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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A TRULY GREAT BOOK, September 9, 2003
By A Customer
Andy DeMarco and his little sister Angela worshipped their Uncle Paulie. To them, he was a god, an enigmatic savior, the man who took the place of their absent father, who protected them and their mother, and who taught them about the true nature of life and family. But one horrible summer day something unspeakable happened to little Angela, and everyone's world changed forever. Now, twenty years later, in the middle of a snowstorm, Andy has returned home to bury his uncle, a man with a shady past that ended with a caper gone wrong and a bullet in the back of his head. Only now can Andy begin to understand who his uncle truly was, and in doing so, finally begin to also understand who he is, and who he may still one day become. Author Greg F. Gifune has crafted a journey of one man's voyage into the darkness of the past with the pace of a thriller but the poetic and thoughtful writing he has become known and praised for by critics and readers alike. A lyrical, complex and mysteriously enchanting novel that delves deeply into the dark side of family, friendship, love, grief, loyalty, revenge, and ultimately, redemption, Saying Uncle is a lean but thought-provoking novel about crimes of the past and the scars they leave behind. A study of violence and spirituality, of a family torn apart by a senseless act of brutality and the equally brutal aftermath that haunts them still, Saying Uncle is at once elegant, horrific, emotionally shattering, and sadly beautiful. A remarkable new novel from the author of Down To Sleep, Heretics, Drago Descending, Night Work, and The Bleeding Season.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Powerful, Nostalgic Story That You Will Never Forget., March 8, 2009
This review is from: Saying Uncle (Paperback)
Saying Uncle is a novella length story that packs the same kind of punch that you will get from reading a nine-hundred page epic. It's a coming of age tale loaded with violence, rage, sadness, and love that will stick around inside your mind for a long time after you've turned the final page.
It's the story of one young man's love for an Uncle who is not only a loving father figure to the boy and his sister, but also a mysterious man with a violent past. When something terrible happens to his sister, God help the person the who committed the crime.
A story of finding yourself, and also losing yourself in a world that is brutally unforgiving, as well as emotionally gripping on every single page. Gifune's stories all read like he kept them simmering in his mind for a long time before setting them to paper. He writes with such deep feeling and poetic energy, that at times he leaves you breathless.
In Saying Uncle, Greg Gifune writes with all the passion and brilliant writing that his fans have come to know in his other masterpieces like, Children of Chaos, Blood In Electric Blue and The Bleeding Season. His name is one that is fast gaining the popularity it deserves and you'll find yourself buying all his other books and treasuring them.
There are certain books that leave you with a heartfelt feeling, making you always regard them with special emotion for the rest of your life; Saying Uncle is one of those books.
Read it, treasure it, and discover the amazing imagination of Greg F. Gifune.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thoughtful mixture of crime and coming of age tale, January 12, 2008
SAYING UNCLE is a moody, lyrical, and wholly involving short novel that is by turns a crime story and a coming of age tale. Atmospheric and haunting, the narrative follows the return of Andy DeMarco to his small hometown to bury his uncle, a man who was once a hero and then a brutal villain to young Andy. Twenty years earlier, after Andy's sister was raped, Uncle committed a tragic act that left its emotional scars upon Andy.
The mood of the novel parallels its scenes of wind-driven snowfall as Andy seeks to make peace with his now late uncle. Filled with guilt and a need for redemption, Andy visits with friends, neighbors, and family members he hasn't seen for years in an effort to remind himself of who Uncle was, and also who he himself had once been. With an emotionally alluring style, Gifune weaves a story that thoughfully takes on the novel that delves in the complexities of family, loyalty, guilt, sorrow, and personal vindication.
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