A Student of Living Things

Susan Shreve's "A Student of Living Things" is a timely reminder that nothing can replace the endless pleasures as well as necessary perils of a good work of fiction.

A Student of Living" is a sheer pleasure to read. It is elegantly written and ingeniously plotted, glittering with insights into human vulnerability and madness. The losses and hopes in the story force one to ponder long after the last page was turned.

Stylish and sleek and tightly-configured, A STUDENT OF LIVING THINGS lives up to its title by being steeped in our incongrueties and potent mysteries--most especially those of the heart.