The first, The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, totally rocked. The second, Epitaph of a Small Winner by Machado de Assis, was very funny. And the third, She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb, was devastatingly depressing.
'The Count' was a sweet, heart-breaking, engrossing adventure. It really doesn't get much better than this one if you're craving chocolate but don't want to experience acute nausea following ingestion.
'Epitaph' was another jewel recommended by Dozier. Its narrator is a hilarious, dead man. The first third of the book is a somewhat rambling series of vignettes on his early life. As the book progresses, though, a delicate love story develops. I'd never heard of de Assis - he's a Brazilian writer from the late 1800's ('Epitaph' was published in 1880). I found the book remarkably modern considering how early it was written - I would never have guessed it's from way back then. Not sure if I'm being overly influenced by the back of book (I curse the backs of books!) which makes this point, but the book's use of time, love stories, and characters bordering on the fabulous are reminiscent of Garcia Marquez and Borges.
And finally, 'She's Come Undone'. I sucked it down in less than a week, so clearly it was good in a sense. But the heroine of the book got knocked down again, and again, and again, and again, and.... thank the good lord that's over. I shed a tear at the (somewhat) upbeat ending.
