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Shelter in Place
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
23 posts | 17 read | 48 to read
Set in the Pacific Northwest in the jittery, jacked-up early 1990s, Shelter in Place, by one of America's most thrillingly defiant contemporary authors, is a stylish literary novel about the hereditary nature of mental illness, the fleeting intensity of youth, the obligations of family, and the dramatic consequences of love. Joseph March, a twenty-one-year-old working class kid from Seattle, is on top of the world. He has just graduated college and his future beckons, unencumbered, limitless, magnificent. Joe's life implodes when he starts to suffer the symptoms of bipolar disorder, and, not long after, his mother kills a man she's never met with a hammer. Joe moves to White Pine, Washington, where his mother is serving time and his father has set up house. He is followed by Tess Wolff, a fiercely independent woman with whom he has fallen in love. The lives of Joe, Tess, and Joe's father fall into the slow rhythm of daily prison visits followed by beer and pizza at a local bar. Meanwhile, Anne-Marie March, Joe's mother, is gradually becoming a local heroinemany see her crime as a furious, exasperated act of righteous rebellion. Tess, too, has fallen under her spell. Spurred on by Anne-Marie's example, Tess enlists Joe in a secret, violent plan that will forever change their lives. Maksik sings of modern America's battered soul and of the lacerating emotions that make us human. Magnetic and masterfully told, Shelter in Place is about the things in life we are willing to die for, and those we're willing to kill for.
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review
Red_pixi
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
Mehso-so

Meh. I finished it so it wasn‘t bad but left me with so many unanswered questions and a strong feeling of ‘why go on?‘ ‘Why go on loving?‘

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shawnmooney
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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TOKYO BOOKSTORE (KINOKUNIYA) 20% OFF SALE - BOOK 4 of 6

Again, having heard just enough to know that it was probably my cup of tea, I grabbed this one – a gorgeous softcover edition.

LeahBergen I found this one at a thrift store. There's some controversy around the author though? Am I thinking of the right book? 7y
shawnmooney @LeahBergen I'd never heard anything, but I've just googled around a bit and see that the controversy was not regarding this book at all but another of his novels where it has been claimed he fictionalized an affair he had with a 17-year-old student. (edited) 7y
LeahBergen @shawnmooney Ooo! Now I have to go check which one I have! 7y
LeahBergen Yep. I have You Deserve Nothing. Hmm... I wonder if it's going to be a smarmy one? 7y
39 likes4 comments
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Gleefulreader
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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For all my Litsy friends, many of whom are dealing with last night's election results and feel like something deeply disturbing has been unleashed. As a Canadian, I hurt and fear for you.

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TorchlightReading
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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Pickpick

This a novel about life. Love. Friendship. Darkness and violence. Light. How such joy can be found in only a few hours. Read it. Read it now.

5 likes1 stack add
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TorchlightReading
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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It caused me such joy to see her.
And such pain.
And such fear.
What combination has more power? And what combination more unusual?

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mrldg
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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Read this straight through, whew. Then found THE poem, Lines for Winter by Mark Strand. Maybe I'll learn it by heart.

ReadingEnvy I adore Mark Strand 8y
13 likes1 comment
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Gleefulreader
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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A very busy day celebrating my daughter's tenth birthday with all our friends and family (a houseful of 25 people!) meant only a few brief moments of reading. But I look forward to digging into this pile of books tomorrow - all signed - that I got at the International Festival of Authors last night. I may have zero self control, but hey - free tote bag!

(Also, ten. TEN! How did ten years pass so quickly‽)

shawnmooney So jealous of your book haul! 8y
brilliantglow My daughter just turned 3 in July and it freaked me out. She starts school next September! She's more of a kid now than a toddler and I just can't even think about ten. Time goes by too fast sometimes. 8y
39 likes2 comments
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TorchlightReading
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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"Let's say that if you'd followed us out to the boardwalk and squinted into the darkness, we would have been shining in the night."

I'm in love with this book.

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TorchlightReading
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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Starting this little guy today! Such a pretty cover...

4 likes1 stack add
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KiskyLuella
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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Mehso-so

I enjoyed that Maksik took this novel in a different direction than I was expecting. Near the end the narrator got a bit too indulgent and repetitive for my taste but the exploration of identity and mental illness was refreshing and kept me tearing through.

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AEBowenPhD
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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Picked this book up while traveling in the Seattle-area (shot from the trip above). Started it on the plane and am really enjoying it so far.

9 likes1 stack add
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bookshopsc
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
Pickpick

Shelter in Place shifts through time, moving back and forth in the Pacific Northwest, beginning in the early 90s when Joe March graduates from college, falls madly in love, and sees his mother go to prison for murder, and then forward through the years as he lives with the aftermath of that one summer as well as his own mental illness—or as he describes it, the bird, the tar, and the ecstasy. —Melinda

33 likes7 stack adds
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Carolineleavitt
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik

Got to meet this genius author at NEIBA! #goindie getindie

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Levre52
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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Maksik + matcha

1 like1 stack add
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Twocougs
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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Pickpick

So many emotions about this book. As a native of Washington state, I was excited to see what Maksik would do with the setting. It was fine and fun to see "home" in a novel but what Naksik does extremely well is character development-wow. You grow to know these characters; their strengths, their weaknesses, their internal prisons. He does all of this and then ties it all up like a beautifully written present.

Kitta We saw him talk today and bought a copy! Can't wait to read this. 8y
wrenaymuhree Such a compelling review! Can't wait to read it, now. ☺️ 8y
71 likes11 stack adds2 comments
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Twocougs
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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A quiet #PNW evening. A little vinyl, a little wine, a good book, and my sweetheart. #happiness

marixa Perfect... 8y
72 likes1 comment
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Twocougs
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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I love book coincidences😀. Great story so far. Today is definitely 📚☕️🌨 repeat.

Godmotherx5 So cool! 8y
80 likes1 comment
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Twocougs
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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Been looking forward to this book. Maksik is a talented writer and I need something good to dig my teeth into😀

ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled Sounds right up my alley - thanks for the rec! 8y
68 likes4 stack adds1 comment
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complaina
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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Savoring the hell out of this.

1 like1 stack add
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Carolineleavitt
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik

I just raved about this for the San Francisco Chronicle. I want to grab everyone and say "read this! Read this!"

2 likes1 stack add
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Waynegjr
Shelter in Place | Alexander Maksik
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This is my favorite bookmark, but I might be a little biased. #FunFridayPhoto

shawnmooney Wow, this novel sounds amazing! 8y
Waynegjr @shawnmooney I sort of stumbled on his last book You Deserve Nothing, and loved it. Here's hoping this one is as good. 8y
shawnmooney Yeah I see I'd already added his other book to my list, no doubt from an earlier post of yours! 8y
Reagan I read A Marker To Measure Drift a couple of years back and it haunts me. This looks great. 8y
47 likes8 stack adds4 comments