Review: The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl

The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl by Bart Yates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As the synopsis tells us, this Historical/Fiction novel spans nearly 100 years. One day for every eight years that Issac Dahl is alive, starting when he and his twin sister are 8. And what a whirlwind ride we get from the very first chapter!

Isaacs's life starts with an avalanche and continues, sometimes with very historical events and sometimes with what we might think of as mundane occurrences. But believe me, even what seems mundane isn't-it's all about the love this family has for each other. It's about the length of time they spend with each other and how each one in the family carves a name for themselves.

Sometimes frightening, sometimes poignant, sometimes funny. This book will get you through whatever you need to read your way through. I know it helped me through a bit of a rough patch.

*This ARC was supplied by John Scognamiglio Book's, the author Bart Yates, and Edelweiss/ATTL. With my gratitude and thanks to all.

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SYNOPSIS: "Both sweeping and exquisitely intimate, award-winning author Bart Yates blends historical fact and fiction in a surprising, thought-provoking saga spanning 12 significant days across nearly 100 years in the life of a single man, beginning in 1920s Utah.

“Each day is a story, whether or not that story makes any damn sense, or is worth telling to anyone else.”

At the age of ninety-six, Isaac Dahl sits down to write his memoir. For Isaac, an accomplished journalist and historian, finding the right words to convey events is never a problem. But this book will be different from anything he has written before. Focusing on twelve different days, each encapsulated in a chapter, Isaac hopes to distill the very essence of his life.

There are days that begin like any other, only to morph through twists of fate. An avalanche strikes Bingham, Utah, and eight-year-old Isaac and his twin sister, Agnes, survive when they are trapped in an upside-down bathtub. Other days stand apart in history—including a day in 1942, when Isaac, stationed on the USS Houston in the Java Sea as a rookie correspondent, confronts the full horror of war. And there are days spent simply, with his lifelong friend, Bo, or with Danny, the younger man whose love transforms Isaac’s later years—precious days with significance that grows clear only in hindsight.

From the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to a Mississippi school at the apex of the civil rights movement, Isaac tells his story with insight, wisdom, and emotional depth. The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl is a wonderful, singular narrative that will spark conversation and reflection—a reminder that there is no such thing as an ordinary life, and the greatest accomplishment of all is to live and love fully.