House of Sand and Fog (novel)
 First edition cover | |
| Author | Andre Dubus III |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Publisher | W. W. Norton & Company |
Publication date | February 1, 1999 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover and Paperback) |
| Pages | 365 pp |
| ISBN | 0-393-04697-4 |
| OCLC | 39546150 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3554.U2652 H68 1999 |
House of Sand and Fog is a 1999 novel by Andre Dubus III. It was selected for Oprah's Book Club in 2000 and was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. It was adapted into the 2003 film, House of Sand and Fog.
Plot
Dubus introduces Massoud Behrani, a former colonel exiled from Iran after the Iranian Revolution. Because his background is military rather than professional, he has not been able to establish a career in the US and works as a trash collector and convenience store clerk. With his savings, he pays the rent on his family's expensive apartment and provides an elegant wedding for his daughter. His fellow, more successful Iranian exiles do not know that he holds low-skilled jobs.
Meanwhile, Kathy Nicolo, a former drug addict who is still recovering from her husband's abrupt abandonment of her, has been evicted from her home, long owned by her family, because of unpaid taxes that the county wrongfully claims she has failed to pay.
Film adaptation
In 2003 the novel was adapted into a film of the same title starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly. While the novel suggests that experiences in Lester Burdon's youth were responsible for some of his rash decisions, the movie does not attempt to explain any of his motivations. The movie's ending differs from that of the novel, removing the final confrontation between Behrani and Kathy. The consequences to Kathy subsequent to the Behranis' deaths are also unexplored in the movie.