Finding the Moon in Sugar [Paperback]

Gint Aras (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 7, 2009

Gint Aras writing is infused with a rare sensitivity for the thousands of seemingly trivial things that give meaning to life. He invites us to laugh at his hero, then sneaks him into our hearts. Dan Vyleta, author of Pavel & I

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gint Aras (Karolis Gintaras ukauskas) was born in Cicero, IL to immigrants displaced by World War II. He attended the University of Illinois in Urbana/Champaign and earned his MFA from Columbia University. To support his writing, he has worked as a hearse driver, fast food guy, hotel houseman, pasta cook, actor and delivery man. He currently teaches English and Humanities at Morton College and lives in Oak Park, IL.

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Infinity Publishing (January 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0741450933
• ISBN-13: 978-0741450937
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,202,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gint Aras (Karolis Gintaras Žukauskas, b. 1973) was born in Cicero, Illinois to Lithuanian emigrants displaced by World War II. While he spent most of his childhood in working class Cicero, his family moved to affluent Riverside, Illinois when he was a teen. He has also lived and worked in Lithuania and Austria where he met and married Ukrainian violinist, Maria Storm. His writing takes equal influence from classical music, drug culture, the working class, both Western and Eastern philosophy, Lithuanian paganism and Catholicism. A graduate of Columbia University's School of the Arts, he currently teaches at Morton College and lives in Oak Park, Illinois with his wife and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wit and truth, January 30, 2009

By 

R. Mockaitis (Wheaton, IL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Finding the Moon in Sugar (Paperback)

The author gives Andy Nowak a unique voice that helps to pull you in to the character quickly. The descriptions of otherwise regular things and actions in a new and refreshing way is what really sets this novel apart from others. Here, the author has a real talent for turning a phrase that makes you stop reading just to savour it for a moment before reading on. On its face, some may say this novel is about drugs and sex and travel, but those are just vehicles for the authors message that there is truth in the little things we experience. We discover those little truths along with Andy, although oftentimes Andy doesn't realize it for what it is. It is those discoveries along the way and the wit of the delivery that really make this novel a unique and compelling read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deeply Textured, Sentimental, Tragic, and Hilarious, April 17, 2009

By 

Twisted Knickers Publications "Cheryl Anne Ga... (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Finding the Moon in Sugar (Paperback)

Andrew Nowak is an all-American reject: undereducated, a bit of a slacker, the product of a dysfunctional family, and self-proclaimed dirtbag. Andy isn't even good at being a drug dealer. In his own words: He can't even sell what people want.

As our story begins, Andy is waiting in a local laundromat for a client when a very aggressive woman approaches him. This woman turns out to be the Lithuanian internet bride of said client. She promptly offers Andy one thousand dollars to service her -- orally. A hot woman, sex, and a thousand dollars, needless to say, Andy goes home with her. As the story progresses, we get an insider view into Andy's lost and lonely heart and soul. Andy definitely has the Toa of Pooh. While Andy might be clumsy and accident prone, he is very much self-aware and very aware of the world around him. His simple-mindedness is that of innocence not arrogant stupidity, and that makes Andy very, very charming, much like the stray dog he befriends when he reaches Lithuania. Yes, Andy sells everything, buys a plane ticket, and chases Audra, the Lithuanian Internet Bride, to her homeland. At this point, the story veers off into the predictable stranger in a strange land plot device. We have a lot of wandering aimlessly; we have the wizard of Oz cast of characters, including Toto; and we have dive bars, discothèques, and drug parties, but in reality, this story isn't about the cliché plotline. It's really a study in desperation and co-dependence. Audra is mentally ill, and as it manifests itself, we don't get a medical diagnosis or a laundry list of symptoms, we get to feel its effects very deeply through Andy. His simplistic, colourful, and almost childlike view of the world allows the emotion to stay raw and uncluttered. There are no justifications -- no analysis -- just Andy's honesty. When Andy finds a picture Audra had drawn in his private journal, I got the chills. Actually, the book was full of insightful thrills, chills, a little romance, and enough twists and turns to keep the story entertaining from the first page to the last, which, by the way, is one of the most poignant parts to the story -- almost an Aesop's Fable ending, if you will.

Overall, I loved it. The story flows smoothly, the plotline is flawless, and the imagery is restrained and innocent in its beauty. The prose is tactile and at times even poetic. The main characters are painfully tragic, and so we can laugh, cry, be horrified and be mortally wounded all at the same time. Shakespeare would be proud. Those who like tragic black comedy will adore this book. Those who want psychological realism and those who want to look a little deeper into the psyche of deviant and damaged characters will love its masterful subtlety. Bravo! I can't wait to read more from this author.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Finding the Moon in Sugar, January 16, 2009

By 

L. Boskovic "loreta" (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Finding the Moon in Sugar (Paperback)

On a quest for personal fullfillment, Andrew "Berwyn" Nowak follows an unendingly bewildering, sad, and attractive Lithunian woman back to her homeland. Along the lines of Chris Offutt's "The Same River Twice" and William Least-Heat Moon's "Blue Highways," this is a journey of a young man who's taken wrong turns and ended up in dead ends for much of his young life, but never really given it much thought.

For Andrew, pleasure can be measured in a bong hit, a bottle or a fantasy about what napping by an open window could bring. But only through a chance encounter with a drug client's wife does he see a world outside of Berwyn, IL. He finds himself following her to Lithuania, but that too doesn't result in the satisfaction he thought he would find. Ultimately, though, he finds peace in manhood after misadventures along the way.

The cultural references to Berwyn and the bars of Vilnius, Lithuania are a dead-on.