Publisher Description

From the bestselling author of The Hours and Specimen Days comes a generous, masterfully crafted novel with all the power of a Greek tragedy. The epic tale of an American family, Flesh and Blood follows three generations of the Stassos clan as it is transformed by ambition, love, and history. Constantine Stassos, a Greek immigrant, marries Mary Cuccio, an Italian-American girl, and they have three children, each fated to a complex life. Susan is oppressed by her beauty and her father's affections; Billy is brilliant, and gay; Zoe is a wild, heedless visionary. As the years pass, their lives unfold in ways that compel them--and their parents--to meet ever greater challenges.

Author Biography

Michael Cunningham is the bestselling author of The Hours, which won the Pulitzer Prize and was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film. He lives in New York.

Review

"A wonderful . . . sprawling, old-fashioned novel." --The New York Times Book Review "A work of dramatic humanity at a high and poetic level." --Los Angeles Times "Reading Michael Cunningham is like putting on see-through glasses. He's got this way of exposing his characters' deepest inclinations and motivations, letting us peer through glass directly into their souls." --The Boston Globe "The book buzzcuts like Edward Scissorhands through the conventionally dull pastures of the American family saga." --Vanity Fair

Review Quote

The book buzzcuts like Edward Scissorhands through the conventionally dull pastures of the American family saga.

Details