Not To Be Confuses With "A Thousand Acres!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                          I mean, as if anything could, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          Having been thoroughly disappointed by "And The Mountains Echoed," it is not surprising I reached for something short and sweet on my shelf to get the taste of that bad experience out of my head.  I was certain I had read Jonathan Dee's earlier novel, "The Privileges," but now I am not so sure.  I may have to read it now.  Or re-read it, as the case may turn out to be.

                                            "A Thousand Pardons" may be short, but, darlings, it is packed.  One part domestic drama, and one part kidnap thriller--I kid you not!--Mr. Dee blends the two seamlessly, coming full circle in a tale that almost says how inescapable the suburbs are from one who resides there.

                                             I loved the character of Sarah, the 14-year-old daughter, who is Chinese, and adopted.  What a skewered view of American life she is given as she lives out the story unfolding before her, which includes an adulterous marital breakup, a move to the city, and the kidnapping--sort of--of a movie star.  Sarah has enough story of her own, and I would love if Dee wrote one in her own voice.

                                               I had such fun with this that bad thoughts were banished altogether.  I cannot wait ot discover, or re-discover, "The Privileges," and see how good Mr. Dee really is.