I'm very late to the party on this one and wouldn't want to embarrass myself and/or seem silly to others by enthusing about what they've known for years, but - what the hell - one of the things I do here is to share my reading enthusiasms and I won't be the only person to be late on it, so... onward.
If you haven't read The Shipping News by Annie Proulx, I recommend it, with trumpets and pianos and not forgetting balloons. It won the Pulitzer Prize for 1994. I could tell you the book is different from anything else, and I could tell you that its evocation of place is superb, and that its author's grasp of the awkwardnesses of life is outstanding. Hey, I have now told you that. I will only add that it has a great final paragraph. Try it if you haven't already.
