.

Rating:
Summary: YOUR OASIS ON FLAME LAKE and TOUR DATES for LORNA LANDVIK
Review: Lorna Landvik won the hearts of her readers with her first novel, PATTY JANE'S HOUSE OF CURL (Ballantine Trade Paperback, 1996), through her remarkable knack for creating characters who feel more like neighbors than people in a book, people whose dialogue sounds more like something you'd hear in a friend's kitchen. And now Ballantine Books is proud to publish Lorna Landvik's second novel, YOUR OASIS ON FLAME LAKE (Hardcover; July 1, 1997), in which she once again proves herself unusually adept at spinning a tale with quiet power, brilliant wit, and amazing resonance. YOUR OASIS ON FLAME LAKE is a warm, true-to-life slice of the lives of two families in White Falls, Minnesota. Best friends fast approaching forty, Devera and BiDi (short for Beverly Diane) were recently voted "Least Changed" at their twentieth high school reunion. Devera now finds the label insulting. She still believes that being a wife and mother is the main entree on life's plate, but she longs to taste the more exotic side dishes. BiDi's only passions are her perfect household and her perfect body. These priorities sadden her daughter, Francesca, a stocky fourteen-year-old and the only girl on the high shcool hockey team. Franny feels closer to her stepdad, Sergio, a spirited soul who loves her right back. Then there's Dick Lindstrom, Devera's husband, an ace car and appliance salesman who dreams of opening a nightclub in the basement of their house on Flame Lake. Nothing fancy. Just a BYOB joint to hang out in, sing, dance, and be yourself. That's YOUR OASIS ON FLAME LAKE, of course. And the oasis arrives not a moment too soon. Unexpected crises rock both families into utter chaos. Franny is badly beaten by hockey players from a rival school, BiDi tries to figure out why her sex drive is stuck in neutral, Devera begins an affair, and Dick ponders what it means to be a cuckholded husband. In YOUR OASIS ON FLAME LAKE, Lorna Landvik once again tells a story with heart from the heartland, taking her readers on a rollercoaster ride from the highest, sweetest moments in life to the lowest and darkest hours and back as BiDi and Sergio and Dick and Devera rise above their troubles with humor and an indomitable human spirit. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition

Rating:
Summary: Anxiously awaiting her next novel!
Review: Loved this as well as Patty Jane's House of Curl. Fans of The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood will love this author!

Rating:
Summary: An interesting, and realistic view of life in a small town
Review: Ms.Landvik confused the heck out of me at first, as I'd don't remember reading a novel, where the story is narrated by so many characters. However, once I got into the story, I was looking forward, eagerly, to see how Sergio felt, or Franny was coping as the story progresses. My favorite character is Franny, who does not do any of the narrating! This story may not have a "fairy-tale-ending" for everyone, but what is does have is a typical, brilliantly written, slice of Americana going into the new year 2000. I found this book hard to put down. It's full of sadness, laughter, and life in general.

Rating:
Summary: Read Patty Jane's House of Curl instead
Review: Oasis at Flame Lake is okay, but if you're expecting a book as wonderful as House of Curl, you'll be disappointed. There's just too much going on in this book for it to hang together; I felt as though I ought to take notes or draw up an outline to keep all the plot threads from getting tangled. In some books, multiple points of view work well, but in this case, it might have made the reading easier if Landvik had simplified, stayed inside one character's head, and cut out lots of the side stories. In the case of this book, less would have been more.
Perhaps pass on this one - but DON'T MISS Patty Jane yada-yada...

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding!! Refreshing and totally absorbing!
Review: Received this book from my daughter on Mother's Day---she loves reading as much as I. This book was enchanting, captivating and difficult to put down! The characters are so real and the story is something everyone with a family can relate to. I would highly recommend it to everyone! Also read "Patty Jane's House of Curl" and loved that, too. Lorna Landvik, keep it coming!!