Deep in the Shade of Paradise

By John Dufresne

Book Overview

Welcome to Shiver-de-Freeze, a boot-shaped precinct deep in the Louisiana swamp, famous for its healing waters and curious fauna. Grisham Loudermilk is marrying Ariane Thevenot at Paradise, the family's ancestral home, and we're here for the wedding. But reason and love, it would seem, keep little company in Paradise these days: Grisham's cousin Adlai Birdsong has fallen desperately in love with the bride-to-be. Adlai's ill-advised courtship proceeds even as his daddy, Royce, struggles to recall his past in the face of Alzheimer's; as Father Pat McDermott realizes his passion for the mother of the bride; as the conjoined twins, Tous-les-Deux, train their eyes on Boudou Fontana, the last of the star-crossed Fontana clan. And just when it seems that Adlai must resign himself to a prolonged season of bachelorhood, Miranda Ferry, Grisham's recent lover, wanders into town unawares. With his signature tragic-comic voice and cast of unforgettable and lively characters, Dufresne explores love, death, imagination, and memory. Reading group guide available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393020207
• ISBN13: 9780393020205
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.6" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Louisiana Laugh-a-thon

I'll read any book set in Louisiana and am seldom disappointed.Deep in the Shade of Paradise was no exception. Like Eudora Welty's Delta Wedding, the cast of characters is enormous, quirky, and memorable. A classic love triangle, it's the story of a wedding interrupted by the third party, a death, and an equally important sub-plot. Well, actually, about 10 subplots.Read it - and prepare to laugh and enjoy while pressing a cold glass of sweet tea to your forehead to ward off the humidity.

Spectacular

How Dufresne can accomplish so much in the space of so few pages is beyone me. THIS should be the book you BUY and read this year. BUY it, because, I promise, you'll want to read it again and again. It affected me as THE SHIPPING NEWS did, with characters so memorable and plot so rich and believable, that I was not content to read it only once.

This is one clever story

I can honestly say that I have never read anything quite like Deep in The Shade of Paradise! It's the story of a large quirky Southern family as they gather together for a wedding, that and so much more. There is so much going on in this tale that it's almost impossible to describe it in few words. The characters are beyond unique, each one a treasure, and with names like you've never heard. The author keeps jumping into the narrative with his running commentary which you would think would become annoying after awhile, but only adds to the charm and hilarity of the story. This novel is so clever and imaginative that I found myself smiling all the way through. It would be impossible to give this any less than 5 stars!

A GREAT BOOK

The reading I've done in the first fifty years of my life has been in search of a book like DEEP IN THE SHADE OF PARADISE by John Dufresne. Now, the remaining years of my life will be spent trying to find another book like it.Trying to describe the book is like trying to explain MOBY DICK. ("Well, it's about a whale but it's not about a whale, it's really about everything.") DEEP IN THE SHADE OF PARADISE is simply a great book.I forced myself to limit reading to one chapter a day to make the book last. It was hard because you become so involved with the characters you are compelled to fly through the pages. At the same time you know if you read too quickly you'll miss some great sentences that deserved to be carefully and thoughtfully read.Dufresne has guaranteed that whenever I hear the word "plot" I will always think of the blissful Pythias. An extremely funny book.

DEEP IN THE SHADE OF PARADISE

THIS IS BY FAR THE MOST MOVING, LAUGH OUT LOUD BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. I FELL IN LOVE WITH THESE QUIRKY CHARACTERS. THEY BECAME A PART OF MY LIFE. IT'S HARD TO PUT THIS BOOK DOWN AND YET I DIDN'T WANT THE STORY TO END. I STILL THINK ABOUT BOUDOU, EARLENE, ADLAI AND MIRANDA (TO NAME A FEW.) AND WONDER WHAT THEY ARE DOING TODAY. I MISS ROYCE AND BENNING. BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN. DUFRESNE LEAVES YOU WANTING MORE.