Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940014585118 |
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| Publisher: | Twilight Times Books |
| Publication date: | 07/15/2012 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | NOOK Book |
| File size: | 935 KB |
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Sunstruck
4 out of 5
based on
0 ratings.
6 reviews.
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A feverish mix of disturbed characters in another time and space, truly facetious entertainment from Calvani. In steamy San Juan, Puerto Rico, these and other crazed, eccentric characters swirl together in an intriguing, warped, darkly humorous world where not even cats are safe from chemically induced madness. Sunstruck was of interest to me in part because the author Calvani lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico and this is where Sunstruck comes to life. Having been born in Puerto Rico myself I found it fascinating to run into an author from the island. I found Sunstruck to be quite funny and throughout the book I caught myself laughing many times. The crazy characters and atmosphere of Old San Juan create a perfect narrative for this mix of madness. Daniella the main character seems like a regular college student until you step into her life and meet her psychotic friends. For a little while you feel Daniella's mother, a widow is the only sane one, until you find out what her true interests are. While her best and only friend fills her ear with her amor for a priest, Daniella feels there are more important things to think about. Like Zorro the psycho going around leaving his mark on the rear ends of woman. Sunstruck is like a nutty Whodunit with a little twist. Who really is in the Zorro costume? With all the crazy characters I caught myself pointing fingers again and again. A great read that will make you forget where you are, while you giggle yourself to complete oblivion from all the silliness.
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Sunstruck was unlike anything I've read before. It was quirky and the characters were bizarre to say the least. It was intriging and in a league of it's own.
If you are looking for something different to read, this may be right up your alley.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
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Sunstruck was of interest to me in part because the author Calvani lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico and this is where Sunstruck comes to life. Having been born in Puerto Rico myself I found it fascinating to run into an author from the island. I found Sunstruck to be quite funny and throughout the book I caught myself laughing many times. The crazy characters and atmosphere of Old San Juan create a perfect narrative for this mix of madness. Daniella the main character seems like a regular college student until you step into her life and meet her psychotic friends. For a little while you feel Daniella's mother, a widow is the only sane one, until you find out what her true interests are. While her best and only friend fills her ear with her amor for a priest, Daniella feels there are more important things to think about. Like Zorro the psycho going around leaving his mark on the rear ends of woman. Sunstruck is like a nutty Whodunit with a little twist. Who really is in the Zorro costume? With all the crazy characters I caught myself pointing fingers again and again. A great read that will make you forget where you are, while you giggle yourself to complete oblivion from all the silliness.
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Daniella, an architecture student living in San Juan, is surrounded with mysteries. Why has Ishmael, Daniella's ex-husband, opened a hotel for animals? Why are young women disappearing, not even leaving a body behind? Who is Zorro, a masked man marking min-skirted young women on the rear? . Calvini has assembled a wonderfully weird cast of characters: Daniella herself, an architecture student who keeps getting involved with the wrong kind of man, her mother, fond of retail therapy, Ismael, Daniella's ex-husband, now married to the truly creepy Irene, nicknamed appropriately Lady Dracula by Daniella, Tony, Daniella's handsome, self-centered artist boyfriend, and the mysterious Zorro. Mayra Calvini is a master of wit. The descriptions contain just the right telling detail, as when she describes Daniella's red hair as the color you'd get if you mixed brandy, carrots, and raspberries in a blender. Calvini makes the absurd seem reasonable. I found myself nodding at death from hiccups, coffee enemas, and drugged cats. The writing is exquisite, and the narrative strangely compelling. Do yourself a favor and snap this one up.
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The setting is San Juan, Puerto Rico. The characters are bizarre. Our lead character is Daniella, a college student, trying to discover her true self. Her cast of supporting characters are a unique group. A Zorro wannabe is leaving his mark on the rear ends of women wearing miniskirts. An artist boyfriend loves LSD almost as much as he hates her cat, and a vindictive ex-husband married to a woman with a keenness for torture implements, round out the lot.
The name Myra Calvani was new to me. She is the queen of wit. Her style is distinctive and kept me turning pages. Calvani skillfully combines twists and turns along with satire to create a book that will stand out in its genre. My only criticism is the cover. It does not do this book justice. Sunstruck is one of those books that will stay with you long after you read the last word. You will want to keep it on your book shelve and pull it out again and again.
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A Fast-Paced, Humorous and Titillating Read. Recommended.
Review by Douglas Quinn, Author of Blue Heron Marsh, etal
First, let me say that third person present (it takes me a chapter or two to get into the rhythm of the writing) and chic lit aren't my usual reading fare but I liked the premise, so I dove in and was pleasantly surprised.
The characters are quirky and Calvani's descriptions are wickedly delicious, sometimes irreverent and at all times scrumptiously entertaining. All this talk is making me want to run off to Taco Bell, Ismael's favorite hangout-or is it McDonald's or Burger King? Actually it's all of them. Among other not-so-flattering traits, he's also a fast food junkie.
Ismael is the disturbed ex-husband of Calvani's moody and emotional heroine, Daniella. He is married to Lady Dracula, a woman who collects torture devices and gives herself blood facials. And who knows what she hides in a secret room behind the closet.
And, there's more. Calvani also gives us a mutinous Angora cat with its own passport, an anti-feminist, ass-slasher dressed as Zorro, an animal hotel where you can share a room with exotic and sometimes dangerous animals, magical mushrooms that make LSD seem like a sissy drug, Daniella's mother, who favors retail therapy and coffee enemas, and Daniella's live-in boyfriend, Tony, a surrealist artist who weaves his way through life in his own bizzaro world of drugs and an obsessive quest for fame.
Amid the chaos of her friends and family, will Daniella find peace and her place in the world? And who is this Zorro imitator, and what is this obsession with making the "Z" slash on the buttocks of girls wearing miniskirts? You may be surprised at the answers.
Prepare yourself for a satirical romp through Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, for Sunstruck by Mayra Calvani is a fast-paced, humorous and titillating read. Recommended for both chicks and...uh...well, you know, us sensitive type guys.
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