Why read The Blood Oranges?

Book cover of The Blood Oranges

Book description

"Need I insist that the only enemy of the mature marriage is monogamy? That anything less than sexual multiplicity . . . is naive? That our sexual selves are merely idylers in a vast wood?" Thus the central theme of John Hawkes's widely acclaimed novel The Blood Oranges is boldly…

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Topics

Romantic love

Genres

Literary fiction

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Blood Oranges as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Steve Schlam

Author

You rarely hear any mention these days of John Hawkes or his masterful 1971 novel, The Blood Oranges, his sumptuously written exploration of one man’s pursuit of freedom—in particular, sexual freedom—and the costs and consequences of that pursuit for himself, his wife, and the couple they meet, bond with, seduce in more ways than one, and help to destroy.

Which is too bad. Because it’s truly exceptional.

The story unfolds in an unnamed tropical setting that is rich with atmosphere and heat, literal and otherwise. Entering its world was like throwing open the doors to a dream, a dream…

From Steve's list on The best books you've never read: four literary novels that break the traditional rules of novel writing and one terrific thriller.