Book Review - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

This second book by Jonathan Safran Foer is really good, if you like quirky and puzzling texts. The hero of the story is an extremely precocious 9-year old Oskar Schell who lost his Father in the WTC on 9/11. As he tries to reconcile to the tragedy, he finds a key in his Dad's closet in an envelope with the word "Black" written on it. Oskar decides to visit everyone named Black in NYC to see if they can identify the key. He meets an interesting cast of characters along the way.

There are other tales being told in the book - his Grandfather and Grandmother take turns telling their stories that started in Dresden, Germany prior to its bombing by the Allies. All of the stories tie together at the end, although the ending is a bit open.

I have to confess, there were several parts that left me quite teary-eyed.

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