Micah's Child

Co-authored by Diane Lang and Michael Buchanan, Micah's Child is the story of Micah, a man struggling to rid himself of his destructive past, and his newly found friend, Catherine, a teacher-socialite. Effortlessly carrying readers through a deftly woven tale, Micah's Child follows the growing attraction which the two experience for one-another, and the trials presenting them in their lives, through memory, love, discovery, and the creation of an enduring bond. For its creative and vivid narrative style and attention to intimate details, Micah's Child is very highly recommended reading and documents authors Diane Lang and Michael Buchanan as skillful collaborators and mutually gifted storytellers.

Micah's child is beautiful as well as useful, with a power belied by its elegant simplicity. It is by far one of the most impressive works of fiction I have read this year. Not only was it immensely entertaining, but also it changed the way I think about life and everything in it.Micah's child mixes, lyrical description, dialogue, and poetry with philosophical rumination on topics from personal morality to the nature of human error, weaving them into a complex multi-layered text. Storytelling comes hand in hand with philosophical exposition and critical analysis, just as ritual merges with theology and the vividly concrete embodies the abstract.It also has a pervasive and varied humor, ranging from near-slapstick grotesquery to subtle mockery of dialogue. To read it is to venture on a kaleidoscopic roller-coaster ride -- one which never falters and carries us rapidly along, but which may leave us shaken and thoughtful at the end.

A story of healing for one teacher, and the awakening of another. I found myself unable to stop thinking about this book, even when I knew I couldn't get back to it for hours. Micah and Catherine are fully developed, fascinating characters who learn so much about themselves as they build a relationship and teach in the high school environment. Being in their presence was also to look at myself and my relationships. An excellent book, and well worth the time spent reading. I certainly hope Lang and Buchanan continue writing - Congratulations on an excellent first novel!

This is truly a unique work of art. A collaborative effort between southern authors Diane Lang and Michael Buchannan, this book weaves in and out of several stories to find the most creative way to your soul. Being from Alpharetta, I was able to appreciate the setting of this novel, part of it being rich suburbanites who hide behind money. But its from the people that reveal themselves to us that we learn the most about ourselves, and Catherine and Micah certainly helped me realize who and where I was. I could identify with both main characters, and the book uses equal amounts of somberness, humor, sarcasm, and beautiful phrasing and writing to express its point. It is the story of a woman and a man and their individual trips to prove themselves to themselves. For Catherine, it is the forgivness for the death of a child. For Micah, we learn late in the book it is his struggle to keep his values and his job, two things that are increasingly hard to simultaneously hold in this world. Lang and Buchannan tell this story through flashbacks and little anecdotes, as well as a main story. It was tough to put down, and I would think about it even as i wasn't reading it. It is one of those easily applicable to the real world, especially the one where I live.

This novel is a beautiful balance of action and reflection that maintains incredible momentum throughout. Rooted in pain and despair that's very real, the characters grow together and apart in various settings as they find their connections to the universe and each other, while voicing rarely-heard viewpoints on education, child-raising, southern culture, nature, society, etc. The book has something, a lot in fact, for everyone. This is a unique work of art, and the hardest part is taking it slow.