Book description
Richard Powers' novel is a fascinating and profound exploration of
the interaction of an individual human life and a corporate one. It
tells two stories: the first that of an American company, which starts
as a small family soap and candle-making firm in the early 1800s, and
ends as a vast pharmaceuticals-to-pesticides combine in the 1990s. The
second is that of a contemporary woman, living in the company town,
who during the course of the novel is diagnosed and then finally dies
of cancer, a cancer that is almost certainly caused by exposure to
chemical wastes from the company's factories.
Richly intellectually stimulating, deeply moving and beautifully
written, Gain is very much a 'Great American Novel', an exploration of
the history, uniqueness and soul of America, in the tradition of
Underworld. But it is most reminiscent of Graham Swift's
Waterland, another novel that combines history, both public and
private, with contemporary lives, showing how individuals are both the
victims and shapers of large-scale historical and economic forces
Richard Powers is a recipient of a MacArthur award (commonly referred
to as 'genius grants'). His novel
Galatea 2. 2
was nominated for the US National Book Critics Circle Award.
