3.5
How the Dead Dream
ByPublisher Description
A young Los Angeles real estate developer consumed by power and political ambitions finds his orderly, upwardly mobile life thrown into chaos by the sudden appearance of his nutty mother, who's been deserted by T.'s now out–of–the–closet father
After his mother's suicide attempt and two other deaths, T. finds himself increasingly estranged from his latest project: a retirement community in the middle of the California desert. As he juggles family, business, and social responsibilities, T. begins to nurture a curious obsession with vanishing species. Soon he's living a double life, building sprawling subdivisions by day and breaking into zoos at night to be near the animals. A series of calamities forces T. to a tropical island, where he takes a Conrad–esque journey up a river into the remote jungle. Millet's devastating wit, psychological acuity, and remarkable empathy for flawed humankind contend with her vision of a world slowly murdering itself.
After his mother's suicide attempt and two other deaths, T. finds himself increasingly estranged from his latest project: a retirement community in the middle of the California desert. As he juggles family, business, and social responsibilities, T. begins to nurture a curious obsession with vanishing species. Soon he's living a double life, building sprawling subdivisions by day and breaking into zoos at night to be near the animals. A series of calamities forces T. to a tropical island, where he takes a Conrad–esque journey up a river into the remote jungle. Millet's devastating wit, psychological acuity, and remarkable empathy for flawed humankind contend with her vision of a world slowly murdering itself.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesHow the Dead Dream Reviews
3.5
Matt Swanson
Created 20 days agoShare
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“Lydia Millet is quickly turning into one my favorite authors. This is the third book I have read by her, this one is older, written in 2008. T is not a likeable character at first, a true capitalist from early childhood, obsessed with money and acquisition. Not a sociopathic bully like many of those at the top of the patriarchy, but the one who manages them behind the scenes, curries favor and uses the connections. No wonder he gets rich with real estate. It is a testament to Millet's writing style that such a character is gradually humanized over this story. T hits a coyote one day with his benz and has an unexpected breakdown as he sits with the dying animal at the side of the road. This leads him into breaking into zoos at night to be near animals as he finds refuge from his own loneliness in being near animlas that are near extinction. There are other levels to his connection with the natural world being forged after a lifetime of being totally disconnected. Even though there are a lot of themes in this book about the hollowness of capitalism and the sadness of human caused mass extinction, this book never falls into being too sad (melancholy af though),preachy or heavy handed in exploring such themes. I related to the character's relationship with his very catholic mom and distant father on several levels. Millet's sense of humor shines through here, but less so than in her most recent book, Dinosaurs, which I also love for many of the same reasons.”
Zach
Created 5 months agoShare
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Jason
Created 6 months agoShare
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Charlie
Created 8 months agoShare
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“Wow. What a beautiful book. I really liked the last 1/3rd. It takes a bit to get going, and there isn’t really any major villain or conflict, but the way the author wrote and described concepts that are extremely difficult to put into words was fantastic. Concepts that I can’t put into words right now myself but she somehow conveyed the feeling perfectly. Slightly esoteric, about the nature of man and our environment. Fabulous!”
dave harmon
Created 10 months agoShare
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“DNF at 55% - the story was alright and compelling for awhile, though i couldnt tell you why, but it got worse instead of better as the character changed.”
About Lydia Millet
Lydia Millet has written more than a dozen novels and story collections, often about the ties between people and other animals and the crisis of extinction. Her story collection Fight No More received an Award of Merit from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2019, and her collection Love in Infant Monkeys was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2010. She also writes essays, opinion pieces and other ephemera and has worked as an editor and staff writer at the Center for Biological Diversity since 1999. She lives in the desert outside Tucson with her children and boyfriend.
Other books by Lydia Millet
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