Light in August (The Corrected Text)

Book Description

Joe Christmas does not know whether he is black or white. Faulkner makes of Joe's tragedy a powerful indictment of racism; at the same time Joe's life is a study of the divided self and becomes a symbol of 20th century man.

Customer Reviews:

Eleven Days In August.......2007-08-12

This book has been touted as being Faulkner's most accessible. Although a bit easier to follow having less stream of consciousness it still requires some patience and appreciation for nuance. Further, if you take the story at face value you will be missing out on 90% of what it has to offer. The themes run deep and the characters symbolic. I'd recommend reading exerpts from One Matchless Time by Jay Parini who provides some good insights into Faulkner's life and his writings. I'd also read the review written by A.Mason (below). This was one of the more violent and sexual books that I have read of Faulkner. Although I was surprised, I was in awe of his tact and style in portraying these events in a subtly gruesome way that takes the reader off gaurd. The climactic scene of Joe Christmas's undoing was Faulkner at his best. I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves good writing and is fascinated with the tragedy of the post-Civil War southerner.

Wonderful writing, sad and fatalistic story.......2007-02-08

This book was my introduction to Faulkner, based on a suggestion by my well-read aunt.

It is certainly possible to recognize the skill of a writer without necessarily finding the story he tells endearing. That was the case here. Faulkner's prose is often like poetry and his use of the language is unquestionably masterful. He shows his talent not so much in the words he uses - the vocabulary is actually quite plain - but rather in the way he combines those words. Simple adjectives are used to create compelling scenes and even more compelling characters.

Faulkner strikes me as the consummate observer. He doesn't moralize, he doesn't become overwrought, he doesn't offer judgement. He simply observes the way things are, not the way we want them to be, and there is a sense that we are being propelled towards not tragegy but simply reality in his writing.

Light in August is ostensibly about Joe Christmas, a headstrong and mysterious drifter in the 1920s deep South, but surprisingly we aren't introduced to him until several chapters into the book. The book chronicles the intersecting people and events that surround Joe Christmas in Faulkner's fictional town of Jefferson, Mississippi. However, the author introduces us to so many other non-incidental characters that it is often hard to separate the leading from the supporting cast.

If I had to describe the characters in this book in a single word it would be "trapped." There is an overwhelming sense of stuck-ness we get in observing their lives. One does not necessarily get the impression that they saw themselves as stuck and hopeless - indeed many seemed to exist in frustrating ignorance of reality. But for the outside observer to whom Faulkner tells this story using his rich narrative, it is obvious that to a person, every character in this book is indeed on a treadmill. Slavery may be over, but the people that populate these pages are in very real servitude to themselves and their pasts.

The book is a glimpse at the deep South immediately prior to the depression era. We're presented with a culture that still hasn't quite come to grips with life on the other side of the Civil War and racialism is so deeply ingrained that although slavery is no longer law, the caste system it birthed lives on in the arrogant attitudes of the whites and the subservient squalor of the blacks.

The loyalties and alliances and relationships in this book are complex, as are the characters, and more than once I found myself wanting to slap these characters into sense. Without exception, each was their own worst enemy and managed to almost single-handedly sail their lives into the rocks. Although many were admittedly pointed rock-ward via their upbringing, they had ample opportunities to change course but continued sailing directly for the cliffs.

Although I have not yet read other books by Faulkner, I'm told this is the most approachable of all his writing, reading the most like a traditional novel. There is plenty of tension in the story, as the saga of Christmas and the other characters unfolds dramatically. Consequently, most people will find themselves turning the pages in anticipation of what happens next. Faulkner takes the reader on numerous side journeys, showing how the characters came to be what they are, and those characters often share certain aspects of their history in common, not just their present circumstances.

As the book draws to a close, the treadmill keeps turning with characters trudging futilely into the sunset, still stuck in the same ruts in which the beginning of the story found them. I'll say little more. To do otherwise is to risk spoiling the plot.

I can perhaps describe the overall experience here as bittersweet. The writing sweet, but the tale itself thoroughly bitter.

Fine characterization.......2007-02-07

I enjoyed this book much more than I expected. It explores the questions of race thoroughly without hitting the reader over the head with it. The characters seem real, neither demonic nor angelic. The impact of race is ultimately devastating to Joe Christmas and many of the people around him.

Major but Flawed.......2007-01-20

Faulkner's was a self-indulgent, irresponsible, uneven gift. But at his best, as sometimes in these pages, he is a poet and rhapsodist without equal, and we continue to read him. As a rational thinker he was a nullity; he had no practical insights, no social program, no agendum, no framework that could serve as a starting point toward a solution of the problems he so tellingly describes. This became abundantly clear around the time of his winning the Nobel prize for literature, when he disappointed and exasperated followers who were looking to him for guidance as to a beacon. At least Faulkner had the self-knowledge to know that he did not know, did not in fact even want to know. For knowledge was inimical to his art, not-wanting-to-know a precondition for it. That, and bourbon. The bourbon released his inhibitions and silenced his inner editor (its voice had never been loud), unleashing a torrent of words, much of it bilge but some diamonds too. The result in Light in August is an exasperating novel that contains some thirty scattered pages of the highest poetic value and one potentially great character in the person of Joe Christmas. I say this as a man of 54 who has read the book five times in the course of his life, having been introduced to it in high school. Of course I didn't understand much of it then, but its inimitable style and voluptuous confusion have beckoned me back to it.

One is attracted above all by the descriptions of the simple processes of life in all their earthy particulars, the negro cabins, the town lights, the smells, everything rank and dark and elemental. Except for Joe Christmas and possibly Gail Hightower, the characters are all stereotypes, especially the women. Intellectually, there is little of substance in the novel, its appeal is entirely emotional. There is a clean, bracing no-nonsense description of hypermasculine elements and experiences to which Joe seems to gravitate naturally. For instance, of McEachern's harness strap ("clean, like the shoes, and it smelled like the man smelled: an odor of clean hard virile living leather") and Joe's rapt expression when being beaten by it; of Joe's preference for the clean, hard air of men. Given his latent homosexuality, one feels Joe would have done much better as a votary of the strap. But there was a problem. Biologically he was wired for pussy, and no mistake. Even as a child in the orphanage with the dietician he showed this susceptibility: "On that first day when he discovered the toothpaste in her room he had gone directly there, who had never heard of toothpaste either, as if he already knew that she would possess something of that nature and he would find it." He was still too young to understand what Charley was enjoying, but when he came of age he learned that it too, like the toothpaste, was not always sweet ("periodic filth between two moons suspended"). Unfortunately, Joe had no use for the rest of the package and never learned to like and appreciate women as people. This was the root of his troubles with women and by cutting him off from a source of life helped to seal his doom.

Several reviewers have stated that Joe had some negro blood. This is an error and is refuted by the evidence given in the book, although it suits Faulkner (if not Joe) to make Joe out as a possible negro and even to foist him off as one. I think Faulkner's device here, of using the negro as the ultimate symbol of the outcast, is a dreadful mistake, so serious as even to call into question his integrity as an artist and his understanding of his greatest character. Why? Partly because it is too easy, too cheap a shot. It's also overkill, since Joe's alienation has already been powerfully delineated by other, artistic means. But the main, the fatal objection, is that raising the N question does great damage by introducing confusion precisely where the novel demands clarity and restraint -- it entangles Joe's problem of identity with something completely separate and other. This other is a serious communal problem in its own right and certainly should not be abused as a symbol in the way that Faulkner abuses it (neither should the word Christmas). Faulkner is monkeying around with things bigger than himself, things he does not understand, in an attempt to endow his work with a greater significance than he was capable of developing on his own horsepower as a creative writer; this is what I mean when I say he is irresponsible. Joe's problem is in fact his alone. Damaged in childhood and partly cut off from the sources of life, he has to renew and rebuild himself to a degree not necessary to his complacent countrymen, who by virtue of their utter mediocrity are granted automatic membership in small, stultifying, inbred towns like the one in which the action unfolds. Faulkner's punishment is swift and certain -- it is precisely here in the book that he begins to stumble, to overreach for a grand synthesis that isn't there. The performance is increasingly over-the-top until eventually artistic control is lost. He doesn't seem to grasp the limitations of his creations, and the book becomes a stew. Faulkner was nothing if not confused, and here alas the confusion damages the work. Where was that inner editor?

After the murder, a building momentum sweeps the reader on to the end. However, there is no true catharsis and no real tragedy, only an overreaching for a grand synthesis that fails. The reader is struck by the feeling that something has gone wrong, and on going back finds he has been the victim of a swindle. The book closes with that sucker Byron Bunch in tow with his damaged goods in the form of Lena Grove and her bastard infant. Faulkner seems to be saying that in spite of some mistakes, life has returned to its immemorial path. But if this is salvation, one must be glad for Joe that he is safely dead and out of harm's way. Not everyone is cowed by the eternal feminine, and Joe himself would have no trouble giving the Lena Groves of the world what they deserve -- the back of his hand.

So after forty years and five attempts at this book, what of value can I take away? Perhaps some thirty pages of beautiful poetry, and the memory of Joe Christmas. He sought to rebuild and renew himself through the transformative power of hard physical labor and I would like to leave him there, continuing now and forever on the roads he freely chose for himself, that run "through yellow wheat fields waving beneath the fierce yellow days of labor and hard sleep in haystacks beneath the cold mad moon of September, and the brittle stars."

The book for the first time Faulkner reader to start with........2007-01-15

Light in August by William Faulkner is the book for the first time Faulkner reader to start with. The book is very readable. Unlike some Faulkner stories, the story line is easy to follow. His verbosity is not as apparent in this work as in some of his others where lengthy sentences and tangent monologues within the story derail the reader. The plot is more typical than any of his other works. The average reader will appreciate the book and get a hunger to dip into other works by this southern master writer.

Read and reviewed by Jimmie A. Kepler

Average customer rating:

One of the best from Robert James Waller
A little too flowery at times, but overall Good
An ode to the mythical Western small town of yesteryear...
An Excellent novel, from someone who's actually read the book...
Just Another Western Type Romance.

High Plains Tango: A Novel
Robert James Waller
Manufacturer: Shaye Areheart Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0307209946
Release Date: 2005-06-28

Amazon.com

In an Author's Note at the end of High Plains Tango, Robert Jaems Waller says: "Though this book stands by itself, it is a continuation of two of my other books: The Bridges of Madison County and, especially, A Thousand Country Roads ... A Thousand Country Roads details Carlisle McMillan's search for his father, Robert Kincaid, who played a central role in The Bridges of Madison County."

Waller just can't, try as he might, get back to Madison County. Even though there are those who love to trash Bridges as sentimental twaddle, there are legions more who celebrate it as a romantic tour de force. Whichever side you favor, let it be said that the book delivers exactly what it promises. Not quite true of this book. What promises to be a romance of Waller-like proportions turns into an environmental crusade which turns down the heat, and then switches back to romance and do-goodery.

Carlisle McMillan, Stanford graduate (which comes in handy later on) and wanderer, floats into the town of Salamander, South Dakota, one afternoon and decides to stay. It is far enough away from anything that smacks of "city" to be appealing. He buys property with a derelict house on it and rebuilds it in honor of his mentor, Cody Marx. Cody taught him everything he knows about fine carpentry, and about doing it right, even when it doesn't show. Cody's Way is a metaphor for house building and character building, and Carlisle has learned his lessons well.

There are two women in this tale: Gally Devereaux, married to a big jerk who has the good grace to die, and Susanna Benteen, the auburn-haired beauty who dances naked in the firelight. Does anybody but Waller know women like this? Things are perking along just fine until the long arm of Progress reaches all the way to Salamander, deciding to build a highway, and spoils everything.

There is a lyrical last chapter reminiscent of some of the best-remembered of Waller's prose, and a toast offered by Carlisle's mother, Wynn: "To ancient evenings and distant music." Sound familiar? --Valerie Ryan

Book Description

With over 10 million copies sold, bestselling author Robert James Waller returns with the haunting, evocative story of a small town, a beautiful and mysterious woman, and the man forever changed by both.

The wild places are where no one is looking anymore. Out there on the high plains, among the Sioux reservations and the silent buttes, among the small towns dying and the people with them, you can hear the wind. And on the back of the wind is the sound of an old accordion—tangos—mingling with the lonely thump of a single drum in the nighttime and a far-off warrior’s cry. On the back of the wind is the smell of worn saddle leather and sawdust, of sandalwood, and smoke from ancient ceremonial fires. To this, to a town called Salamander, comes Carlisle McMillan, a traveler and master carpenter seeking a place of quiet amid the grinding roar of progress. Near Wolf Butte, a strange and apparently haunted monolith, he finds his quiet, or so he believes, and begins rebuilding a decrepit house as a tribute to the gruff old man who taught him a carpenter’s skills, rebuilding his life at the same time.

He finds two very different, independent women: Gally Deveraux, who works at a diner in Salamander and longs for something more than she is, and Susanna Benteen, beautiful and enigmatic, who was drawn to Salamander for mysterious reasons of her own, a woman the town has labeled a witch. The women and his carpenter’s trade and an old Indian known as Flute Player bring Carlisle a sense of contentment for a while. But his quiet is shattered as bulldozer treads begin to turn and the Yerkes County War commences. Run or stand your ground, that is Carlisle’s dilemma, Gally on one side, Susanna on the other.

Robert James Waller’s fully imagined characters become people we know and care for deeply.

High Plains Tango is the hauntingly lyrical story of a small town in the middle of nowhere, a town that forever changed—and was forever changed by—one man.

Download Description

Robert James Waller lives quietly with his wife, Linda, and their dogs and cats on a small farm in the Texas Hill Country, where he pursues his long-standing interests in writing, photography, music, economics, and mathematics. In the Texas evenings, he wades remote Hill Country streams, fly-fishing for bass and trout.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

One of the best from Robert James Waller .......2007-09-13

Very good transaction. Excellent novel and the seller was excellent to
deal with.

A little too flowery at times, but overall Good.......2006-01-31

Waller is one of the most descriptive writers out there - and he does it magnificently - but sometimes, I wish he'd just cut it out and tell me what he wants me to know!

The overwhelming intricate details of the middle-story about the corrupt developers and politicians was absolutely unnecessary and bogged down what could have been an excellent book!

***SPOILER*** And, Carlisle - here's a little clue. Next time you put a year's worth of your life and heart and soul and blood and guts into a project and someone wants to run a bulldozer over it - MOVE IT!!! As well built as that house was - moving it would have been such a simple task!

An ode to the mythical Western small town of yesteryear..........2005-11-04

Carlisle McMillan has one goal: to find a place where industry won't find him, to settle in a land of wide open spaces where progress is much slower, if it exists at all. After years of fighting industrialization in California, he hits the road with no particular destination in mind. He's not running away from anything, not running to anything: He's merely driving, searching for a place to settle, a place yet untouched by large corporations and economic development. He finds such a town in Salamander, South Dakota, and this is where HIGH PLAINS TANGO, the poetically-titled new novel from Robert James Waller, begins.

Carlisle settles into town immediately; although locals whisper about his long "hippie" hair and question his financially independent means, he is generally accepted by his neighbors. He buys a piece of property on the outskirts of town that contains an abandoned shed and a nice grove of trees, and makes it his goal to turn the shed into a tribute to his mentor, Cody Marx, who taught him everything there is to know about the art of carpentry. Within a matter of months, the shed has become a cottage--a cozy home for Carlisle and the stray tomcat he's adopted and named Dumptruck. With two appealing women--Gally Deveraux, a down-and-out waitress at the town's only diner, and Susanna Benteen, the beautiful and mysterious "witch woman" who dances naked on the High Plains--to keep him busy, Carlisle settles into a simpler way of life. He spends evenings sitting on his porch with Dumptruck, watching the endangered T-hawk family that lives in the grove of trees on his land.

But it isn't long before Carlisle's archenemy, Progress, finds him and sinks in its teeth. There's talk in Salamander of a highway that's set to be built, one that would stretch clear from New Orleans to Calgary, one that would cut right through Carlisle's quiet patch of land. The majority of Salamander's citizens are all for the development, convinced the highway would bring new business to their dying town. But Carlisle is determined to stop the developers and preserve his simple way of life, even if it means he'll once again become an outsider to the people of Salamander...

Waller's new novel is both a romantic and an environmental text, a book that focuses both on one man's struggle to save his land from the greedy grip of corporate development, and on the woman who makes him realize that what he has is something worth fighting for. It's a beautifully written novel, heavy on atmosphere and rich with luscious prose.

However, the novel lacks focus. The plot is uneven, meandering from romantic simplicity to grassroots environmentalism. The environmental message seems to be merely thrown into the text without resolution, and the introduction of a violent character toward the end of the book is more confusing than anything. Waller's dialogue is unrealistic in many places, and his first-person narrator, a reporter of sorts, is never revealed, which is annoying. In the tradition of Kent Haruf and Mark Spragg comes another modern Western laden with cliches, a sentimental ode to the dying American small town. In more able hands, like Haruf's or Spragg's, such a novel wouldn't bother me so much--I might even enjoy it; but Waller's ability to pull it off is impeded by an uneven plot and stilted dialogue.

Nevertheless, HIGH PLAINS TANGO held my attention. The ending was particularly lovely, and I enjoyed Waller's interaction with Native American culture, legends, and mysticism. While Waller is probably not an author I will ever read again (for instance, I won't be rushing out to buy THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY), I could appreciate his command of lyrical and atmospheric prose in HIGH PLAINS TANGO.

An Excellent novel, from someone who's actually read the book..........2005-09-17

High Plains Tango is a story that will fascinate you from the beginning, turn you on and anger you in the middle, confuse you in a few small areas, and leave you satisfied at the end. I have never before read Robert James Waller, therefore I am not trying to compare it to "Bridges of Madison County". Perhaps this is the key to enjoying this novel (it also helps to read the book before you judge it...).
To understand the meaning of the title you have to read the whole thing, but I absolutely love how the story ties all of the characters lives together so neatly. I finished this book in 3 days, I read as my 5 month old daughter napped, and I had a hard time putting it down. Sometimes the detail and the dialogue (especially involving the elderly gentleman) got a little monotonous, but in general it's a real page turner.
If you are looking for a novel of purely romance and no other substance this is not the book for you. However if you are wanting to read something that brings out all of your emotions, truly brings to life all of the characters and leaves you wanting more then by all means read this book!

Just Another Western Type Romance........2005-09-05

This is another of Waller's post-divorce from Francesca to find romance and the ever elusive love she took with her. Here, we have Carlisle searching for his father, Robert Kincaid. I thought he had died long ago. He comes to a quiet little town to rebuild his life while rebuilding an old decrepit house. Near the Sioux reservation, he listens to an accordion playing tangos, with a single drumbeat. Usually the Indians use only one drum unless they are in a ceremonial competiton.

The witch Susanna dances naked in the firelight. He was writing about this kind of fallen woman before wife and daughter departed Texas to go back to Iowa. He found his Linda, like Greg Macdonald found a young live-in replacement for his wife who returned from the rural area of Tennessee to go back to Boston. Mid-life crisis is a bore.

The Indian Flute Player, like son Jeff, charms the desert animals around the ceremonial fires. Carlisle fights city hall (if there be such in the western small towns) and this one is forever changed by one man. There is a triangle with a waitress in addition to the woman he calls a witch, which makes it decidely uneven. Carlisle, after all, is college educated, but like all men like to indulge in the lower-class women on occasion.

The Yerkes County War commences, as is my GSA war! Who will be the winner, the government or the citizen? He is so poetic and lyrical in the way he phrases things. I know it is lonely out there in Texas wading branches and fly-fishing but ...."to ancietn evenings and distant music" ... to the ballads of Madison County. He never should have left there.

Average customer rating:

The Drifters
Bridging the generation gap? Sort of...
Vietnam--draft--war--political policies
A huge yawn
One ticket to Torremolinos please!

Drifters
James A. Michener
Manufacturer: Fawcett
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0449213536
Release Date: 1986-10-12

Book Description

In his triumphant best seller, James Michener unfolds a powerful and poignant drama of six young runaways adrift in a world they have created out of dreams, drugs, and dedication to pleasure. With the sure touch of a master, Michener pulls us into the dark center of their private world, whether it's in Spain, Marrakech, or Mozambique, and exposes the naked nerve ends with shocking candor and infinite compassion.
"A superior, picaresque novel...and a revealing mirror held up to contemporary society."
JOHN BARKHAM REVIEWS

Customer Reviews:

The Drifters.......2007-08-28

This book really gives the reader a feel for the Sixties! Written in 1971, `The Drifters' is set in America, Europe and Africa in 1969. The plot centers on six young people from around the world, the ways in which their lives become intertwined, and the adventures they have while traveling. All the music and politics of the Sixties make this a really groovy read.

Bridging the generation gap? Sort of..........2007-07-07

Plot-wise, this is one of the weaker Michener titles I've read. Six teenagers from various corners of the world meet up in a Bohemian enclave in Spain in 1969? No problem. Some of them have been in trouble with the law? It happened then and it happens now. They travel through Europe and Africa in a minibus? Nice work if you can get it. They're guided on their travels by a man old enough to be their grandfather with an ultra-establishment career, whom they all love like an uncle? Not so convincing a twist in any generation, and especially not that one. The old man has already met four of them before they happened to meet each other, and he's known two of them all their lives? Well, it IS fiction, after all. At the height of the generational divide over Vietnam, they also make friends with a middle aged ex-Marine? Please.

But for all that, it's an epic, realistic adventure story by a man who knew everything about how to write them. It's also gritty enough to avoid romanticizing a lifestyle that really isn't as nice as it sounds. I admit that the early chapters had me wishing I could join the gang in Torremolinos, while the later ones made me thank my lucky stars I never tried what they did. Along the way, there are the usual vivid depictions of a wide variety of real places and times (and, this time around, a couple of fictional ones as well), tackling such uncomfortable issues as war, police brutality, murder, drug abuse, radical politics, and life in a third world commune.

As usual, the attention to detail and character development are good enough to justify the fact that the book does go on for a long time. I am especially impressed with the knowledge Michener (then in his mid-60s) managed to amass on the music of the era. He does slip up once and refer to "the latest recording" by a band that only ever made one album, but overall he not only shows a remarkable command of what songs came out in what year, but also of the controversies surrounding some of them and what they all meant to his younger characters. (His 61 year old protagonist's pontifications on "Macarthur Park" are especially amusing, whether intentionally or not.)

As for the ending, you'll probably see it coming a mile away. But you'll also enjoy the ride.

Vietnam--draft--war--political policies.......2007-05-13

I found this book quite different from those of Michener's other books that I read. I read it a long time ago and it fueled my active imagination about going to Marakesh, and other places to see what it was all about. I was only about 13 at the time.
I found it interesting too that by using one man as a focal point for so many people from many walks of life he was able to bring each person's story to fruition. I kept wondering how long it would take before the fellow realized that many of the people he interacted with were in some way or another connected with other. It was like he had the overview of everything that was happening.

A huge yawn.......2007-03-27

I am perplexed by the rave reviews this book is getting on this web site (with a couple of exceptions). I find this book a tremendous bore. It's wordy beyond belief, and its central character is a boring old man who, for some unknown reason, has captured the affections of a bunch of anti-establishment teenagers. The improbable nature of the plot (that the narrator already knows half of the teenagers before catching up with them in Spain) detracts from the message of the narrative, though some of the individual experiences were no doubt true to the time in which the novel is set. I'm about halfway through it and I can't bear to read another word.

One ticket to Torremolinos please!.......2006-03-18

I am 21 years old, obviously far removed from the generation of the characters in this book. Even though it reads as dated at times, the themes are still relevant. The whole time reading it, one should stop to compare the issues of that era, the late 60's early 70's, to issues of today. The war, the situation in Israel, race relations in America. To see what these young people predicted and how they thought things should be and to see now how things are now, is fascinating. To see how things have changed or stayed the same. Despite the far out coincidences which hold the plot together & keep it moving, the act of travel and finding yourself overpowers any convenient plot twists.
I was upset to finish the book. I wanted to keep reading about these characters for as long as possible! My only gripe is the ending, it seemed too rushed. Other than that, essentially, if you have one ounce of wanderlust in your heart, you will enjoy this book.

Average customer rating:

One Of The Best
Super fast seller
Good but not great...
Excellent read.
good, but not great

The Drifter
Susan Wiggs
Manufacturer: Mira
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 1551666898

Amazon.com

It isn't easy to be a female physician in 1894, but Leah Mundy is fiercely committed to healing her fellow humans. Being awakened in the dark of night to heal the sick is a common occurrence, but never before has she woke to a threatening gun barrel and a dangerous stranger demanding her services. Outlaw Jackson Underhill is grimly determined that the doctor will save his childhood friend, but nothing about his difficult and dark past has prepared him for the changes the beautiful doctor will bring to his life. When Leah manages to disable his sailboat and force him to bring his "wife" to her boarding home to be cared for, Jackson has no option but to comply, setting forces in motion that will change both of their lives forever.

Dr. Leah Mundy is a strong but emotionally vulnerable woman who has struggled her entire life to win the approval of her difficult, indifferent father. Now that he is dead, she is determined to build a life on Puget Sound's beautiful Whidbey Island. Accused of committing a murder he can't deny, outlaw Jackson Underhill is a man on the run, committed to saving his childhood friend while eluding the law. Leah is a woman who cannot leave the island that has become her sanctuary and Jackson Underhill is a man who cannot stay. Reason and logic tell them that they should never have fallen in love, but their hearts ignore all warnings. Inexorably drawn together by circumstance and fate, what possible resolution can bring them happiness and not disaster? Thrown together by chance, they find a love that neither of them had ever dared hope for - but darker forces and old alliances threaten their chance at happiness. With crisp, clean writing, Ms. Wiggs deftly weaves a seamless tale set against the background of the sea and sky of the Pacific Northwest. The beauty of Puget Sound pulses from every page, elevating the land and elements of nature to the level of a living character that is essential to the healing of Jackson and Leah's inner scars. Emotionally intense and well-plotted, The Drifter has all the components of a great summer read and is a jewel of a novel.

Book Description

Comes a drifter to a windswept island . . .

He wanted to tell her everything. About the lost years that had changed him from a desperate young boy into a man hardened by life. About the night he'd sold his soul for a woman who wasn't worth the price . . .

But Jackson Underhill said nothing. After all, he was an outlaw, clearly on the run -- reason enough for silence.

The truth was Dr. Leah Mundy scared him. She made him want to trust again, to share his burden. She made him want a home, a family. And it was dangerous to want such things. Because the past would find him if he stayed -- and there could be no future with a woman who would not leave.

Customer Reviews:

One Of The Best.......2007-08-21

The Drifter was a GREAT read!! I enjoyed it very much. Leah And Jackson are unforgettable characters. The plot has a few twists and turns that makes the book extraordinary. The story takes place in 1890s, which adds a special quality to the story. I think The Drifter is a 5-star book and I highly recommend it!

Super fast seller.......2007-06-16

Wow...this book came much faster than I expected..and in mint condition. Thanks so much!

Good but not great..........2006-08-13

Description from back of the book:

Comes a drifter to a windswept island . . .

He wanted to tell her everything. About the lost years that had changed him from a desperate young boy into a man hardened by life. About the night he'd sold his soul for a woman who wasn't worth the price . . .

But Jackson Underhill said nothing. After all, he was an outlaw, clearly on the run -- reason enough for silence.

The truth was Dr. Leah Mundy scared him. She made him want to trust again, to share his burden. She made him want a home, a family. And it was dangerous to want such things. Because the past would find him if he stayed -- and there could be no future with a woman who would not leave.

* I was also shocked at the reviews for this book. I can't believe it's almost a 5 star book. The book was good but there really wasn't too much to it. There was no great mystery in this book. You pretty much knew everything from the start. I want a book to really hold me & make me not want to put it down but I put this book down many times. I will admit that the last 50 pages had me very interested but other then that there was really no cliffhangers or anything like that. As I titled this review the book is good but it's not something I'd call great. If you like a nice slow romance & don't care for any mystery then go ahead & give it a try but if you want something that's going to keep you on the edge of your seat then maybe try another one.

Excellent read........2004-03-05

I am new to this author's work but this book was a real find. It dealt with so many difficult sociol issues as well as human frailty issues. The editor outlined the bk well so I won't do that. The story uses the angst of abandoned children (Jackson
and Carrie), the verbally abused and neglected child (Leah) and one gets to wondering which is worse. We have the effect of non-parenting on children, the orphanage abuses that were rampant in that era (and probably more than we know in more recent times) and the desparate need to make onself feel needed and worthwhile which drives our hero and heroine.Then we run into the bias against women doctors, the realization of how far we've come in treating illnesses and trying to fit into a culture that keeps women in the kitchen. Less this all sound despressing, it isn't. It's wonderful to see the characters cope with what life has dealt them and evolve into happy adults with a wonderful life companion. It has witty dialogue and is easy to relate to the feelings. And of course our hero Jackson who is the "bad guy" who always seems to be saving someone. It's a wonderful love story but when it's done the reader feels richer for the experience.

good, but not great.......2003-12-07

The emphasis on Carrie resulted in a weak character sketch of Leah. Of course, without Carrie the book probably wouldn't have held up because she was the basis of this story. Instead of the Carrie storyline, I found the murder of the Spanish/or Indian woman's brother or cousin more interesting. I thought it deserved about 4 stars, but more like 3.5. It was still a decent book though and I'll certainly read more by Susan Wiggs.

Average customer rating:

Oh, Pleeeease!...A couple of whiners
Great
Hero Gets Mistaken for the Ghost of Sir Lancelot
A Romantic Novel I Actually LOVED!
a welcome addition to the Bride Finder series

The Night Drifter: A Novel
Susan Carroll
Manufacturer: Ivy Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0449005852
Release Date: 2000-02-01

Amazon.com

Setting: Cornish coast of England, 1800s

Sensuality: 7-8

Susan Carroll's newest historical will make a believer out of the most pragmatic soul! Carroll acquaints readers with Lancelot St. Leger, the son of Anatole and Madeline St. Leger--the perfectly matched main characters from her bestselling novel, The Bride Finder. Lance, a cynical soldier just home from battle, is unwilling to shoulder the responsibilities of the family's holdings, which his role as elder son requires. Instead, he focuses his attention on recovering the recently stolen icon of St. Leger power, a magnificent sword called the Bride Finder. Lance's talent for "night drifting"--letting his spirit leave his body to roam free--which he uses to search for the stolen sword, also leads him to Rosalind, a naive young widow who believes him to be the ghost of Lancelot from King Arthur's Round Table. By day, Lance's scandalous reputation and far-from-chivalrous behavior provoke Rosalind, but by night his portrayal of the ghostly gallant Sir Lancelot woos the romantic long hidden inside her. When the St. Leger's Bride Finder declares Rosalind to be Lance's soul mate, the fun begins! Add a meddling ghost, a secret enemy bent on destroying the St. Leger power, a sensuality rating of 7-8, and The Night Drifter becomes a read you won't want to put down. --Alison Trinkle

Book Description

The eldest son and heir to Castle Leger, Lance St. Leger is plagued by an infernal restlessness that cannot be appeased, perhaps because the family legacy of strange powers is most pronounced in Lance's own dubious gift. He calls it night drifting--his ability to spirit into the night while his body remains behind. And it is on one wild night that he finds Rosalind, a young, sheltered widow who mistakes Lance's "drifting" soul for the ghost of Sir Lancelot. Lance teases and tempts her, fills her with a yearning her chivalrous phantom knight cannot satisfy. But in this place imbued with both true love and otherworldly magic, a new dire portent vows to come full circle. As a murderous enemy challenges the St. Leger power, Rosalind must tempt magic herself to save her beloved from the cold depths of eternal damnation.

Customer Reviews:

Oh, Pleeeease!...A couple of whiners.......2007-03-08

I started off this story with great expectations but am only half way through it and am forcing myself to finish it - only because I spent good money on it!

The story just drags and drags. It's so slow that if I weren't reading the ebook version then I would be skipping pages. I don't like the heroine and I definitely can't stand the hero. She is utterly ridiculous with her head in the clouds living in a dream world. She's supposed to be so enamored of anything that has to do with legends (whining about how she wants to live a legend of her own) but as soon as she is actually involved in one in the form of the St. Legers she balks and wants out. Instead of confronting life she'd rather "fall in love with" a ghost than face a flesh and blood man that she's actually attracted to because he doesn't come with the exact legend that she wants in the way that she wants it. Truly annoying.

As for the hero...I can't stand a whining, crying, man. He's supposed to be such a strong, authoritative, character but he spends all of his time whining about his horrible life and how he's such a horrible person. He's handsome, rich, heir to the title, respected by his neighbors, has a rich history, and magical powers...gee, poor guy. Ok, so he's a little shell-shocked from fighting Napolean and he had a bad love affair when he was 18. He's almost thirty years old. Get over it! Grow up! My goodness, it makes me want to smack the guy. The only believable thing about it is that he feels guilty about his brother's leg being crippled. But he's constantly complaining about the fact that his brother saved him when he really wanted to die; how he didn't deserve to be saved; how he's not good enough to be his father's son; how he's reprehensible; he's a wastrel; blah-blah-blah. Not to mention his intimate friendship with a man who I can tell half-way through the book will probably be the bad guy - a friendship that he insists on despite all good common sense and the opinions of all the people he keeps saying that he's not worthy of. I wonder why? Lastly, is the "love" he supposedly feels for Rosalind. I don't understand why he loves her. It's obvious why she "loves" the ghost - but not him yet - while he's already proclaiming that he loves her. Other than the St. Leger legend there hasn't been enough between them for him to "love" her.

I truly hope this book has a redeeming ending - but I doubt it. I'm more than halfway through it and was so disgusted that I had to voice an opinion. This is the first time I've ever written an opinion without having finished the book. Don't waste your time or your money. I won't be buying any more of this author's books.

For an excellent historical romantic read with supernaturally gifted heros and heroines (while not straying into the paranormal subgenre) I highly recommend Virginia Henley - Tempted, The Border Hostage, Raven and the Rose, etc. - she writes rich historical novels several cuts above the rest for depth and detail. I'm having a heck of a time finding other contemporary authors of her caliber. (Except Judith McNaught - always trust a Judith McNaught)

Great.......2006-03-30

I enjoyed this book. The concept is new and refreshing, and I liked the plot. This is a terrific fantasy romance, and I would highly recommend it.

Hero Gets Mistaken for the Ghost of Sir Lancelot.......2006-02-22

THE NIGHT DRIFTER by Susan Carroll is second in a trilogy of paranormal romances about an 18th century English family blessed (or cursed) with inherited magical abilities. In this book, Lance has the ability to separate his spirit from his body to roam the night in spirit form. That's how he meets Rosalind, a young widow who comes to believe she has met the ghost of Sir Lancelot of Camelot fame. Rosalind, of course, falls in love with the ghostly knight, never once suspecting he really is Lance, who she can't stand in person. And little does Lance know that Rosalind is his chosen bride, so now he must compete with "Sir Lancelot" for Rosalind's love.

The book is well written, the story engaging and fluid. I read it in one sitting, and enjoyed it a lot. Lance was a strong hero, and I especially enjoyed his relationships with his saintly brother, Valentine, and his shady friend, Rafe. In fact, in some ways, I felt this book was less a romance story between Lance and Rosalind, and more about how Lance dealt with both the people in his life (including Rosalind) and his magical powers.

What I didn't like about this book was Rosalind's character. She was a strong character, yes, but she also irritated me with her absolute devotion to loving a ghost. It seemed a little too much. I wanted her to get over it, and fast. Another thing I found strange was all the talk about how much of an experienced rake Lance was, yet we didn't get much of a love scene. Sigh.

Anyway, it is definitely a book worth reading, though you may enjoy it more by reading it in order of the trilogy. The first book, THE BRIDE FINDER, is the best in my opinion; it is also about Lance's parents. Lance's book, THE NIGHT DRIFTER, is number two in the trilogy. The last book is about Lance's brother, Valentine, and it is called MIDNIGHT BRIDE.

A Romantic Novel I Actually LOVED! .......2006-01-30

First off, if you are a fan of mystery romance novels by Victoria Holt, I encourage you to seek out this book, because you will enjoy the living H-E-hockey sticks out of it. Susan Carroll goes one better than Holt, however; she manages to stick fantasy and mysticism into her stories that are not only charming, but are believable and touching. I can easily imagine Colin Firth as Lance--at least the one by day that Lady Rosalind believes is a cad, so that image was fixed in my mind early on. I also came to admire Rosalind for her meekness, humility, and bravery. Lance's brother Val was another of my favorite characters and, just like him, I didn't like Raif Mortmain, who would be excellently portrayed by Cary Elwes.

Rich with action, and a sweet romance that only contains one unsickening intimate scene, this is a lovely novel that genuinely makes you care for every character involved, and I can't wait to read some more of Susan Carroll's books after seeing the brief, affectionate interplay between Lance and Val's parents!

a welcome addition to the Bride Finder series.......2004-01-18

The Bride Finder left me stunned, it was so good. The second in the series, The Night Drifter, isn't quite as good (hence 4 instead of 5 stars, though 4 & 1/2 would be more accurate) but is still far above most books in the genre and well worth the reading.

Lance is a great hero, even though I never understood why his particular gift is supposed to be so amazing amongst so many amazing gifts. Other reviewers have expressed their disappointment in Rosalind; I can barely remember her, which indicates to me that wasn't particularly memorable. When we first meet her, she seems like a delightful heroine, but later her continued infatuation with a ghost despite the presence of a living, breathing hero does get a little annoying.

Propero is a welcome secondary character, as always, but Ellie is a poor Bride Finder compared to the wonderful one in the first book. Unfortunately, she's young enough to stick around for a while. I miss the old man.

Defintely read this one, even though opinions are divided on how it comes to The Bride Finder. Susan Carroll is simply a fabulous author.

Average customer rating:

great storytelling

Great fun to read!

Awesome!!!!!!!

Stay single, stay liquid, and travel as much as possible

Laughed my butt off

Adventures of a Continental Drifter: An Around-the-World Excursion into Weirdness, Danger, Lust, and the Perils of Street Food
Elliott Hester
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Plane Insanity: A Flight Attendant's Tales of Sex, Rage, and Queasiness at 30,000 Feet

By the Seat of My Pants: Humorous Tales Of Travel And Misadventure (Lonely Planet Journeys (Travel Literature))

Don't Let The World Pass You By!

Flying by the Seat of My Pants: Flight Attendant Adventures on a Wing and a Prayer

You Can't Get There from Here: A Year on the Fringes of a Shrinking World

ASIN: 0312312423
Release Date: 2006-09-19

Book Description

One year. Six continents. Twenty-two countries. Endless stories to tell.In October 2002, Elliott Hester sold his car, abandoned his apartment, and took off alone on a trip around the world, during which he drifted to more than fifty destinations. Elliott's tales about his travels range from the bizarre to the hilarious to the flat-out shocking.Travel with him as he:* Chases off transvestites in the South Pacific* Gets drunk on Estonian moonshine at the maker's eightieth birthday party* Impersonates Samuel L. Jackson at the 38th International Film Festival in the Czech Republic* Ponders the Finnish tradition of sprinting from steamy sauna to plunge into the frigid Baltic Sea---naked!* And much moreOnly an around-the-world excursion could produce such outlandish, hair-raising, hysterical adventures.And only Elliott Hester could make such vivid observations and write such vibrant insights about life---and people---on the road.

Customer Reviews:

great storytelling.......2007-02-28

I really liked this book, it's one of my favorite in the genre of travel writing, with some very funny stories from the author's travels. I do wish he took more of a postive approach though, it seems nine out of ten stories show the negative side of travel, though I guess it's good to tell it like it is. Highly reccomended for a good laugh!

Great fun to read!.......2006-05-03

I LOVE humorous travel books but they are far and few between. I bought this book on sale and was pleasantly surprised. I laughed my way through the whole book. I will be sure to pick up anything else from him now!

Awesome!!!!!!!.......2006-03-06

I can not say enough about this book. I absolutely loved it. I am a Geography teacher and I am ordering a class set for my classroom. I think my students will fall in love with this book the same way I did. You should buy this book without even thinking twice. You will laugh and learn so much about the world from first hand experience. Enjoy and BUY IT!!!!!!!!!!

Stay single, stay liquid, and travel as much as possible.......2006-01-03

Former flight attendent Elliott Hester takes a leave of absence after the events of 9-11 and opts to take his own journey around the world. We are taken along on the trip with him in an assortment of amusing and embarassing anecdotes. He starts in Miami going to Argentina, South Pacific, Australia, SE Asia, India, North Africa, and into the European countries before landing back home. He regals us with stories of topless Scrabble addicts, Dehli Belly, transvestite islanders, the dangers of driving in other countries, sauna in Finland, impersonating Samuel L Jackson in Czech, and other great stories. He runs continual risks of intenstinal problems and is not above humiliating himself. All in all, this is a splendid book showing you how you too can go across the globe on $60 a day. As with most travelogues, it loses a star because the book would have been benefitted by the inclusion of photos he took on the journey. Fast and easy read, I'll be picking up future books of his.

Laughed my butt off.......2005-12-04

I bought this book at an airport bookstore before a fight from Miami to Paris. Unfortunately for the passengers seated near me, I laughed out loud all the way across the Atlantic. And my laughter is kind of obnoxious, or so my friends say. Some of the stories were so funny I almost wet my pants. Thanks, Hester, for making my flight more enjoyable.

Continental Drifter: Dispatches from the Uttermost Parts of the Earth

Average customer rating:

Continental Drifter: Dispatches from the Uttermost Parts of the Earth
Michael McRae
Manufacturer: Burford Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Travel | Writing | Reference | Subjects | Books

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Michael McRae confesses to owning an insatiable appetite for roads less traveled, an appetite born of "a nomadic upbringing as a military brat, my romanticism, and the counterculture ethic of the sixties." His forays to out-of-the-way corners of Africa, Asia, and South America have yielded this entertaining collection of nature-travel journalism. One moment finds him inside the welcome sanctuary of the writer Isak Dinesen's Kenyan plantation, quarters that are quite suddenly overrun by flashbulb-snapping American visitors. Next, he's in Bwindi, Uganda, a mountain reserve also called The Impenetrable Forest that, like all tropical woodlands, is imperiled by international development. For my money, the best piece in the book is "Prisoners of Zuulchin," a humorous but never patronizing recollection of a sometimes-hellish excursion into the Gobi Desert under the care of Mongolia's state travel bureau.

Book Description

Essays from a professional wanderer with an eye for the absurd. Travel writing at its best.-- Joe Kane. Black & white photographs.

Average customer rating:

Kind of slow reading
Love this book!
Best ghost story/murder mystery I've ever read!
it was OK....
Really worth the read

Second Glance: A Novel
Jodi Picoult
Manufacturer: Atria
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743454502

Amazon.com

Ghosts and ghost hunters collide in this compelling tale of the paranormal set in Vermont's green mountains. When the patriarch of the Abenaki Indian tribe that was nearly eradicated by that state's eugenics project in the 1930s encounters Ross Wakeman, the miraculous survivor of several attempted suicides who wants nothing more than to be reunited with the woman he loved and lost, they set in motion a chain of events that will unravel an ancient murder and lead to a second chance at life and love for the victim's descendants. Picoult, author of Salem Falls, brings the past alive and peoples it with a cast of extraordinarily well-realized characters whose reach into the future touches the lives of a dying boy, a frightened girl, and their mothers--two women who've given up on love until the revenants stirred up by a plan to develop an ancient burial ground show them what they're missing. Second Glance is an intricate and suspenseful ghost story that enchants and illuminates all the way to its powerful conclusion. --Jane Adams

Book Description

"Sometimes I wonder....Can a ghost find you, if she wants to?"

An intricate tale of love, haunting memories, and renewal, Second Glance begins in current-day Vermont, where an old man puts a piece of land up for sale and unintentionally raises protest from the local Abenaki Indian tribe, who insist it's a burial ground. When odd, supernatural events plague the town of Comtosook, a ghost hunter is hired by the developer to help convince the residents that there's nothing spiritual about the property.

Enter Ross Wakeman, a suicidal drifter who has put himself in mortal danger time and again. He's driven his car off a bridge into a lake. He's been mugged in New York City and struck by lightning in a calm country field. Yet despite his best efforts, life clings to him and pulls him ever deeper into the empty existence he cannot bear since his fiancee's death in a car crash eight years ago. Ross now lives only for the moment he might once again encounter the woman he loves. But in Comtosook, the only discovery Ross can lay claim to is that of Lia Beaumont, a skittish, mysterious woman who, like Ross, is on a search for something beyond the boundary separating life and death. Thus begins Jodi Picoult's enthralling and ultimately astonishing story of love, fate, and a crime of passion.

Hailed by critics as a "master" storyteller (Washington Post), Picoult once again "pushes herself, and consequently the reader, to think about the unthinkable" (Denver Post). Second Glance, her eeriest and most engrossing work yet, delves into a virtually unknown chapter of American history -- Vermont's eugenics project of the 1920s and 30s -- to provide a compelling study of the things that come back to haunt us -- literally and figuratively. Do we love across time, or in spite of it?

Download Description

"Sometimes I wonder...Can a ghost find you, if she wants to?" An intricate tale of love, haunting memories, and renewal, Second Glance begins in current-day Vermont, where an old man puts a piece of land up for sale and unintentionally raises protest from the local Abenaki Indian tribe, who insist it's a burial ground. When odd, supernatural events plague the town of Comtosook, a ghost hunter is hired by the developer to help convince the residents that there's nothing spiritual about the property. Enter Ross Wakeman, a suicidal drifter who has put himself in mortal danger time and again. He's driven his car off a bridge into a lake. He's been mugged in New York City and struck by lightning in a calm country field. Yet despite his best efforts, life clings to him and pulls him ever deeper into the empty existence he cannot bear since his fiancée's death in a car crash eight years ago. Ross now lives only for the moment he might once again encounter the woman he loves. But in Comtosook, the only discovery Ross can lay claim to is that of Lia Beaumont, a skittish, mysterious woman who, like Ross, is on a search for something beyond the boundary separating life and death. Thus begins Jodi Picoult's enthralling and ultimately astonishing story of love, fate, and a crime of passion. Hailed by critics as a "master" storyteller (Washington Post), Picoult once again ""pushes herself, and consequently the reader, to think about the unthinkable" (Denver Post). Second Glance, her eeriest and most engrossing work yet, delves into a virtually unknown chapter of American history - Vermont's eugenics project of the 1920s and 30s - to provide a compelling study of the things that come back to haunt us - iterally and figuratively. Do we love across time, or in spite of it?

Customer Reviews:

Kind of slow reading.......2007-09-28

I had a hard time getting into this book.
However it still only took me a week to finish it.
The worst was trying to get through part 2..The diary.
Part 3 went by very quickly as Jodi pulled everything together.
Was over all a pretty good book.
I might re-read it to see exactly what I missed, now that I know how it ends!!

Love this book!.......2007-09-23

Love most all Jodi Picoult books and this one is no exception. Jodi keeps you guessing and wondering throughout her stories. Love the little twists and turns!

Best ghost story/murder mystery I've ever read!.......2007-09-14

This was a great book. I've read one other book written by Jodi Picoult and also loved it. This book begins a little slow, but with interest, and then becomes a roller coaster of emotions. This is a story with many stories that seem separate but are woven together to leave you with both relief and questions about your own human values. It really is a ghost story and a murder mystery and a history lesson and a course in advance philosophy. There are parts that are very difficult to read...emotionally difficult...because Picoult doesn't pull any punches about humanities treatment of humanity. However, in the end, there is a kind of calmness that emerges out of the tumultuous tale. Don't miss reading this.

it was OK...........2007-05-22

This was the first of Jodi's novels that I've read. After reading all the wonderful reviews, I have to say I was a little disappointed. Maybe it was because it was built up so much. It was entertaining, but not a "great read". I don't think it is one that I would re-read. There is nothing to pinpoint my disappointment, other than it just wasn't as exciting, or emotional, or intense as a really great book is. Because I keep on seeing that this is one of Jodi's best books, I'm wondering if I should even bother with the rest of her books.

Really worth the read.......2007-05-18

I'm not good at writing reviews for things like this, but I bought this book in a used bookstore because one of the characters had my name. I didn't really expect the book to be any good, but it was one of the best things I read that year. I'm going back now and reading as many of this author's books as I can find.

Average customer rating:

Nice, but not like the other two

Drifter's War
William C. Dietz
Manufacturer: Ace
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0441168159

Book Description

Third in the national bestselling author's Drifter series. As an alien war shatters the galactic empire, both sides want Pik Lando's high-tech drift ship-minus Lando.

Customer Reviews:

Nice, but not like the other two.......2000-10-26

It's was an ok read but not as good as the others. I should mention that I read this book when I was just starting to read english books so that might have twisted my oppinion.

The Grand Tour: The European Adventure of a Continental Drifter

Average customer rating:

I loved it!
Rubbish
Slumming the Grand Tour
Appears unaltered from UK version....
A Slow Start but a Great Tour

The Grand Tour: The European Adventure of a Continental Drifter
Tim Moore
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0312300476

Amazon.com

Has there ever been a funnier man to travel Europe, and return to tell about it, than Tim Moore? Doubtful. Certainly not the man who spawned the concept of the Grand Tour, that mainstay of young 17th- and 18th-century English aristocrats sent around Europe to be cultured but who usually spent more time in bawdy depravity than in cathedrals. That is Thomas Coryate, who walked to Venice and back in 1608. Coryate was the first man to take the trip for pleasure rather than commerce and with the specific intention of boasting on his return (in fact, he penned the first travelogue). Moore follows Coryate's footsteps from France to Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Holland, and home again, but with a few unusual props of his own--an absurd billowing purple velvet suit and a clapped-out 1980 Rolls Royce that proved impossible to park on medieval streets. (After the pompous car offends a French peasant, Moore cooks up endless versions of "This is not my car..." fibs.)

Remarkably, Moore finds that not much has changed since the slightly short man in tights wandered the continent. The city walls and medieval alleys look as if knaves could be lurking close by, while the single-track stone bridges, grand chateaux, and humble villages he sees were ancient even in Coryate's day. Moore is even able to find the places of torture Coryate describes so gleefully, including the unmarked round stone "on which if any banckerupt do sit with his naked buttocks three times in some public assembly, all his debts are ipso-facto remited." Of course, not everything is the same--while there are still picnickers on the roof of Milan's cathedral, there are also mobile phones, and bowling is now considered an art in Italy. Coryate got himself into all sorts of scrapes with his pretentiousness, belligerent arrogance, and eye for the ladies. Moore is equally adept at slapstick, which he tells with self-deprecating humor--playing James Bond at a casino in Baden-Baden, pilfering grapes in homage to Coryate--and he's just as much a cheapskate with his pan-European survey of pizza parlors and MacDonald's bathrooms. In some fantastic fluke of time, Coryate finally found his perfect travel partner in Moore, and the result is a hilarious jaunt through Europe, past and present, that's not to be forgotten or, for that matter, repeated. --Lesley Reed

Book Description

The tradition of the Grand Tour was started in 1608 by an intrepid but down-at-the-heels English courtier named Thomas Coryate, who walked across Europe, miraculously managed to return home in one piece, and wrote a book about his bawdy misadventures. With The Grand Tour, Tim Moore proves not only that he is Coryate's worthy successor but one of the finest and funniest travel writers working today. Armed with a well-thumbed reprint of Coryate's book, Moore donned a purple plush suit and set off in a second-hand and highly temperamental Rolls-Royce through France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Holland. Like Coryate, Moore possesses an astonishing ability to land himself in humiliating predicaments. His account of his hilariously memorable misadventures on Venice's canals on one fateful afternoon is by itself worth the price of admission. Moore brings new life to the Old World and in the process sends readers into paroxysms of laugher and delight.

Customer Reviews:

I loved it!.......2005-03-13

I listened to the audiobook -- Michael Wade nailed the sarcasm perfectly. As for the British references, I got many of them ("Frank Butcher glasses, Grant Mitchell coat, 'I pulled up and there was Pat Butcher at reception ...', etc. - it helps to have been an eastenders addict!), and was able to gloss over the ones I didn't as the context often came through anyway.

Rubbish.......2004-07-07

I was going to sell my copy until I discovered that used copies were listed for 42 cents. That tells you all you need to know about this worthless book!

Slumming the Grand Tour.......2004-06-11

During the 17th century, and up to the time of the French Revolution, it was fashionable among young Englishmen of means to embark on a Grand Tour of the continent for the purpose of intellectual enlightenment or, more likely, just to wallow in the fleshpots and taverns. One of the first to record his experiences was Thomas Coryate, who made the 5-month roundtrip from his Somerset home to Venice in 1608. His travelogue was subsequently published as "Coryats Crudities" in 1611. In the autumn and early winter of 2000, author Tim Moore retraced Coryate's route, and tells us all about it in THE GRAND TOUR.

Moore's outbound route takes him to Venice via Montreuil, Amiens, Paris, Fontainebleau, Nevers, Lyon, Chambéry, Mont Cenis, Turin, Milan, Cremona, and Padua. Homeward bound, Tim transits Garda, Bergamo, Como, Splügen Pass, Chur, Zurich, Basel, Strasbourg, Durlach, Heidelberg, Worms, Mainz, Frankfurt, Coblenz, Bonn, Cologne, Emmerich, Nijmegen, Dordrecht, and Zierikzee.

Any travel narrative is made invariably more entertaining if spiced with tales of hardship. Moore's is no exception, though his travails were largely self-imposed. Choosing to journey in shabby style, he purchased a clapped-out, 1980 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow for 4,750 pounds sterling, with a subsequent 2,186 in necessary repairs to make it roadworthy and presentable. By the end of his Grand Tour, after 3,142 miles, the Roller had reduced the author to pitiful whimpering. Frugal by nature, or the acquisition of wheels having reduced him to penury, or both, Moore spends most nights either sleeping in his car or in fleabag hotels that barely reach the level of "budget accommodations". Personal hygiene was often maintained by a dip in the local, public swimming pool. The tone of much of his adventure is well represented by his decision to emulate Coryate and walk the 50 kilometer Mainz-Frankfurt leg. Thus:

"The shoes were becoming an issue. I thought the idea was that they would mould themselves to the shape of my foot, but their plastic rigidity meant the process was being reversed. I'm not sure if it is possible to limp on both legs, but as it started to get dark ... I gave it my best shot." Later, in his hotel room:

"Peeling away my socks was more like removing a dressing ..."

Despite elements of Tim's adventure which perhaps make it more resemble Napoleon's retreat from Moscow or the Bataan Death March, his dryly-witty commentary makes THE GRAND TOUR eminently readable. And I'm ever delighted to encounter British slang: knackered (exhausted), bog (toilet), ponce (dandy, to strut), neck-down (drink). My chief complaint, which increasingly annoys me the more travel essays I read, is that there's no photo section. Perhaps publishers think the inclusion of such would render a book too pricey for the average reader.

A fitting conclusion is the Epilogue, which summarizes Coryate's life after his return. After struggling to get his book published in the face of ridicule from his social betters, he left England again in 1614, and became the first European since Alexander to walk the 3,300 miles from Jerusalem to India. Dying in 1617 at age forty, he's buried in an uninscribed, domed sarcophagus near Surat marked on East India Company charts, and still labeled on current maps, as "Tom Coryat's Tomb".

Appears unaltered from UK version...........2004-04-30

This is my first Tim Moore book and I am enjoying his wicked style. I am a UK native and found it curious that Moore, (or the publishers) decided to leave it in its original form. Many of his humorous references are to such things as well-known 1970s BBC TV programs like the The Good Old Days or the Two Ronnies,(p.18 paperback version). These references are too obscure for the American market, and I feel it should have been edited to make the experience greater for American readers. Maybe it doesn't matter if you don't know what you're missing...

A Slow Start but a Great Tour.......2003-07-07

Grand Tour is an unusual work for Tim Moore - in addition to his usual generous helpings of laughter, he also serves the reader a fair amount of information and some poignancy.

I think the alterations in Moore's usual style arise from his subject, Thomas Coryate, whose 1608 trip through the Continent inaugurated the British tradition of the grand tour (Coryate also introduced the fork, the umbrella, and the travel narrative to his native land). Coryate was a serious and pompous traveler who couldn't resist copying down every engraving and measuring every column he encountered. Moore responds by doing some actual research and interrupting his usual hysterical rants with actual facts.

Unfortunately, Moore hasn't quite mastered seamless blending of information and narrative, and as a result this book is a bit slower and denser than his other two books. And although Moore manages to evoke quite a bit of sympathy and sadness for Coryate, he never seems totally comfortable with more serious writing. The result is a somewhat uneven book that takes a while to get moving.

But Moore finally hits his stride while writing about Venice, and Grand Tour takes off. The last half of the book is laugh-out-loud funny, a marvelously fun romp that makes the whole book worth reading. And Moore throws in a few unusual extras on top of the laughs; he conveys a clear picture of the Europe of 1608 as well as the Europe of today, and an even clearer picture of Thomas Coryate. Though much of the book had me rolling with laughter, I finished with a lump in my throat for the man Moore calls "poor old Tom."

All in all, Grand Tour is well worth buying. However, if you haven't read any Tim Moore, this book probably isn't the best place to start - try Frost on My Moustache or French Revolutions first.

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