This book is about a family that has probably the worst case of bad luck I’ve ever read about. There were times I wished I could read with my eyes closed, and yet I was compelled to read every word. The story is dark and nearly every dream becomes broken; every possibility fizzles out of sight; every fantasy turns into a nightmare; every hope is delayed or destroyed.Still, nature – and life – abhors a vacuum so when the light side is tipped too far by the dark side, it eventually must right itse...

This tale gradually exerts a fiendish grip on the reader. A small strange boy in peril, with nothing but his wide-eyed innocence and faith in the world to save him. A flawed but loving mother overwhelmed... Beautifully written by Victor Lodato - whom I had the pleasure of meeting at a recent New York City reading.

How many languages can you spell love? I would shout it from the rooftops exclaiming my adoration for this novel about a special little eight year old and his family. I could tell from the very first page that this was a novel that I was going to savor and enjoy. Eight year old Edgar is an unusual albino child born into a "messy" family with complicated love issues. Lodato has created a child with such wonder,imagination ,humor and pathos that I wanted to grab him and hold him tightly to my ches...

I'd rate this 3.5 stars. Edgar Allan Fini is an eight-year-old boy unlike any other. Because he suffers from albinism, his physical appearance is tremendously unique (a fact not quite appreciated by his bullying peers), but his heart and his mind are far more advanced in many ways than most kids his age. Since his father's death when he was a baby—an event no one speaks of—he lives with his mother, Lucy, and his beloved grandmother, Florence, with whom he has a special connection."Even those who...

Thank you, St. Martin's Press for sending me, "Edgar and Lucy" by Victor Lodato, in exchange for an honest review.THIS. NOVEL. WAS. EVERYTHING. Victor Lodato is one hell of a writer. His writing style is so beautiful, rich, vivid, and completely magical. I was captivated with the story of an 8 year-old albino boy named, Edgar from the very first page. There's this gothic/old-fashioned undertone even though the novel is set in present day. I really liked it. I went into "Edgar and Lucy" not knowi...

4.5 STARS"Having a life meant having a story". And what a story are we gifted with by Victor Lodato!We meet Edgar (8 yrs old) and his mother Lucy. Both are scarred individuals- Edgar, physically, as he is Albino and Lucy, mentally, from her upbringing and from the loss of the love of her life- Frank, Edgar's father.Lucy loved Frank so much that she was willing to relinquish Edgar to Florence, her mother in law. Florence is a wonderful character- hilarious, superstitious, just a perfect Italian N...

I appreciate this book - but I felt 'too full' with too 'many' gorgeous descriptions, in the same way I can feel if Iload my plate on Thanksgiving with too many delicious foods. All together -it's too much.

I predict that this book will be nominated for awards. It's that good.

If I were to use one word to describe how I felt throughout this book? Engaged. And by that, I don’t mean this is a rip-roaring, fast-paced thriller of a book that left me jittery from a frenetic pace (But my heart was in my throat and my senses were firing … for other reasons). What I mean is that I was emotionally engaged -- hooked-- by the first sentence, and the few after it: Having a life meant having a story. Even at eight, Edgar knew this. What he didn’t know was his own beginning. Newbo...

5 "soulful, yearning, jagged" stars !!! 5th Favorite Read of 2019 Award This is a book that made my heart ache over and over again. Sadnesses that are both sweet and bitter permeate the entirety of this most unique of novel. Lucy is Polish American and fiery, coarse and hungry for carnal love. Edgar is her sensitive and ethereal boy child who is extremely sensitive to both the sun and other's emotional auras. They are family and like many parent-child dyads extremely mismatched. Edgar connects

I can't wait to read this despite the glowing review from Lena Dunham, whose opinion I couldn't care less about.After reading:I loved this! Such an engaging story with unique and memorable characters. The lovely writing was just icing on the cake!

!! NOW AVAILABLE !!4.5 Stars rounded upHaving a life meant having a story. Even at eight, Edgar knew this. What he didn’t know was his own beginning. Newborn brains were mushy. If you wanted to know how your life had started, you had to get this information from other people. But what if these people were liars?Edgar was born with albinism, giving him what some referred to as an angelic appearance along with his slight build, and with his white hair on the longer side. As a result, some of the

Well that was a very depressing book! I found it to be a great guide for dysfunctional people. It had everything in it from suicide, mental illness, abortion, sex, kidnapping, child abuse, and a young man who was an albino. As I read through the five hundred plus pages, I kept on asking myself when this book would end. It often seemed like the author kept on adding things, kind of like an addendum to an addendum. In other words, I felt this novel should have been about two hundred pages shorter....

I had never heard of this author or his book until a reading group selected it. I am so glad they did! I loved every page. Victor Lodato is a playwright, poet and novelist, an occasional short story and essay writer. He has won awards and gotten a ton of writing fellowships. A hardworking writer, he was born and raised in New Jersey, the state where I grew up. This is his second novel.I loved the characters, even the "unlikable" ones of which there are many. I loved the oddness of the story whi

The burden of grief for a mother losing her son, a wife losing her husband, a son losing his father he hardly remembers, a father losing a son through horrible circumstances. This is a hauntingly intense story of family dysfunction and mental illness and most of all love. It's edgy and sometimes eerie with moments of horror but hope, moments where you will laugh and cry, and characters I loved and hated at the same time . I have an affinity to young narrators or when the narrative point of view

3.5 From the beginning I just loved Edgar, an eight year old albino boy, the light of his grandmother Florence's eye. Their relationship is so special and tender. His young mother Lucy, scarred by her past and the traumatic death of her husband is not much of a mother and is very self centered. Things will change quickly for our little group and the reader is taken on what is at times an intense emotional journey.It is a journey in other ways as well, as we learn the back stories of our characte...

"Learning kindness late in life was a kind of torture. The pain often came from the past, from kindness withheld. The knife was particularly sharp when those who most deserved your kindness were long gone. And unless you wanted to die of sorrow, you had to give this unspent kindness to those you loved less."MY review for the Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifesty...A poet, a playwright and a novelist, not to mention the winner of a Guggenheim and a recipient of a fellowship from

5, no holds barred, stars for each and every page. At over 500 pages, Edgar and Lucy is a commitment but don’t let the numbers intimidate you. Victor Lodato’s words sing and you’ll be turning pages so rapidly, you’ll be finished, sorry that it has come to an end.The Hook It could have been the title, Edgar and Lucy lacking pizzazz, that initially didn’t grab my attention. It might have been the somewhat bland cover that does make sense after reading the book. The positive reviews started didn’t

Edgar and Lucy, what can I say? I loved the writing. I loved the beginning. I loved Edgar and his grandmother Florence. I was heading to an enthusiastic 5 stars, and then you floundered a bit, and then you got solidly back on track at the end. So I've landed on a sincere 4 star rating. Spoilers are a real risk here, so here is an attempt at a few non-spoilery thoughts:-The book opens with 8 year old albino Edgar, who lives with his grandmother Florence and mother Lucy. The story goes back in tim...

This novel will most certainly be on the best Literary Fiction of 2017 lists. The story is described as epic in scope on its jacket cover, and I concur. Domestic themes of love, loss, grief, forgiveness, and hope are threaded into this story of the human condition. The story moved me, and will be one that stays with me.Author Victor Lodato is a novelist and a playwright and uses his skills fantastically through the novel. The prose is beautiful and stunning. Furthermore, there is comedy mixed in...