A review by marisfess
Accordion Crimes by Annie Proulx

3.0

I fell in love with Annie Proulx after reading Shipping News and chose Accordion Crimes to read next because the premise was fascinating. The story of a simple green accordion as it passes from its maker through a history of many hands. The story of America is told here, as each of the accordion players is from an immigrant family. Because so many stories crowd the pages, it is hard to identify with any one character. You start to care about the little accordion, but maybe not enough to keep everyone's interest. I still loved Proulx's writing. There are stories within the stories and everything that happens rings true. I wish I cared more about some of the characters and places, or that there was more of an overarching story to tie it together. Proulx gives us a little of that with the anticipation of who will discover a secret about the accordion, but it was lost in the tumultuous happenings that fill the book.

Writing is magnificent, the information is beautiful and historic, but the overall lack of narrative makes the reader work to remain engaged.