A review by stevienlcf
Stone Arabia by Dana Spiotta

3.0

A moving (and depressing) portrait of mid-life siblings, Denise and Nik Kranis. Nik was a 1970s minor glam-punk-rock musician in Los Angeles who, three decades later, is a dive bartender and an alcoholic. He creates a fantasy vision of himelf as a legendary rock star. Denise is a personal assistant to a real estate magnate who uses her income to support Nik and uses her time to tend to their aging mother who is afflicted with early stage dementia. Although she has an adult daughter whom she loves, and a boyfriend who satisfies, Denise is fixated on random news reports (e.g., the spread of SARS, the murder-suicide of a former teen television star, Abu Ghraib). The novel explores themes such as alienation, the awareness of mortality and the passing of time, and paths not taken. A deeply sad novel.