Book Description
Jim Harrison is one of our finest writers, whose robust, tender, and deeply felt fictions-like Dalva, Legends of the Fall, The Road Home, and his most recent novel, the widely acclaimed True North-have made their mark on the contemporary American literary landscape. Now he delivers a collection of three novellas infused with all the wisdom and generous spirit that have made him one of our masters. In the title novella, "The Summer He Didn't Die," Brown Dog, a hapless Michigan Indian loved by Harrison's readers, is trying to parent his two stepchildren and take care of his family's health on meager resources. "Republican Wives" is a riotous satire on the sexual neuroses of the right, the mystery of why any person desires another, and the irrational power of love that, when thwarted, can turn so easily into an urge to murder. "Where Are We?" mines Harrison's private religion of the sensuous and sensual as integral to the transcendent joy of living. The Summer He Didn't Die displays wit as sharp and prose as lush as any Harrison has yet written. It is a resonant, hilarious, and joyful ode to our journey on this earth.
Customer Reviews:
Republican Wives--symphonic comedy is pitch perfect.......2007-07-06
I just bought this book and I try to savor Jim Harrison as much as possible. So, I'm saving Tracking and Brown dog does not disappoint. Have just stepped into Harrisons standard fall backs, and its a bit like entering an enchanted forest. Moreso, Harrisons blend of enchantment that is right up my alley. And a Jim Harrison fall back narrative belongs only to him. No one does his nature and spiritual writing better. Reading Harrison at times is like going to church. The kind God might wish to go to as well.
Not much has been said of Republican Wives and I can say that of the filthy rich Republican women I know this was spot on. My gut ached. The story of the girls and their linkage with Darryl was like a Monty Python episode brought to Chicago. I know people like him! These women, all I can say is that I ballyhooed and slapped my knee through the whole thing. And I look up at the heavens and truly wonder how does Harrison know people so well. This one is not to be missed.
HARRISON ALWAYS WELCOME ON THE SAGGING SHELF!.......2007-02-07
Rec'v'd this book yesterday & am 50 pages into the story. It's
going to be a wonderful book. Your good price & fast delivery
is, as always, most appreciated. Jim Harrison just gets better
& better. Nice to revisit some of his characters again...
Extraordinary.......2006-09-18
Found this little book in the SF airport last week. Extraordinary. All of the novellas are good, but Tracking is a masterpiece---depicting the struggle of a writer to face life on his own terms---even when those terms aren't easy. This is my first Harrison book, but I bought three more when I returned home. His talent with the language and his insight into how we "tick" will amaze---which leads me back to my original "extraordinary". A great little book, and highly recommended.
For Yale and Geezer.......2006-04-13
Harrison is deeply influenced by Rilke, and a lot of his obscure references are drawn from him. Read The Prodigal Son for insight into the Tristan character in Legends of the Fall... This latest trio of novellas is not his best but still had some nice moments. Was glad to see that BD is still coping with the world as best he can and on his own singular terms...
For Geezerglide.......2005-12-18
The quote you mention is from The Seventh Duino Elegy
by Rainer Maria Rilke
Book Description
Jim Harrison's vivid, tender, and deeply felt fictions have won him acclaim as an American master of the novella. His latest highly acclaimed volume of novellas, The Summer He Didn't Die, is a sparkling and exuberant collection about love, the senses, and family, no matter how untraditional. In the title novella, "The Summer He Didn't Die," Brown Dog, a hapless Michigan Indian, is trying to parent his two stepchildren and take care of his family's health on meager resources — it helps a bit that his charms are irresistible to the new dentist in town. "Republican Wives" is a wicked satire on the sexual neuroses of the right, the emptiness of a life lived for the status quo, and the irrational power of love that, when thwarted, can turn so easily into an urge to murder. And "Tracking" is a meditation on Harrison's fascination with place, telling his own familiar mythology through the places his life has seen and the intellectual loves he has known.
With wit as sharp and prose as lush as any Harrison has yet written, The Summer He Didn't Die is a resonant, warm, and joyful ode to our journey on this earth.
Customer Reviews:
Re/A.J. Richardson's Review.......2006-05-23
It's essential to note that anyone who codifies the "postmodern literary aesthetic" by complaining of its "woeful misuse" has written a priggishly self-impugning critique. I suspect that Sorrentino himself authored Richardson's review.
The mother of all parodies.......2004-03-18
Yes, it's a bit too long for my taste too (or reading speed?), but Sorrentino, at full gallop, as here, is amazing, constantly surprising, inexhaustibly imaginative and wild. Hard to imagine a more fiendish sendup of the excesses--the posturings, the vanities, the inanities--of writers, publishers, critics and academics . For me, out-loud laughs from front to back. I've so far read "The Sky Changes," "Little Casino," "Blue Pastoral" and now "Mulligan Stew," and this writer is a singularity, always fascinating. Maybe the brightest and most resourceful American writer alive, but a definite Modernist, Protean, and a man of many forms and styles.
Mulligan Stewed.......2000-03-16
In the course of its 450 odd pages, Gil Sorrentino's aptly titled Mulligan Stew manages to embrace nearly every one of the flaws and shortcomings cited by various publishing house editors in the collection of rejection notices that he serves up as a kind of ironic prologue to the novel itself. Or are the letters part and parcel of the novel itself? Or is it a novel? Beats the hell out of me.
Yes, it's too long. Yes, it reads like an incoherent goulash of unrelated bits and scraps of ideas which seem to have been jettisoned from previous experiments during the revision and editing process. And the mystic caverns of technique he drags us down into have already been illuminated and thoroughly mapped out by the likes of Barth, Sukenick, Queneau, Robbes-Grillet and company. The characters are cardboard cut-outs and the dialogue flops back and forth between dull cliches and stagey pretentiousness. But wait. Sorrentino has created only one character, a disintegrating hack named Lamont, who exists in a frenzied denial of his failure as a writer. It's Lamont who's responsible for all that purple prose. Right? His work in progress is so bad that his characters begin to plot an escape just to distance themselves from the awful dialogue he keeps putting in their mouths. But that must be Sorrentino's doing. Right?
Are we being offered a window on the punishing battering a writer's psyche must endure as he goes into battle to defend the integrity of his craft against the evil philistines of the commercial publishing industry? Or is Sorrentino just putting a good one over on us while cleaning out his old notebooks? I don't know. The damn thing is diabolical. But it sure was great fun to read. And, really, isn't that enough?
Sidesplitting skewering of bad writing & bad writers!.......1998-01-29
A very funny, still timely look at the mind of a writer who is nowhere nearly as good as he hopes. He's a terrible writer, and is struggling desperately to avoid having to face it, but he's no better than the hacks and idiots he spews venom at. (The parody of erotic poetry alone is gaspingly funny and well worth the price of admission all by itself.) The book also touches on the old adage that a writer's only as good as his last book, and adds a sensible new dimension to it: that a book is only as good as its last writer. Not an easy read, and sometimes redundant, but still a scream.
Average customer rating:
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Harrison, Jim. The summer he didn't die.(Young adult review)(Book review): An article from: Kliatt
Avi Kramer
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
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ASIN: B000Q367DU
Release Date: 2007-05-01 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Kliatt, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2007. The length of the article is 438 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Harrison, Jim. The summer he didn't die.(Young adult review)(Book review)
Author: Avi Kramer
Publication:
Kliatt (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 41
Issue: 1
Page: 34(1)
Article Type: Book review, Young adult review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Customer Reviews:
Couldn't be happier!!!.......2006-10-06
I checked this book out of my local library and loved it so much, I turned around and purchased a copy from a Used Book seller. Believe me, it's worth it. I have re-read this story since I purchased my own copy and have been lost in the story once again.
Our hero is super Alpha and rescues our kidnapped girl from a international drug lord. Then he takes her to his mansion in the Nassau where our story unfolds. Wonderful setting and good dialog between the main characters.
I think you will enjoy it.
I have to defend this!.......2005-11-03
This is a wonderful book! One of my favourites of Palmer's. I am absolutely baffled at the criticism that it is receiving! It is a blend of innocence and sensuality that had me hooked on it from beginning to end. Finished it in an hour! The heroine, Callie does sometimes grate a bit but that is easily forgiven because this so brilliantly written. The sex scenes are steamy,the dialogue is charming and the chemistry between Callie and Micah is explosive. Plus, the secondary characters actually have story, not just there purely because more characters are needed. Don't listen to the nag bags, this is a fantastic book and I recommend this to everyone, including the non-romance readers!
GREAT BOOK !!!.......2004-06-29
THIS IS DIANA AT HER BEST THE DOWDY WOMEN AND ALPHA MALE'S ARE HER TRADEMARK AND IF THATS WHAT YOUR LOOKING FOR THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU.
Another terrific story.......2004-05-15
There is no other author that is so prolific yet so consistant in writing books that I enjoy. I have adored almost all of Palmer's books that I have been able to get ahold of, and this one is no exception. Yes, it sticks very much to her standard formula, but true fans should expect that. I don't buy the "I usually like her books, but not this one" from some critics, because this is CLASSIC Palmer. Callie is young, virginal, naive and totally in love with Micah who is older, wiser, experienced, mysterious, and fighting his attraction to her for all he's worth. Been there, done that, but that's why Palmer has so many fans - we love the alpha-male hero who gets taken down by the innocent heroine. It has worked in so many of her other books, and it works in this one, too.
Please, please, please.........2002-04-09
I am a big Diana Palmer fan but I am getting tired of reading about the same old dowdy dressing, "virginal" heroines who give timid a bad name. It is unbelievable to me that a woman (Callie)in her twenties could act as if she doesn't have a clue what sex is and in the next breath have feelings for a man who I felt bordered on the abusive end of the totem pole. Micah came off as an arrogant jerk which only made Callie look worse for the wear. I seen no romance or build up in this story at all and it took me a month to read it after putting it down many times in disgust. I hope her newer books hold more promise than the past few she has written.
Average customer rating:
- Not what I expected, but interesting.
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LAST OF THE PIRATES: The Search for Bob Denard
Samantha Weinberg
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Africa | History | Subjects | Books | African Studies | Algeria | Angola | Benin | Botswana | Central Africa | Comoros | Democratic Republic of Congo | Djibouti | East Africa | Egypt | Equatorial Guinea | Eritrea | Ethiopia | Gabon | Gambia | General | Ghana | Guinea | Guinea Bissau | Ivory Coast | Kenya | Lesotho | Liberia | Libya | Madagascar | Malawi | Mali | Mauritania | Morocco | Mozambique | Namibia | Niger | Nigeria | North Africa | Rwanda | Sao Tome and Principe | Senegal | Sierra Leone | Somalia | South Africa | Southern Africa | Sudan | Swaziland | Tanzania | Togo | Tunisia | Uganda | West Africa | Western Sahara | Zambia | Zimbabwe
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32 Battalion: The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit
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Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army
ASIN: 0679422021
Release Date: 1995-02-07 |
Customer Reviews:
Not what I expected, but interesting........1999-01-08
In Belgium, Britain, France and colonial Africa in the sixties, people followed the exploits of les affreux--the white mercenaries--like the easterners followed the exploits of the gun fighters and bank robbers of the Old West or the bank robbers of the 1930s. The most famous of the Congo mercenaries was Robert "Bob" Denard, whose mercenary career lasted from 1961 to 1995 and spanned eight countries in Africa and the Middle East. Denard was the only major Congo mercenary leader not to write his memoirs. Judging from the title of this book, I expected a biography. Alas, it was not. Weinberg spends only seven pages on his life and career before the 1978 Comoros coup which put his patron, Ahmed Abdullah Abderamane, in power as president. Denard remained in the Comoros as the power behind the throne for the next eleven years until Abdallah was murdered on the night of Nov. 26, 1989. Denard was suspected of the murder but never tried. Most of the book is an investigation, done through interviews with witnesses--most of whom the author feels are lieing--into the murder. Finishing the book I knew no more about the murder than I did from reading a couple of articles in Jeune Afrique at the time of the murder. The best part of the book were the interviews with Denard and with those who worked with him in the Comoros. This book will be a valuable source for someone writing a biography of Denard in English--but it fails as a substitute for one. It also does not provide enough context about the French role in Africa during Denard's early career, but only hints at it during the interviews and in the postscript. If Weinberg wants something involving Denard of real importance to investigate, she should look into his involvement in the mercenary revolt of 1967 and the Katangese revolt of 1966 in the Congo. These are events which might have involved the secret services of Belgium or France, or both, and in a country whose future was once assumed to be important for the future of Africa. There are several memoirs of Congolese politicians, books on the French role in Africa, and mercenary memoirs that she can use as a starting basis for such an investigation. But when she writes this story she should avoid padding it with descriptions of her own activities which are of little relevance to the story.
Average customer rating:
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Last of the Pirates
Samantha Weinberg
Manufacturer: Jonathan Cape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0224033077 |
Customer Reviews:
Lacks the coherence of earlier books in the series........2005-05-28
Garth Ennis, John Constantine, Hellblazer: Tainted Love (Vertigo, 1998)
Another collection of five issues of John Constantine, Hellblazer. While it's collected under a title, and thus (one would expect) has a theme to it, the theme of the book (which is basically John and Kit pining for one another) is addressed at length in only the third issue found here ("Heartland," which features Kit visiting Dublin and seeing family and friends), and only touched on in the other four, which are short episodes of Constantine doing what Constantine does. Amusing, but without the thematic coherence of Dangerous Habits. More comic-like than graphic novel-like-- which, I admit, is sometimes a fine distinction. ***
It was very well done. I just didn't enjoy being there........2004-10-04
The fact is, one of Hellblazer's real writing strengths is avoiding the easy out of escapism. John ----s up, John pays for it. John doesn't take care of himself, John pays for it. Usually other people pay for it too.
This volume is a meditation on that payback, the flip side of John's quicksilver "I can win anything" coin. It's grimly realistic about John's alcoholism, the reality of homelessness, the terror of being human and mortal and fallible. I found it deeply affecting, and very well-written.
On the other hand, I didn't really feel like being affected like that; I didn't really want to go there. If you dig homelessness and desperation more than I do, this is probably just your thing. It's brilliantly done. I'll just stay over here where it's slightly safer and warmer and less covered in vomit.
Garth's Stand-Alones are the Best.......2003-01-03
I'm not sure why everyone's so disappointed with this collection. I think it ranks right up there with DANGEROUS HABITS, Ennis' first collection. The mutli-part epic Hellblazer stories are always good, but you cannot beat Garth Ennis for small, personal stories, which TAINTED LOVE has in spades.
"Down all the Days" and "Rough Trade" are from issues #68 and #69 and feature the King of the Vampires (first introduced in #50). Forget Buffy for a second, Garth's take on vampires is fantastic and truly original (as fans of PREACHER already know). The King is as great a vampiric character as any ever created.
"Tainted Love" was a short story from VERTIGO JAM #1. A great little horror story from John's past featuring a demonic adversary familiar to Constantine fans.
"Heartland" is from #70, and focuses on Kit's return to Ireland. It's a testament to Garth's writing that a story about the main character's girlfriend is every bit as good as any regular issue. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't read a comic about Spider-Man's wife.
"Finest Hour", from #71, is another all-time favorite story of mine. And again, John is barely in it (only a coincidence, it's not like I don't like him or something). John falls asleep near the grave of a fighter pilot and relives the last few moments of his life.
"Confessional" is from the one-shot HELLBLAZER SPECIAL. It features a teenage John, an insane pederast preacher, and the First of the Fallen, and leads into the story arc "Rake at the Gates of Hell" from #78-83 (never collected, unfortunately).
So yeah, John is drunk and homeless the entire time, there are no big demons or magic tricks, and no cons pulled. But these are still some damn good stories for fans of horror, drama, comedy and...well, just entertainment in general.
This is not Preacher.......2002-07-18
It is worse. It tries to be Preacher, it tries to be Hellblazer... it is naught. Constantine is one of the coolest and most awful characters ever created. When the torch passed to Delano from Moore, there was no loss. Delano's run was just great very intelligent, and the violence vas never to show off or to be a bad boy, it was used when necessary, as a part of the story. But here we have vomit, urination, gore etc. Things a b movie or gore movie fan might find exciting, but which an intelligent reader finds boring. Yes, not a scandal or rebeliuos, just plain boring. It is a sad fact that Ennis, who wrote the amazing "Dangerous Habits" story, sunk so childishly low.
Sure it's depressing, but..........2001-04-18
...but that's the whole point of it. And if you actually read it, instead of just looking for the most Preacheresque or horrific panel, there's a really touching story about the difficulties of fitting personal demons (not necessarily of the hoofed kind) and a sensible love story in the same life. Oh, and reading this book does make any subsequent cocky exploit of mr. Constantine even more exhilarating to read. Really.
Book Description
Widely acclaimed by Bible scholars and theologians of every denomination, Everett Fox's masterful translation re-creates the echoes, allusions, alliterations, and wordplays of the Hebrew original. Together with its extensive commentary and illuminating notes, this unique translation draws the reader closer to the authentic living voice of the Bible.
Customer Reviews:
The Five Books of Moses.......2007-09-15
Our Disciple Bible Study used the first version of this book in our Basic Resource Library. When the original book "went missing" we had to reorder, and discovered to our delight that the new book now included The Five Books of Moses. What a wonderful resource for Bible study, or personal use! It has become one of my favorites and I plan to purchase the next volumes as well.
Excellent.......2007-08-21
I used to say that it was pointless to try to study the Bible without Hebrew - that it was impossible to "feel" the text, to get the humor, the irony, the poetry. Not anymore. This is a must for any student of the Bible, as it captures the liveliness and strangeness of the original and expose it as the allusive, alliterative, jabberwocky text that it is.
Hebrew is best, but this is, finally, a good second choice. It would be perfect if it had Hebrew written alongside - a great way to learn for students.
Not your grandfather's translation--but essential.......2007-06-07
This is not the only edition with English translation of the Pentateuch/Chumash that I own, and I don't think it's the only one anyone should own, but it is an essential part of my collection. Fox has combined precision in translation with interpretation and poetry, and the combination makes me run to it very often to see his version, which often makes a challenging and provocative comparison to more traditional translations. The type is large and well-spaced. My only criticism is that the Hebrew is not included; at times I'd like to be able to compare the original words to Fox's renderings, to see how they compare.
A top-notch commentary........2007-01-22
This is the only Torah Commentary that I have bought thus far.
After reading the reviews and finding a great price on the H/C in Amazon Marketplace I bought it.
It is hard for me to imagine a better commentary on the Five Books of Moses.
The print is large enough for easy reading.
Everett Fox uses the Hebrew names throughout the book.
He points out that most English translations convey the idea of the text and translate out the sound.
The Translater's Preface is well done and explains the background of this translation.
I really like the Introductions to each book. Footnotes are plentiful and beneficial to the reader.
Another feature that I appreciate is the Guide to the Pronunciation of Hebrew Names. This is very helpful if you are like me and know little Hebrew.
This book is a refreshing read and I highly recommend it!!
This translation echos the real meaning behind these books.......2006-04-17
I have been studying the various aspects of the "Abrahamic" religions for a few years (Jewish, Christian, Islamic). I am fascinated by the grand debate among them and how it is based on interpretations of millennia old documents translated and retranslated with political intent, gender and social bias.
My first revelation came when I began reading the Schocken Bible, Volume One (The Five Books of Moses), a direct translation from the ancient Hebrew into English using modern language to express our ancestor's thoughts.
It struck me as much more lyrical and poetic than the obtuse words of the King James version. And more importantly, it reads like the documentation of an ancient oral tradition passed to us from the early days of man's civilization.
So these profound words come forth, from the ancient past, and we see them not for the guidance and connection to our ancestors, but use them for our silly social clubs. We create organizations, establish symbols, and interpret the words into complex rules. But the basic message and social conduct it wants to express is lost.
I suggest anyone who wants to find the real meaning of these books read this translation. The message is still there.
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Books Index
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The Beast God Forgot to Invent: Novellas
Dalva (Contemporary Classics (Washington Square Press))
