Suzanne Vega's Reading List

"It took me a while to get into this book but now it is permanently in my heart. I love the convoluted storytelling — the first person narrator, a stranger passing by who stays the night with a bewildering family, dreaming strange dreams. Then the narration switches to the family nurse who tells a story from generations ago, which explains the current circumstances. I also love the wildness of the characters — their jealousies, pains, passions and obsessions — as well as the unabashed antisoci..."

"Her masterpiece. Five starkly drawn characters are united by their connection to a deaf-mute man. The range and variation of the characters and her empathetic handling of each one is remarkable, as well as the odd structure, which may have been drawn from her knowledge of music. Not a typical narrative but probably her most accessible."

"The classic story of a wild child on the outskirts of rural society with an absent mother and wayward father, and the trials he endures. I feel for Huck as I never do for Tom Sawyer, who is more civilized. A portrait of America at a moment in time which is still relevant today."