Tales of Burning Love: A Novel

Louise Erdrich is a masterful novelist, capable of writing spellbinding prose and developing complex, wonderfully human characters. In *Tales of Burning Love*, all of these talents are apparent, and the novel is, if nothing else, a "good read." If some of her past works have tended toward a plodding pace and an ethereal kind of tone, this one is different in that it finds Ehrlich creating a veritable snowstorm of action and events. In fact, there are so many bizarre twists and turns, so many eerie occurrences laden with ironies and sly twists of fate that one suspects that Erdrich may here be trying to broaden her audience so as to make her work more commercially successful. It was this shift toward the tawdry, the sensational, and the lowest common denominator in terms of target audience that I found myself resenting by the end of the book.The male protagonist, Jack Mauser, has few or no redeeming qualities, as far as I can discern. He's cruel, moody, unstable, and neither terribly bright nor sensitive. Yet one of the principal premises of the book is that this man is veritably irresistible to a variety of women, four of whom he marries. Perhaps this makes the book a "woman's book," inasmuch as some female readers might find some point of identity with these women in the way that they just can't help loving this jerk, despite their better judgment. But I found the whole swirl of affections and passions surrounding Jack Mauser annoying and unconvincing.Even at her worst, Louise Erdrich is a terrific novelist, and this novel is well worth reading simply for the masterful way that Erdrich tells a story, makes transitions, and creates moods and visions. But this is not her best novel.

It's intersting to read the range of opionions about this book, even among Erdrich fans. I am a big fan. She is one of my favorite writers. Although I have put down a couple of her books, and finished one that I didn't especially like, I think this is right up there among the best.She is a master of the language and characterization. These characters are believeable, 3-dimensional people. I love the way she lays the words on the page. There are also some very amusing situations.

A lesser known book by Louise Erdrich but quite funny. It vaguely falls into the cycle of her first books with the same characters but some new ones. Sister Leopolda, Dot, Jack Mauser, the memory of June Morrisey and others are characters that recur in this book. Recommended for Erdrich fans who loved her early books and her hilarious sense of humor and absurdity.

Depending on how you looks at it, Jack Mauser hasn't been lucky in love (or in much else, or that matter): he has been married five times. He met his first wife, June, in a bar and asked her to marry him that same night. Following an argument, June walked off into a snowstorm. It's hard to say whether she got lost or committed suicide, but Jack is haunted by the fact that he didn't follow her. Eleanor was an emotionally fragile self-proclaimed scholar who focused on saints and religious ecstasy and eventually retreated into a convent to conduct research and her own spirituality. He met his third wife, a dentist named Candace, when a toothache hit and dental reconstruction ensued. As with June, Jack met his fourth and much younger wife, Marliss, in a bar, where she was not a customer but a server. She was to become the mother of his only child. Dot, Jack's last wife, just may have been a bigamist, albeit unknowingly. Her husband was serving jail time, escaped, and disappeared following a small plane crash.The first half of the book details events in Jack's life and the bare bones of each marriage. He started out working on his uncle's sunflower seed farm but eventually veered into construction, investing in a rather shady scheme to build a subdivision. He has had almost as much trouble with the law as with his wives. But the story really kicks off after his wives attend his funeral (even though there is no body) and they become stranded together, along with a hitchhiker, in a car in the middle of a dangerous North Dakota snow storm. We've heard Jack's side of the story; now we are about to hear theirs. And despite many disappointments, each woman still loves Jack in her own way.There's a lot more to the story (or "tales," as the title calls them), but I'll leave all the details and resolutions for you to discover. As usual, Erdrich's characters are all Native Americans, and a few that are familiar in earlier books reappear. Overall, I enjoyed the novel, which at times was sad but more often very funny. My only criticism is that it seemed unnecessarily long, and my attention often wandered. But I'm glad I didn't give up on Tales of Burning Love.

This is the best novel I have encountered in years. Each of the major female characters was practically in the room with me as I read, laughed, grieved, or bit my nails. It reminded me that novels give us experiences that only the most remarkable non-fiction even approaches.

I'm in the process of reading, in date order, all of Louise Erdrich's fictional novels. "Tales of Burning Love" blew me away.

I forced myself to finish this book because I enjoyed others by this author. I kept thinking it would get better in the next chapter but it didn't. It begins in the past, jumps to the present, then waffles back and forth with the main character and his four wives describing their marriages. Nothing actually happens until halfway through the book and the events, though welcome, were unremarkable. Louise Erdrich is a fine writer but this was a 451-page non-story.

Great mix of fiction and native myth. Different way of looking at love and everlasting passion. Well written and gripping.

I am a fan of this author and have read many of her books. Although this may not be my favourite, it is well worth reading.

Cover auf dem Foto entspricht nicht dem Cover des versandten Buches. Das ist auch schon bei einem anderen, von Amazon versandtem, Buch passiert (Louise Erdich- Love Medicine).Vielleicht eine Kleinigkeit, aber sollte eigentlich nicht passieren. Sonst alles ok.