Esau's Mountain

A Half Century of Public and Private Moral Ambivalence "The Thanksgiving Trilogy," by Bill Broder, presents a portrait of the human and historical dilemmas in our country during the last fifty years. In three novels, Bill Broder follows a group of friends who left their blood families in the East and formed close relationships in the San Francisco Bay Area-a family formed in exile. The annual reunion of this "family" takes place at Thanksgiving dinners. The three books, each complete in itself, explore significant aspects of California: a vision of possibilities, a sense of exile and mobility, and a respect for the past-aspects that have contributed greatly to the development of American culture as a whole. In Esau's Mountain, Book Two of The Thanksgiving Trilogy, a serial killer becomes obsessed with the Thanksgiving family and pursues the young women of the family through the parklands of Marin County, California on Thanksgiving Day. The serial killer operates very much like the "Real-Politicians" of most countries, who seek to realize their ideals, dreams, and desires through violence. Sections of the novel are presented from the point of view of the killer, a character whose humanity becomes central to the plot. Praise for Bill Broder's works: "The Sacred Hoop" is a wise and eloquent book, outlining through story the tragedy and triumph of human evolution. -Edward Abbey [In "The Sacred Hoop"] Bill Broder...is a master storyteller, whose graceful prose is so engrossing that readers will find themselves instantly absorbed in what is sure to become a classic." -Pat Holt, The San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle In "Taking Care of Cleo"...Broder combines a storyteller's delight in complicated predicaments with a painter's eye for landscape and body language and a poet's sense of place." -Donna Seaman, Chicago Tribune [In "A Prayer for the Departed"] Broder's careful, eloquent meditations upon family life transform this account from a mere history or memoir to a celebration of, and tribute to, family life.... A tender, inquisitive book that will appeal to those from old and new worlds. -Kirkus Indy Review