On the afternoon of October 12, 1990, my twin brother, Thomas, entered the Three Rivers, Connecticut, public library, retreated to one of the rear study carrels, and prayed to God the sacrifice he was about to commit would be deemed acceptable. . . .
One of the most acclaimed novels of our time, Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True is a story of alienation and connection, devastation and renewal, at once joyous, heartbreaking, poignant, mystical, and powerfully, profoundly human.
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Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True is the subtly heartbreaking and triumphant story of middle-aged twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey through the last half of the twentieth century. The novel begins as Thomas, who has schizophrenia, cuts off his own arm in a public library, believing this will stop the war in the Middle East. As Dominick struggles to understand and help his brother, he also searches for the father he has never known, and finally confronts the personal tragedies that he has suppressed throughout his adult life. Lamb's prose is exceptional, and his plot is beautiful, bizarre, and absolutely relatable.
HPB Staff Review