Durable Goods - Hardcover

Berg, Elizabeth

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 158547049X ISBN 13: 9781585470495

Publisher: Center Point Pub, 2000

Synopsis

In the sweltering heat of a Southwestern summer, on a small army base in rural Texas, Katie waits impatiently for her life to change. Though battered by the recent death of her mother, her spirit remains miraculously stong. She is filled with longings: for a boy to fall in love with her the way Dickie Mac has fallen for her sister; for her father to stop hitting her; for her life to become less uncertain. And she knows that day is coming soon.

Durable Goods is a poignant and enduring novel by Elizabeth Berg -- author of the New York Times bestseller Talk Before Sleep and Joy School -- a masterful work that gently captures the subtle nuances of childhood's end...and the pain, sorrow and stirring hope of inevitable transformation.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

On the hot Texas army base she calls home, Katie spends the lazy days of her summer waiting: waiting to grow up; waiting for Dickie Mack to fall in love with her; waiting for her breasts to blossom; waiting for the beatings to stop. Since their mother died, Katie and her older sister, Diane, have struggled to understand their increasingly distant, often violent father. While Diane escapes into the arms of her boyfriend, Katie hides in her room or escapes to her best friend's house--until Katie's admiration for her strong-willed sister leads her on an adventure that transforms her life.
Written with an unerring ability to capture the sadness of growth, the pain of change, the nearly visible vibrations that connect people, this beautiful novel by the bestselling author of "Open House reminds us how wonderful--and wounding--a deeper understanding of life can be.

From the Back Cover:

“Rich...timeless.” —The New Yorker

“Radiant...startling and delicate.” —The Boston Globe

“Elizabeth Berg writes with humor and a big heart about resilience, loneliness, love and hope. And the transcendence that redeems.” —Andre Dubus

“This quietly told tale will find a place in your soul, and will stay there.” —Christopher Tilghman

About this edition

• Publisher: Center Point Pub
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 158547049X
• ISBN 13: 9781585470495
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 248