A review by renee_pompeii
Benediction by Kent Haruf

5.0

Boy oh boy, for a short little book this thing made me cry no less than FIVE TIMES. Good grief. Talk about great writing. I've heard people describe this as a book about "nothing" but christ, to my mind it was a book about *everything*. It is such a thorough little snapshot of life, of a group of lives, beginning and ending, coming together and ripping apart, from youth to old age. The dialogue was so incredibly natural, and I'm not just talking about vernacular language, but the way it flows and crashes and stumbles between the characters. Plus the sense of place is really unique to me, that although your in a very specific area and part of the U.S., it feels like it could be anywhere really. Haruf has a gift for storytelling, and used it to it's utmost here with this book.