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Title: Prairie Snooze
Review: Haruf's novel which starts out so well splutters and dies less than midway through and glib violence doesn't rescue it. Stock characters drift through pointless scenes like sleepwalkers, and I wondered if Haruf gave a damn.The five-star reviews astonish: to earn fewer stars from his fans Haruf would (apparently) have had to leave the book's latter 200 pages blank, or moon them directly. Either performance would have improved over the cliched yawnfest we're treated to instead.If this review seems resentful, it is. The novel's first chapters are good, the writing fine, the characters real and moving (the cattle auction scene is exemplary). Then to see it all turn to cowplop.Haruf, editor, agent: feel shame for letting such shoddiness reach readers.
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