Rating: 
Summary: Second Person That Reads Well...
Review: This novel through me for a loop at first. I have never read a novel written in the second-person. That actually drew me in, just trying to get use to that style. This novel is a true classic and does a great job of being very descriptive while keeping the story flowing.
This is a novel about testing the strength of man's character and integrity under trying circumstances. The main character is the sheriff, the preacher, and the coroner. Three jobs that give one a unique look at all different sides of events and life itself. It accurately portrays the human struggle during our most desperate times. Very good read. I highly recommend any student of English give it a go; you'll (a little second person pun) be glad you did!
Rating: 
Summary: An Outbreak and a Fire
Review: The cover of this book was eerie enough to catch my attention. Since the book is largely centered around death, it is somewhat dreary. The story comes across as a 19th Century version of the movie "Outbreak". The author chooses the unique position of addressing you in the place of the main character. He is the sheriff and undertaker in Freindship, Wisconsin. Jacob is faced with two rising problems. A health epidemic is killing the people rapidly and a fire is threatening the town. The raging fire is complicated by the quarantine placed on the town because of the health epidemic. Jacob's wife and daughter both succumb to the disease as the reader would expect. When Jacob catches the last train out of town to beat the fire, the reader knows that he can not leave with his wife and daughter still alive. All of the remaining town is dead. Because of his role as the town's undertaker, Jacob takes on a role that would make Job's fate seem not so harsh. While the topic is morbid, O'Nan forces the reader to do some souls searching. The reader is forced to ponder what he/she would have done in these circumstances. Because of the unique perspective he gives the reader, O'Nan comes through as an effective storyteller. Every story does not have a happy ending. This story is not told to lighten somebody's day. It was written to make people think.
Rating:
Summary: Oustanding and darkly poetic
Review: Many adjectives come to mind when I think about this novel: haunting, chilling, sad, intense, original, painful, horrifying, lyrical, disturbing, disorienting. The use of the second person narrative was an effective device for putting the reader within the story --- in the narrator's place, so to speak. The language was very lyrical, which somehow made the story even more chilling. After I finished reading the book, the first thing to enter my head was "Wow."
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