Heroic Measures
With a title like Heroic Measures, you might expect an action/adventure epic, but Jill Ciment’s latest is a slim novel spanning one weekend in the life of an elderly couple and their dog. Though a terrorist scare in New York City forms the story’s backdrop, the couple’s real problems involve selling the East Village apartment they’ve lived in for 45 years (it’s now worth a million dollars and the stairs have become a problem) and rushing their dachshund, Dorothy, to the hospital after she falls ill. Ciment uses vivid detail and multiple points of view (including Dorothy’s) to make readers care about the couple, creating a suspenseful story that the Los Angeles Times calls “nearly perfect.” Some critics say that Ciment’s voice can be too tongue-in-cheek regarding the terrorist sub-plot, but overall the novel is receiving rave reviews. Take a look at critics’ quotes and full reviews below.
“Ciment’s short, detailed novel effectively reveals this older twosome to us, this couple whom time and circumstance have prevented us from actually meeting [...], yet whom we instantly and intimately know.” – Caitlin Macy, New York Times
“Ciment enables us to penetrate the innermost thoughts of her characters, in all their fragility and tenacity.” – Joanna Smith Rakoff, Los Angeles Times
“Spare and surprisingly gripping” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Touching, with more than a little wry humor” – Amy Ford, Library Journal
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