Palisades Park by Alan Brennert
The inside world of carnivals and amusement parks is a mystery to those of us on the outside. Our excitement builds to a frenzy when we plan a day riding roller coasters and indulging in cotton candy and plump juicy hot dogs. We gladly spend our money to be entertained in new and unusual ways.
Palisades Park is the place where dreams are made, dashed and made once again. Eddie and Adele met on the midway, are married on the carousel and raise their family selling french fries to scores of hungry park goers. All is well until their dreams are rearranged by war, fire and a need to get more from life.
Fire destroys the park several times and the owners rebuild it each time bigger and better. Adele desires to be back on the stage. Eddie wants to bring a piece of the Hawaii he loved back during the war to New Jersey. Their daughter, Toni, wants only to fly like a bird from the top of the high dive. Their dreams rip their lives apart only to put them back together in unexpected ways.
I felt Palisades Park slogged along in a predictable way. I loved both Mr. Brennert's novels, Honolulu and Molokai. Palisades Park, however never captured my attention in the same way. The story had a host of carny characters but who's personalities I found mostly dull and flat. I wanted to love them. I wanted to be immersed in a carny's life. But I wasn't.
The inside world of carnivals and amusement parks is a mystery to those of us on the outside. Our excitement builds to a frenzy when we plan a day riding roller coasters and indulging in cotton candy and plump juicy hot dogs. We gladly spend our money to be entertained in new and unusual ways.
Palisades Park is the place where dreams are made, dashed and made once again. Eddie and Adele met on the midway, are married on the carousel and raise their family selling french fries to scores of hungry park goers. All is well until their dreams are rearranged by war, fire and a need to get more from life. Fire destroys the park several times and the owners rebuild it each time bigger and better. Adele desires to be back on the stage. Eddie wants to bring a piece of the Hawaii he loved back during the war to New Jersey. Their daughter, Toni, wants only to fly like a bird from the top of the high dive. Their dreams rip their lives apart only to put them back together in unexpected ways.
I felt Palisades Park slogged along in a predictable way. I loved both Mr. Brennert's novels, Honolulu and Molokai. Palisades Park, however never captured my attention in the same way. The story had a host of carny characters but who's personalities I found mostly dull and flat. I wanted to love them. I wanted to be immersed in a carny's life. But I wasn't.
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