Dictionary of American children's fiction, 1985-1989 Book

I finally finished this 704-page tome. It took me almost a year: I kept putting it down--sometimes for weeks at a time--and picking it back up again. Every time I started reading it again I was always glad, though, because I really liked his writing. There were a couple of chapters that I thought were overly long, and possibly 100 or so pages could have been cut entirely without leaving the novel lacking. However, I'm glad he rambled on because he led me to some beautiful places. Thomas Wolfe really had a talent for getting to the heart of situations, thoughts and feelings that are difficult to express in such a way that a reader knows exactly where the writer is coming from. His characterizations of people were so vivid that I feel as if I know these people he described so well and with so much heart and feeling. Usually with books this long, I keep thinking, "Let it be over already!" I thought that while reading this book, too, but at least I thoroughly enjoyed where Thomas Wolfe took me and how he got me there.