RAT Re: Shameless Plug - review of my novel

[DESILEF@cs.com]

Diane Lefer/Radiant Hunger 

Diane Lefer's multi-POV novel, written in a cutting, harshly direct 
Midwestern idiom, deals knowingly, and at times rapturously, with such 
American verities as religious fanaticism, child abuse, depression, 
schizophrenia, and the unbelievably cold and endless winters of the Northern 
plains. There are many plot echoes of Waco -- a religious cult and its 
sinister leader, Ned Christian Love, is at the center of the fragmented 
story. Lefer's characters all have a rough time. Some make it, and some 
don't. Their luck is so hard that the book can be painful to read, like 
scouring your mind with lye. Some of the best writing is ambient, dealing 
with aspects of landscape or weather. Here is Lefer's description of summer 
lightning on the high plains: 
Where the lightning storms struck like electroshock. The thunder broke you 
and with nothing to block it you couldn't tell if the light was coming up 
from the earth or down from the sky . . . bolt after bolt that didn't 
announce the rain but seemed enflamed by it, by the enormity of it, fire 
outraged by water. (9). 
Lefer has won awards for her short fiction and has read at the KGB Bar. A 
chapter from this novel is anthologized in The KGB Bar Reader. She has also 
published a collection with Zoland Books. To order a copy of Radiant Hunger, 
go to Amazon or e-mail the author. 

Author's note: Amazon isn't shipping. Anyway, go ahead and patronize your 
traditional brick-and-mortar bookstore! (or bn.com)