Again and Again: A Novel
From one of America’s greatest, most creative novelists comes Again and Again, a poignant and endlessly surprising story about love lost, found, and redeemed
Eugene “Geno” Miles is living out his final days in a nursing home, bored, curmudgeonly, and struggling to connect with his new nursing assistant, Angel, who is understandably skeptical of Geno’s insistence on having lived not just one life but many—all the way back to medieval Spain, where, as a petty thief, he first lucked upon true love only to lose it, and spend the next thousand years trying to recapture it.
Who is Geno? A lonely old man clinging to his delusions and rehearsing his fantasies, or a legitimate anomaly, a thousand-year-old man who continues to search for the love he lost so long ago?
As Angel comes to learn the truth about Geno, so, too, does the reader, and as his miraculous story comes to a head, so does the biggest truth of all: that love—timeless, often elusive—is sometimes right in front of us.
Eugene “Geno” Miles is living out his final days in a nursing home, bored, curmudgeonly, and struggling to connect with his new nursing assistant, Angel, who is understandably skeptical of Geno’s insistence on having lived not just one life but many—all the way back to medieval Spain, where, as a petty thief, he first lucked upon true love only to lose it, and spend the next thousand years trying to recapture it.
Who is Geno? A lonely old man clinging to his delusions and rehearsing his fantasies, or a legitimate anomaly, a thousand-year-old man who continues to search for the love he lost so long ago?
As Angel comes to learn the truth about Geno, so, too, does the reader, and as his miraculous story comes to a head, so does the biggest truth of all: that love—timeless, often elusive—is sometimes right in front of us.
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Community Reviews
This is a unique and sweet story about Eugene, "Geno", who is a 92-year-old man living out his final days working jigsaw puzzles in a senior care facility. He is a bit of a grouch (just adds to his charm) and lonely, until Angel, one of the young aides takes an interest in him and his stories. You see, Geno thinks he has lived before. He believes he has lived for 10 centuries and is looking for his long-lost love, Gaya. Angel listens to his stories and is eager to always find out what happened next. Eugene's past lives are interesting, and the book goes back and forth between his past lives and his current life. Most people just believe he is a crazy old man. Are his stories just delusions of a lonely old man? A result of trauma? How do you prove you've lived for 1,000 years?
About 1/2 way through, we learn the truth about Geno and there is a twist I didn't see coming. I loved Geno, Angel and their relationship. They have a very unlikely friendship. Eugene comes to care for Angel. Angel is kind and shows compassion. I think this book is about the need for human interaction, the importance of hope in our lives.
About 1/2 way through, we learn the truth about Geno and there is a twist I didn't see coming. I loved Geno, Angel and their relationship. They have a very unlikely friendship. Eugene comes to care for Angel. Angel is kind and shows compassion. I think this book is about the need for human interaction, the importance of hope in our lives.
This was a very interesting story and well written, but it is just not to my individual tastes unfortunately. I'm not personally a fan of unreliable narrators, so when that was revealed it made it difficult for me to continue reading. It still managed to tug at my heartstrings even after that, but I just didn't have the connection to the characters that I'd had before the reveal. It is still a good story with a beautiful message though.
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