Book Description
In this paperback original, a stable of fresh stories by award-winning writer Will Weaver (Full Service and Barns of Minnesota) are complemented by a hand-picked selection of favorites from his original collection, A Gravestone Made of Wheat, to offer a fresh, vivid portrait of the changing midwestern landscape. New highlights include “Blaze of Glory,” an enchanting tale of an RV road trip and a senior couple’s “last time”; “The Trapper,” the story of a hard split between an old trapper and a younger female environmentalist; and “The Last Farmer,” the capstone story of this elegant collection that examines the discovery by a high-tech farmer of the history of the old houses on his land. Fourteen stories in all portray the bountiful and whimsical and cruel human spirit and the swirling transformation of America’s heartland.
Customer Reviews:
Sweet Land movie vs. the short story.......2007-09-08
I watched the movie Sweet Land before I read the story, A Gravestone made of Wheat, and I loved it. But after reading the 15 page story, I was wondering why in the world the movie director chose to interpret the story as he did. Seems to me he completely missed the essence of the story - which is as elegantly simple as Karen Blixen's Babette's Feast. The other stories are amazingly well written as well, but the idea behind "The Gravestone made of Wheat" makes it the jewel of the book. I love it!
Great short stories........2007-05-12
I enjoyed all the stories in this collection. Great reading for relaxation in a hurry. Will reread them all.
Our book club loved this book!.......2007-01-05
Will Weaver - what an interesting writer! His word pictures and the way he presents his characters are intriguing. Each story in Sweet Land has a different flavor; some thought provoking and some hysterically funny! Our book club will be adding Will Weaver to our "must read" lists!
Book Description
One of America’s premier writers, the bestselling author of
Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, The Book of Daniel, and
World’s Fair turns his astonishing narrative powers to the short story in five dazzling explorations of who we are as a people and how we live.
Ranging over the American continent from Alaska to Washington, D.C., these superb short works are crafted with all the weight and resonance of the novels for which E. L. Doctorow is famous. You will find yourself set down in a mysterious redbrick townhouse in rural Illinois (“A House on the Plains”), working things out with a baby-kidnapping couple in California (“Baby Wilson”), living on a religious-cult commune in Kansas (“Walter John Harmon”), and sharing the heartrending cross-country journey of a young woman navigating her way through three bad marriages to a kind of bruised but resolute independence (“Jolene: A Life”). And in the stunning “Child, Dead, in the Rose Garden,” you will witness a special agent of the FBI finding himself at a personal crossroads while investigating a grave breach of White House security.
Two of these stories have already won awards as the best fiction of the year published in American periodicals, and two have been chosen for annual best-story anthologies.
Composed in a variety of moods and voices, these remarkable portrayals of the American spiritual landscape show a modern master at the height of his powers.
Download Description
One of America's premier writers, the bestselling author of Ragtime, Billy Bathgate, The Book of Daniel, and World's Fair turns his astonishing narrative powers to the short story in five dazzling explorations of who we are as a people and how we live.
Ranging over the American continent from Alaska to Washington, D.C., these superb short works are crafted with all the weight and resonance of the novels for which E. L. Doctorow is famous. You will find yourself set down in a mysterious redbrick townhouse in rural Illinois ("A House on the Plains"), working things out with a baby-kidnapping couple in California ("Baby Wilson"), living on a religious-cult commune in Kansas ("Walter John Harmon"), and sharing the heartrending cross-country journey of a young woman navigating her way through three bad marriages to a kind of bruised but resolute independence ("Jolene: A Life"). And in the stunning "Child, Dead, in the Rose Garden," you will witness a special agent of the FBI finding himself at a personal crossroads while investigating a grave breach of White House security.
Two of these stories have already won awards as the best fiction of the year published in American periodicals, and two have been chosen for annual best-story anthologies.
Composed in a variety of moods and voices, these remarkable portrayals of the American spiritual landscape show a modern master at the height of his powers.
Customer Reviews:
Doctorow is always worth reading.......2007-02-19
Bought this as an amazon remainder. Doctorow is one of the most underrated of America's authors. His language is brilliant, and he manages to entertain without pulling out every post-modern trick in the book. Always a good read.
Stories that have the tinge of real life.......2007-01-08
the 5 short 'Sweet Land' stories keep you in their grip and make you think about how much of it could happen or has happened in real life, they are that intense and down-to-earch, another proof why E. L. Doctorow is an author essential to any Reader's Must List.
JohPWilbrand
Great Stories..........2005-11-07
I've said I don't know how many times that I really don't like short stories. But every now and then I'll pick up a short story book, and I'm usually always disappointed. Well, not this time. These 5 stories grab your attention from start to finish.
The first...A House On The Plains, is the tale of a mother and son and their murderous means of living, and how they continue to get away with it. The second...Baby Wilson, is the story of two lovers. A shady man, and a delusional woman who kidnaps a newborn child and tries to pass it off as their own, while the man finds a way to get them out of the mess she created.
The third...Jolene: A Life, was my favorite. We meet Jolene at the age of fifteen. An orphan who over the span of 10 yrs. goes through three husbands, a stint in a psychiatric hospital, a mobster boyfriend, living the high life, being homeless, and countless jobs, some pretty gritty. The fourth...Walter John Harmon, is an inside look at life in a cult. Members give all their wealth and possessions to 'prophet' Walter John Harmon in exchange for a peaceful and clean community. But they are so disillusioned, they cannot comprehend when he betrays them.
And finally...Child, Dead, In The Rose Garden. This was my least favorite. A dead child is found in the White House Rose Garden after an event. Special Agent Molloy sets out trying to find the answers as to who, why, and how this act was carried out. I definitely recommend this book. The stories are short and very intense. I will most certainly be giving more of Mr. Doctorow's books a chance.
Doctorow's Sweet Land.......2005-10-27
I read and enjoyed Doctorow's current historical novel of Sherman's march, "The March," and wanted to read more. Doctorow's "Sweet Land Stories" (2004) lacks the sweep of his Civil War novel. But it excells in its picture of American down-and-outers, loners, losers, grifters, and wanderers. It includes short but unforgettable scenes of a varied and almost timeless American, in rural Illinois, Chicago, Alaska, a religious commune, Las Vegas, and elsewhere.
The book consists of five short stories, four of which appeared initially in the New Yorker while the fifth story, "Child, Dead in the Rose Garden" appeared first in the Virginia Quarterly Review. Each of the stories is faced-paced, draws the reader into the action, and can be read easily in a single sitting. The stories reminded me of Hubert Selby's "Last Exit to Brooklyn" and of the novels of Charles Bukowski without their rawness. Doctorow's is the voice of a polished literary artist.
Three of the stories are told in the first person by male narrators. The first story "A House on the Plains" is recounted by Earle and tells of his conniving and murderous mother on a small farm in Illinois. For all the brutality and irony of the story, the characters come alive sympathetically. "Baby Wilson" is told in the voice of a young man with nowhere particular to go whose girlfriend has kidnapped a baby claiming it is the couple's. We are treated to a picturesque ride through dusty roads and small towns as the two loners truly become a couple and parents as well as they struggle to resolve the situation.
"Walter John Harmon" tells the story of its namesake, a former garage mechanic and thief, and current alcoholic and philanderer, who becomes the leader of a religious commune. But the narrator is an attorney who has given up a staid if successful law practice and, with his wife Betty has joined the commune. The tone of the story is set by its first sentence: "When Betty told me she would go that night to Walter John Harmon, I didn't think I reacted." Doctorow shows the credulous, unresolved needs of many people, including highly educated individuals, for belief and spiritual support, as the narrator is cuckolded by Walter John Harmon who runs off with Betty and abandons the commune to its fate.
The story "Jolene:A Life" tells of a young woman with three bad marriages and other affairs who works through a life of trouble and attains a degree of peace at the end. This is a tawdry story with tawdry scenes, tattoo parlors, topless bars, sexual abuse, gangster-style killings,convincingly portrayed. Jolene struggles throughout all this to develop her talent as an artist.
The final story, "Child Dead, in the Rose Garden" seems to me weaker than the others in that it is too overtly political. I had the same problem with Doctorow's "The Book of Daniel" which is a fictionalized account of the Rosenbergs. This story also differs from its companions in that the protagonist is not a down-and-outer but a respectable person in a responsible job. The story is about the adventures of a retired special agent named B.W. Molloy who, over official resistance, solves a mystery about how the body of a dead child was found in the White House Rose Garden and in the process learns a good deal about himself.
Doctorow has made his reputation, and deservedly so, as a writer of American historical fiction. This book is smaller in scope than novels such as "The March" but perhaps digs deeper into the hearts of its characters. This book together with Doctorow's difficult modern novel "City of God" which to me shows the promise of a secular, open America, are thoughtful, spiritual works which I have greatly enjoyed.
Robin Friedman
Masterful Storyteller.......2005-01-02
In this slim volume of five stories, E.L. Doctorow captures a desperate vision of the American dream. Whether it's the desire for family, money, or faith, these are people who are living on the edge, and trying to find their footing. Unforgiving, yet hopeful, they're each a gem.
Customer Reviews:
A Storyteller's Delight.......2001-05-15
Sweet Land of Story provides excellent stories from the various regions of the U.S. The brevity of the stories makes it easy for a teller of tales to read, digest, and develop for telling. At the same time, the stories, as written, are delightful. The introductory remarks of each region gives an excellent insight to the people and cultures of those areas. As a teller, I am appreciative of this book as a source for new stories.
Average customer rating:
|
Sweet La-LA Land
R. Wright Campbell
Manufacturer: Poseidon Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mystery & Thrillers
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 067164484X |
Book Description
P.I. Whistler dreams of a lost love who suddenly appears on the boulevard with her feet in the prints left by Myrna Loy. Her name is Faye. Fifteen years before, she's left Whistler for a hillbilly by the name of Inch Younger. But Younger was convicted in a notorious satanic murder case, leaving Faye pregnant and alone. She's found her own private skid row and dumped the child.
The pain of her betrayal haunts her. Listening, Whistler starts dreaming again, about lost love reclaimed, a boy found, perhaps a nice little house for them all. So he promises Faye he'll find her boy. Meanwhile, Inch has been paroled, seeking recompense - or even revenge.
Shot through with the American dream of instant fame and money, Campbell combines a gripping crime investigation with his own satanic vision of L.A.
Average customer rating:
|
Sweet Land Stories
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0965910954 |
Book Description
It's the end of the world . . . Again.
For all the bodies she's encountering, you'd think beat cop Joanne Walker works in Homicide. But no, Joanne's a reluctant shaman who last saved mankind three months ago -- surely she deserves more of a break! Yet, incredibly, "
Armageddon, take two" is mere days away.
There's not a minute to waste.
Yet when her spirit guide inexplicably disappears, Joanne needs help from other sources. Especially after she accidentally unleashes Lower World demons on Seattle. Damn. With the mother of all showdowns gathering force, it's the worst possible moment for Joanne to realize she should have learned more about controlling her powers.
Customer Reviews:
Ok Book Overall.......2007-08-20
Ok I don't normally write reviews, but I am a big fan of Murphy. But even though, I thought this book was good, it wasn't the best. The first book was way better. The first one had you holding on in excitement the entire time you read the book. This one seems to take too long to get to the point. The good stuff doesn't really happen until the last few chapters. I do however like that there are a few surprises concerning who the bad guy is. And what really happend to Ms. Tucker. But like I said you don't explore any of this till the end. So you will have to stay awake to get through the beginning/middle part of the book the best way you can without getting bored with it. Oh and you do learn more about her past too which was interesting. But I also agree with one of the other reviews about her crying all the time because she has powers and have to save the world. I mean really It's time to get with the program, come to terms about the whole shamanic destiny thing and move on. So all and all, I give this book 4 Stars.
A Little Obvious.......2007-07-08
It's an okay read, but not spectacular. It seemed to rely heavily on Joanne not noticing things that she really probably should have--specially considering that she's a cop and been walking the beat. Surely when Faye pops out of nowhere, Joanne should have been at least suspicious and certainly very cautious before jumping in all the way. When Faye started talking about bringing over a powerful god (or whatever he was) to "fix" things, that should have raised all kinds alarm bells. Never once did Joanne even bother to ask her teacher anything about the god other than to go see him. Joanne just seemed to walk through the book without really actually thinking about anything.
Sequel weakness?.......2007-05-15
Worth reading, but definitely weaker than the first book in the series, Urban Shaman. Hopefully, the next installment in the series will be tighter.
C. E. Murphy is on the right track (for me, anyway) with this series. I doesn't go off on interminable sidelines dealing with the heroine's romantic entanglements. Instead, it is focused on her self discovery and growth, and on the problem/mystery to be dealt with.
Snakes and Raptors.......2007-04-28
It has to be perplexing to want to be a car mechanic and find yourself a cop on the beat instead. But for Joanne Walker this was only the beginning. Now she has discovered she is destined to be a shaman and that doesn't sit well with her at all. After surviving being fatally stabbed while saving the world in the previous volume - Urban Shaman - Joanne deserves a rest. But what she gets is a body in the Gym shower. When Joanne slips into the Dead Zone to find out how the young woman died she finds herself out of her depth and in deep trouble. A spirit that shouldn't have noticed her has, and thus begins another series of events where, kicking and screaming, Joanne must save the world once again.
Joanne investigates the death on her own and finds her path keeps criss-crossing that of a coven of witches who apparently need her help. The dead woman played an important role in the covens plans and Joanne would be the perfect replacement. All she has to is help with the reincarnation of and ancient wizard who is also intent on saving the world. Or maybe he isn't. Joanne must puzzle out the answers to this question and many others if she is to drag Seattle back from the edge of disaster, and, incidentally, get her head together about her spiritual powers.
I find I like this series more than I ever expected. There's no lack of books in the occult suspense/romance genre and it's always refreshing to read a book with a strong female lead that doesn't keep trying to commit suicide or get tangled up in kinky sex. C. E. Murphy is a strong writer, and her characters are interesting and believable. Joanne is a sassy, uppity lady with a good share of intelligence dealing with a very complicated reality. You can't help but like her, or her friend Gary the cab driver, or Captain Morrison, her boss and foremost critic. The story, with Joanne as narrator, moves well, and has many flashes of enjoyable sarcasm. Despite being the second volume, I think Thunderbird Falls can be read on its own - but you will want to read Urban Shaman anyway, so get both.
Good, But Not as Good.......2007-04-07
Unlikely shaman Joann Walker, Gary, and the Seattle police force return in this second installment after Urban Shaman. Finally facing the facts that all of her magic useage has effected the weather patterns of Seattle, Joann has little idea what to do about it. She has steadfastly tried to turn her back on magic for months. But a near brush with death on the cosmic level and the disappearance of her spirit guide Coyote have lead her to realise she needs a teacher.
Complicating her lessons is the coven she's recently become involved with. She happened to discover one of their members freshly deceased and is taking her place in order to solve the murder. It seems the covens purposes coincide with her own as they plan to bring back a 3,000 year old spirit to right the wrongness in Seattle's weather. But is everything on the up & up?
The romantic tension ratchets up a little bit more in this book. But who will Joann end up embracing? Morrison, Thor the mechanic, or even fatherly but mischievious Gary?
Some of what turns out to be pertinent detail in this book is intruduced to us very vaguely and briefly (uhuhm...cough...the Thunderbird...)while the rest of it seems to drag a bit in the middle. And I found the sacrifice bit cliched and felt that every reader would probably see it coming. But it was an entertaining book and I'm still looking forward to Coyote's reappearance in Coyote Dreams, the next book in the Walker Papers.Why they've retitled the series the Walker Papers I can only guess. And that guess would be, to make it sound more like the Dresden Files, another extremely popular paranormal series, but what do I know?
Book Description
Orsinia ... a land of medieval forests, stonewalled cities, and railways reaching into the mountains where the old gods dwell. A country where life is harsh, dreams are gentle, and people feel torn by powerful forces and fight to remain whole. In this enchanting collection, Ursula K. Le Guin brings to mainstream fiction the same compelling mastery of word and deed, of story and character, of violence and love, that has won her the Pushcart Prize, and the Kafka and National Book Awards.
Customer Reviews:
Impressive and Inspiring.......2007-02-22
The Orsinian Tales take place in a fictional country of Orsinia, which could be any of the former Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe, with time periods of the stories ranging from the 11th century to 1960's and the centuries in between. After reading the Wizard of Earthsea and the Left Hand of Darkness, I had high expectations of this book and I was not disappointed. It has the same poetic flow and depth of characters that made Usula Le Guin's fantasy and sci-fi books such a pleasure to read and it is now one of my favorite collections of short stories. These stories have nothing to do with fantasy or sci-fi. They are so-called mainstream stories about ordinary people who make extraordinary choices. The story plots are not connected to each other and only two of the stories involve the same characters. The stories, however, are definitely not unrelated: there is a common theme running through them. The characters live in worlds where happiness seems an unobtainable dream and even preserving the belief in your right to happiness is a constant challenge. They encounter situations where a choice must be made between the path of least resistance and the path to struggling for happiness on their own terms. The characters' realizations of their needs, and the (implied) realization of their right to fulfill those needs, are the ingredients for the drama of each story. This theme dawns on you after reading the first several stories and it is the reason why the stories work much better as a collection than they would separately.
A new Ruritania emerges........2004-07-08
Ms Le Guin is a renowned sci-fi and fantasy writer, winner of several Hugo and Nebula Awards, author of the remarkable "Left Hand of Darkness" (1969) and the "Earthsea" cycle (1970 - 2001).
With "Orsinian Tales" (1976) she surprises the reader with a collection of short stories placed in an imaginary country: Orsinia. This country has all the traits of a Central European one (just as the fictional Ruritania of "Prisoner of Zenda"). The characters names and psychology have resonances of Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, giving a special undertone to all the tales.
The stories take place in different time periods (in the last page of each one, is shown the year of occurrence) allowing the reader to have a side-glance of the historical evolution of the country.
The tales are written in "minimalists" style, that is to say they portray every day scenes, no great adventures or speculations, just insights of ordinary people in ordinary situations. With this simple stuff Ms. Le Guin construct an engaging collection, full of touching details as in "Imaginary Countries". Family relationships and interaction with neighbors in a small town are described with a keen and gentle regard in "Night Talks".
A lovely sample of Le Guin's short prose.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
It's not science fiction!.......2000-09-14
OK, first off, if you're looking for SF to read, don't bother with this book, because SF it's not, even though it's by Ursula Le Guin. On the other hand, if you're looking for some beautifully written, well-crafted short stories, you might well stop and read.
ORSINIAN TALES is a collection of "mainstream" short stories set in the imaginary Eastern European country of Orsinia, which take place in various time periods ranging from the pagan Dark Ages to the 17th century to the Cold War. They are by turns grim, joyous, lyrical, wistful, and always fascinating. My one cavil is that the date of each story's setting is placed at the end of the story, so if you're not quite sure of the story's period (the period is not always terribly well defined in the opening of the stories, and it makes a difference--at least to me--if a tale is set in 1905 or 1950) you have to peek ahead. But it's a small quibble with a lovely piece of literature.
Average customer rating:
|
Orsinian Tales: Stories
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HWLR5I |
Average customer rating:
|
Orsinian Tales: Stories
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HWJQ60 |
Average customer rating:
|
Orsinian Tales: Stories
Manufacturer: Harpercollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HWLR3U |
Book Description
If you are curious, puzzled, or intrigued by the idea of awakening and exploring your spirituality, this book will help you. Instead of traditional dogma, it gives you down-to-earth explanations, encouragement, and real life examples to help you nurture your soul and grow your spiritual consciousness. It will help you define your inner strengths, weaknesses, obstacles, and the allies that shape your spirituality, and it will offer you practical tools and methods to cultivate your spiritual growth and awakening.
Customer Reviews:
Another self improvement book.......2004-05-27
This book is boring! Mostly it is about improving yourself, which any atheist could do. It doesn't talk about life after death either! This book's a loser.
What an excellent book!.......2000-12-07
I've read a lot of books on sprituality, and I think this is one of the best I've read to date. It is an "Idiot's Guide" in that anyone can get something out of this book. However, even those who have read many books can learn a lot from it.
The book is a very diverse one--a few chapters on some of the larger religions, some sections on becoming more present in the moment, some stuff on physical actions--something for everybody. Robinson's approach is that we are all climbing the same spiritual mountain, even though we all take different paths. None of the paths are inherently better than any others, but some paths are better for some individuals. Only the individual can know what that path is.
His style is friendly and easy to understand. There is a lot of information in this book, so you'll want to read it a few times to get the most from it. Plus, there are helpful 'asides' to break up the page and give you useful information.
This book will enrich the life of anyone with an open mind. Not only does it talk about spirituality, it goes a step further by encouraging you to practice your spirituality in your everyday life. Robinson teaches many, many helpful techniques that make spirituality practical and worthwhile. I wish I had found this book sooner.
Books:
- The Angel with One Hundred Wings: A Tale from the Arabian Nights
- The awakened eye: A companion volume to The Zen of seeing, seeing/drawing as meditation
- The Celestial Jukebox: A Novel
- The Clockwork Testament (or: Enderby's End)
- The Composition of Kepler's Astronomia nova.
- The Cowgirl Companion: Big Skies, Buckaroos, Honky Tonks, Lonesome Blues, and Other Glories of the True West
- The Curse of the Appropriate Man (Harvest Original)
- The Devil And Daniel Webster
- The Doomsday Brunette
- The Early Ayn Rand: Revised Edition: A Selection From Her Unpublished Fiction
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Outlaw's Twin Sister
- Magic Tree House Boxed Set of 4, Books 9-12: Dolphins at Daybreak, Ghost Town at Sundown, Lions at
- Death of a River Guide: A Novel
- History: Fiction or Science
- In the Can: The Greatest Career Missteps, Sophomore Slumps, What-Were-They-Thinking Decisions and Fi
- Molecular Modelling: Principles and Applications
- Mama, Do You Love Me
- History: Fiction or Science
- Employee Rights in California: 101 Practical Answers from the "Shop Talk" Column of the Los Angeles
- The International Directory of Little Magazines & Small Presses: 1999-00
Sweet Land - A Love Story
Red Earth, White Earth
A Gravestone Made of Wheat (Greywolf Short Fiction Series)
Barns of Minnesota (Minnesota Byways)
Full Service
