A review by msjoanna
The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, by Dinaw Mengestu

2.0

I wanted to like this book more than I did. Maybe I would have liked it more had I read the print version rather than listening to the audio version. But the first person narrative should have translated well to audio format. The narrator was fine - neither fantastic nor horrid. But the story was just frustrating. The narrator, an Ethiopian immigrant who owns and operates a convenience store in a tough neighborhood in Washington, DC just never won my heart. Despite being in the US for seventeen years, he built almost no community or friendships and seemed basically lackadaisical about his life and circumstances. I guess that is part of the point-he had big dreams that got lost in day to day living-but it didn't make for a very compelling read.