Customer Reviews

Natural Disasters

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Set against mudslides, fires and earthquakes in Los Angeles, Natural Disasters is about a friendship between a gay man and a lesbian who work in a Los Angeles AIDS organization called the Alliance. Set in 1993, the protagonist Jesse must navigate her way through burn out, a break-up of a relationship of ten years and her friend Gabe's HIV status and eventual death. "There are seasons when life appears to be nothing by an unremitting series of calamities, when the worlds-internal and external-are crumbling, leaving no safe ground on which to stand. Julia Salazar's poignant and poetic novel, Natural Disasters, describes such a season in the life of its protagonist, Jesse Perez, suggests that the key is not only to withstand and survive it, but to heed the call of the universe to 'wake up' and learn to live more deeply."-Terry Wolverton, EMBERS

"Julia Salazar's brave and honest book reminds us that loss-belongings smashed in earthquakes, friends stolen by AIDS-can help us find the strength to change our lives."-Anne Stockwell, Journalist

Natural Disasters is a compelling read that will keep you flipping pages and wanting more. As parallels between physical, emotional, and natural disasters are drawn, the reader finds an immense emotional connection with the protagonist and her struggles throughout the novel. I highly recommend this to anyone in search of a story about moving beyond tragedy and learning to rebuild from the rubble.

At turns funny and tragic, this book is a wrenching look at the cataclysmic events that can turn a life inside out, yet can help us to discover who we really are. Disasters can harden us, or deepen our relationships with one another and with God/The Universe/[Your Spiritual Deity here]. It's all up to us.

Anyone that has ever lived, loved or lost can find something to relate to in this novel. Straight or gay, male or female. I look forward to reading what else this author comes out with in the future.

The author has a wonderfully wry sense of observation and manages to make even funereal scenes funny. She's really captured a time and place--Los Angeles in the early 1990s--and whether you're [...] or straight, single or married, you'll recognize the games people play in relationship and the losses we all recover from.