Customer Reviews

Two Years, No Rain

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Weatherman-turned-children's television host Andy Dunne has been living a literal and figurative 580-day drought, with no relief in sight.

Shawn Klomparens's Two Years, No Rain, tells the story of Andy Dunne, a man in his early 30s who, to borrow one of his weather terms, is a `desiccated' husk. His personal life and job reporting weather for a satellite radio station parallel the parched weather and landscape of San Diego.

Andy excels at repressing emotions and spends a good deal of the novel denying himself the right to the most basic and primal emotions. He buries grief over personal loss, ignores the pain of his wife's infidelities, stands idly by as their marriage disintegrates, and patently ignores his health.

Andy applies for and gets a job that propels him to television fame. The job opens the door to a trip to Hong Kong and the unburdening of Andy's guilt and regrets. While on the island, a typhoon strikes and, ironically, the weatherman isn't conscious to see a good part of it.

Relationships, loss, avoidance, regret, and infidelity are strong themes in this novel and each is weaved throughout. Klomparens pens a realistic world for Andy with well-developed friends and family, though I thought the characterization of Andy's love interest, Hillary, was a bit soft. I learned more about his niece than I did about Hillary. Their relationship was based mostly on hundreds of text messages and illicit late-night phone calls because of their respective marriages.

After Andy's marriage falls apart, Hillary's marriage to Jason deteriorates. It's no coincidence that Hillary's husband shares a name with Andy's twin brother-Klomparens uses Hillary's Jason as Andy's foil-reflecting the unspoken competitive relationship that Andy and his twin shared.

The novel is chock full of symbols and metaphors--stormy weather, withering plants that flourish with proper care and attention, the text messages between Andy and Hillary, dry weather, an empty house, `new' and `old'; page has depth and more to offer than meets the eye.

Darkly humorous, I enjoyed several laughs during the novel. Ultimately, Two Years, No Rainis really a quest on which Andy struggles to finds peace with his losses, regrets, career, and relationships-only then can the literal and figurative rain come. This would be a great read for a book club and there's a discussion guide on Klomparens's website.

--Nat @ Book, Line, and Sinker
7.7.09

The other reviewers have already outlined what the book is "about," and its metaphors and imagery, so I'll just say how much I enjoyed reading Two Years No Rain. Sometimes it's nice just to pick up a book that isn't heavy or full of darkness - a seemingly simple story told simply but with heart and love and tenderness.

I adored the main character, Andy. I have to admit I was ambivalent about Hillary - as the book headed towards the ending, I found I didn't care whether Andy ended up with Hillary or not (and I won't say whether he did or not! You'll have to read!), but, all I wanted was for Andy to be happy. I did, however, love Andy's family - sister, brother in law, and neice (the nephew to a lessor extent) -- they were explored much more than Hillary was. Hillary many times came off as petulant and spoiled, though I did try to understand her, I wanted Andy to find peace and love and happiness - with or without Hillary. I also liked Andy's circle of friends, who created a nice buffer of love and respect and friendship supporting Andy. Loved the backdrop of weather and how it was another character in this novel.

Mostly, I found it to be a fun read with its themes of friendship and family bond that was presented in TYNR quite strongly; I read the book quickly, looking forward to picking it up again each night and at the end, I wished to know more about Andy - where he'd next go and who he'd next meet.

Andy Dunne is feeling the drought. The San Diego weatherman has been reporting no rain for the past two years, and been feeling increasingly irrelevant in his personal life. His wife left him, the death of his twin brother still haunts him, and he is in love with a married woman. Hillary Hsing, the object of Andy's affection, urges Andy to try out for a job working on a children entertainment TV show, and before Andy can blink he is upgraded to the host and entering the realm of a media darling. As Andy's life changes from being a nobody to a somebody, he is faced with many difficult decisions on his life, his family, and his relationships.
Two Years, No Rain by Shawn Klomparens is a refreshing change from my usual chick lit books. It was interesting to get a males perspective about so many issues I normally read about women: love, relationships, careers, and families. The humor was there in patches, but it wasn't so much laugh out loud funny but more of a dark humor. The supporting cast really added to the story, especially the relationship between Andy and his young niece. Klomparens writing is stylish and fresh, and I would recommend Two Years, No Rain to chick lit fans that enjoy the males take on common adult issues.

This was a great contemporary novel with a male perspective on life and love. It was refreshing, the voice clean and crisp and I found this book really easy to read. Andy was a lost soul and even though I found him likeable, I didn't love him every moment in the book. Even so, I felt like I understood him and his motivation and enjoyed this novel about possibilities even when life knocks you down multiple times.

Andy Dunne is in his early thirties and is a down and out weather forecaster whose wife has just left him. As he attempts to pick up the pieces of his life, everything suddenly changes when his friend and secret love, the much married Hillary, convinces him to audition for a new gig which he nails and he is suddenly thrown into the limelight. Andy has many choices to make. Will he make the right ones and figure himself out along the way?

This was a fast read and I got completely absorbed into Andy's world. The writing was quick, witty and fast paced. I loved Andy's relationship with his sister's family, especially his niece as well as seeing him exploring his feelings, how he represses his emotion and ignores his health. It was not unlike several males I know, so I found it believable and I loved the change to a male perspective as we typically read mostly stories with female protagonists.

This book deals with some sensitive subjects, but was a more light-hearted read and they were handled tactfully. I liked the weather aspect to this story, finding it original, interesting and full of symbolism.

This novel is was a great read with a fresh voice and I can't wait to read Jessica Z and Shaun Klomparen's future novels!

Synopsis:

At the start of the novel, Andy Dunn is working as a radio weatherman in sunny Southern California and the weather hasn't changed much - it's close to two years with no rain. But in Andy's life, things are changing fast. Andy's faced with the tail end of a divorce and his wife has just moved out of their house, with much of their furniture. Andy applies for a voice over position with a childrens production company a few days before he downsized from his weatherman job. When his new job comes through, Andy finds himself in a different place: good job, getting fit, and finally about to start a romance with the beautiful and married Hillary Hsing, who he's admired and been daily textmates for almost two years.

Soon enough Andy's job with Bing! the Children's Production group starts to flourish, just as his weight drops. Andy may finally have a chance with love interest Hillary Hsing. With his intervention and diplomatic skills, Andy's helped his niece Hannah and his sister come to a truce of sorts. Andy's luck and life is starting to change.

Review:

I thoroughly enjoyed Two Years, No Rain. Even during his most difficult moments and in the embarrassing situations, Andy is funny and likable. That the novel has a male protagonist with such a clear sympathetic voice might be unusual - Andy gets into emergencies and situations that I've never read in other novels. This adds to the freshness and fun of the book.

The main characters are carefully, well developed and very likable. I felt that the depiction of Andy's friendship with his niece Hillary was an unexpected treat in the book. I loved the scenes where Andy and Hannah would chat while logging in Hannah's driving hours and the many times that Andy would smooth things over between Hannah and her mother.

I thoroughly enjoyed Two Years, No Rain and highly recommend it as a heartwarming, hilarous, and atypical read!

Two Years, No Rain by Shawn Klomparens is a great novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. I tried to remember the last time I read a novel about a man and his issues with trying to find himself in this crazy world and I couldn't think of one. I think that is what I liked most about this book. It was refreshing to read a book about a man struggling to find himself and I have to say that I found it hard to put this one down. It was one of those books that I picked up every second I could because I just had to know what would happen with Andy next.

Andy is a thirty-something man who has been going through a rough spot in his life for a long time. He works for a satellite radio station reporting the weather and even there hasn't had much to report since they were getting no rain. He felt he was becoming redundant everywhere in his life including his marriage. Turns out his wife was happily having affairs while he thought they were ok, not great - but ok. She ends up leaving him and moving practically everything out of their house. Yet another blow to the already bruised ego.

He hears about a job though doing voice for a kid's television show. He auditions for it and to his surprise gets the job and not only doing voice, but actually hosting the show. He had pulled a stunt of sorts with some kids and a magic carpet and that had managed to win him his new job. Andy has a knack with kids and a knack in front of the camera. His personality shines through and kids love him. Thing is, it seems women all over are loving him too! All of a sudden Andy can't go out to the bar or the grocery store without being accosted by women.

Now while Andy has been struggling with trying to rebuild his life after his wife has left we find out that he has had a long standing crush on a woman who worked in the same building as he did. Hillary is married and a very interesting character and she and Andy have been carrying on a texting and phoning relationship for almost two years and of course they see each other at work. Theirs is a confusing and stormy relationship as Hillary doesn't have a good marriage and Andy's marriage had been on the rocks for a while. I think that while they were attracted to each other, this just added to the bond they had. Their love seems sweet, but troubled. Where will it end up leading them - to each other, or away from each other?

Andy is just a great character. He's funny, caring, a family man and just completely likeable. The author has a way of just pulling you completely into Andy's life. He's had things happen in his past that have worn him down and things going on in the present and you find yourself really caring about this man and what will happen to him. He has a niece Hannah who I just took to right away. She's delightfully funny in that teenage way and she had me laughing a few times with the things that would come out of her mouth. As a matter of fact, there were many instances in this book that had me laughing that had to do with Andy as well.

This novel shows us that even when life beats you down, there is still hope. You can get back up, dust off and try again. You also never know when things may look brighter for you, life is about possibilities and chance. Sometimes you just need to be in the right place at the right time. Two Years, No Rain is about Andy Dunne reinventing himself and hopes and dreams coming true. It's about confronting your past and dealing with it and moving on; it's about so many things. It's a great read that I found different from everything I've been reading recently that I would easily recommend.

This story was difficult for me to read. I mean, it was AMAZING, but the emotion and story content was hard. It struck a nerve with me.

I'm not normally a literary reader---I am on occasion, but I'm naturally drawn to commercial fiction. The fact that the author could keep me hooked, keep me thinking about Andy's story constantly during my day, and continuing to turn pages says a lot.

I was completely drawn into Andy's world. So much sympathy for him as a MC. I liked him, enjoyed being in his head, even through the difficult parts. He's so... us. All of us. And that's what makes his story scary. That we could so easily be in Andy's shoes.

I actually felt physically thirsty while reading this story...like my own life had a drought until I could get to the end. And the closing was so satisfying... like guzzling a big glass of cold water, finally quenched. Everything tied in so nicely, but in an unpredictable, nice, solid way. The journey was emotional and heavy, but worth the feeling I have right now.

After having read the author's other fab story, Jessica Z, I'm awed with how different the stories are. Both, so emotionally absorbing and well written, yet diverse, in content and feeling. It makes me excited to see what else the author will produce. I'll be waiting anxiously for the next book to come out.

I really liked Andy, the lead character. I wanted to keep reading to see how his life turned out after the book ended! Good story, well-written. I'll keep this one on my shelf for rereading.

Ever since I started writing again, I've been on a mission to find books with romantic elements that featured a male lead character. Two Years, No Rain had just that. Better still? A believable male lead.

Here's the basic premise, as spoiler-free as possible. Andy Dunne is a weatherman in San Diego dealing with a two year drought. That's right, a weatherman without weather. Naturally, this meteorological glut leaves Andy feeling rather irrelevant. His marriage has crumbled, he's still dealing with the death of his twin brother, his career is going nowhere, his gut is expanding, and he's quietly lusting after his co-worker Hillary Hsing.

Hill is Andy's weak spot, so when she suggests he try out for a voice role on a new television show, he reluctantly agrees and manages to snag the job. Things start looking up for Andy, and things begin to heat up with Hill.

And I'll leave it at that. You don't want me to tell you the whole story, right?

Here's why I enjoyed this story: It's real. It's mellow. It's a simple story about a boy and a girl trying to figure out how to make it work. I wouldn't consider this a romance fraught with drama and angst, by any means. Yes, that tension makes for a good read, but sometimes, a good read is just a good read.

The characters are likable. These are people you can relate to. It's a refreshing change from plots that feel like the drama is manipulated just to see how the characters handle it. The emotional obstacles are real. No matter how well Andy's life is going, it can only go so well until he deals with the ghosts of his past.

This is a story about a guy just trying to figure out what he really wants in life after he realizes that everything he ever wanted isn't actually everything he ever wanted. The subtle way Klomparens handles this is stellar. I'm loving this book!

--J.M. Kelley
Drew in Blue

I was hooked after the first few pages of Two Years, No Rain. Andy Dunne is a nice guy, too nice really. He never gets upset and lately just takes what life is dishing out to him. His wife has just left him. But she thoughtfully marked the few things he could keep with sticky notes. Notably the condiments in the fridge. His job as a radio weatherman is on shaky ground. And he harbours a not so secret attraction for Hillary, a married woman - who is happily flirting back.

When the bottom does fall out of his job, an unexpected interview leads Andy to his his next career - as a host for a children's television program. The clouds just might be parting.

The more I read, the more addicted I became - what was going to happen next? Andy's journey as he rediscovers himself and faces the heartache from the past is compelling. He's the kind of character you're just rooting for. The supporting characters are just as engaging. I quite enjoyed his niece Hannah. The relationship with her uncle is refreshing. I wasn't as sold on Hillary though. Although she is portrayed as somewhat enigmatic at first, I was somewhat dismayed with how she uses Andy to fill a gap in her own life. Their relationship is a main focus of the book. But I enjoyed Andy's journey to mend his life the most. As Andy the tv host says every show "The answer was always inside me, the whole time." Klomparens uses weather analogies with great effect. The drought and hope/need for rain mirrors much of Andy's life.

I found it refreshing to read a male perspective by a male author. Kind of male oriented chick lit. Fans of Nick Hornby would enjoy Two Years, No Rain.