Goodnight, Nebraska

Average customer rating:

one of the best books I've ever read

lack of coherent character development

Unrecognized Quest For Redemption

Too neat, but a great read

The most fantastic novel I have ever read!

Goodnight, Nebraska
Tom McNeal
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Popular Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Book Clubs | Specialty Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0375704299
Release Date: 1999-06-01

Amazon.com

Randall Hunsacker, the protagonist of Tom McNeal's first novel, Goodnight, Nebraska, is only 17, but already he has two strikes against him: his father's death when Randall was thirteen led to a succession of "stepfathers" moving through his life and the last one, Lenny, Randall has shot. The shooting, a suicide attempt, and a stint in juvenile hall is what brings Randall to the small town of Goodnight, Nebraska--a place where he hopes to start over. He gets a job, earns a place on the high school football team and even starts dating one of the cheerleaders; things are looking up for Randall. But in a town like Goodnight--Hicksburg, to Randall, or ShitdeVille--what goes up must eventually come down. And so it is for Randall--he gets injured during a football game and his girlfriend, thinking he's dead, announces they are engaged, and before he knows it, he is married, living in a trailer, facing a life that seems to have dead-ended before it even got started.

Appearances can be deceiving, however. To Randall and his wife, Marcy, Goodnight seems like the last place on earth; he never imagined himself coming here, she never stopped dreaming about getting out. Much of McNeal's novel has to do with the gradual disintegration of Randall and Marcy's marriage; at the same time it limns a warm portrait of a middle-American town that may not be very exciting to live in, but one where people know they can count on each other in a pinch. It takes Marcy leaving--and Randall going after her--to finally teach them both that there's really no place like Goodnight.

Book Description

At the age of 17, Randall Hunsacker shoots his mother's boyfriend, steals a car and comes close to killing himself. His second chance lies in a small Nebraska farm town, where the landmarks include McKibben's Mobil Station, Frmka's Superette, and a sign that says The Wages of Sin is Hell. This is Goodnight, a place so ingrown and provincial that Randall calls it "Sludgeville"-until he starts thinking of it as home.

In this pitch-perfect novel, Tom McNeal explores the currents of hope, passion, and cruelty beneath the surface of the American heartland. In Randall, McNeal creates an outcast whose redemption lies in Goodnight, a strange, small, but ultimately embracing community where Randall will inspire fear and adulation, win the love of a beautiful girl and nearly throw it all away.

Customer Reviews:

one of the best books I've ever read.......2006-10-08

Words can't express how great this book is. Everything from the characters, subplots, themes and more...it's all masterful work. Pick it up, it will change your life (it did for mine).

lack of coherent character development.......2006-06-13

The writing is serviceable, but the book is either poorly edited (over edited?) or it was worked on and then set aside over a great deal of time. I think the author tries and fails to make us care about a variety of characters (a la Russo-Empire Falls) all of whom lack cohesion from chapter to chapter. Some characters are developed in one chapter, then forgotten about throughout the rest of the book. Different plotlines/character grids are developed and then abruptly dropped, and the main characters seem to enjoy mulitple personalities from chapter to chapter. Again, this seems to be an attempt to mimic the stylings of Russo, but in the case of this book, it is unsuccessful. All this book served to do for me was wish for a new Richard Russo book to read, something satisfying and complete. This book, while well versed perhaps, was neither satisfying nor complete.

Unrecognized Quest For Redemption.......2005-08-21

Randall Hunsacker alternates in Goodnight, Nebraska, from sympathetic to unlikable and back again in this tale of redemption. Mcneal is writing in an ultra-realistic vein here and chooses, as so many writers have, to set his story against the canvas of a small town, in this case in the football-is-god state of Nebraska.

We first meet Randall on the cusp of his teen years, as he and his parents and sister are just getting by financially, and while we sense all is not perfect, things in this early time are absolutely paradise compared to what comes after the grotesque death of Randall's father. Following the loss of the family patriarch, Randall's mother takes up with a sleazy figure who clearly has his attention on Randall's teenaged sister, a situation that leads to a shooting right on the eve of Randall's big date with the girl of his dreams, a sort of Mormon version of a Barbie doll. At the end of that same night, when Randall's life seems over and surely wrecked behind all hope, he undertakes what is either a suicide attempt or the most courageous act of flying into space and counting on destiny to save him that can be imagined. Fortunately for him, his life has not yet played out and Randall survives his desperate action.

All this comes as mere prologue to the main story in Goodnight, Nebraska. Within days of facing down death, Randall, who has become an accomplished football player, is sent off from his native Utah to a rural Nebraska town, in order to get a second chance at life. There he succeeds at first in alienating nearly everyone around him, yet he is forgiven much because of his talents on the gridiron. He catches the notice of the prettiest girl in town, Marcy, and after surviving yet ANOTHER near-death experience, the story shifts forward a year and Marcy and Randall are unhappily married there in Goodnight, which is a place filled with colorful characters and off-beat happenings.

I'll stop this meandering review here and say that what comes about in the final half of this fine piece of literature is a very sound story of self-forgiveness and healing, and of a much-challenged love overcoming cruel adversity.

Tom Mcneal is a writer with a gift for storytelling and character development and I hope this first novel is a sign of good things to come from him.

Too neat, but a great read.......2004-01-05

I have always wanted to live in Kansas or the plains, go pheasant hunting, get into the air between the Earth and the sky. This book allowed me to do it without having to. Thanks to Tom McNeal. From a Hemingway scholar who loves the American novel set, unlike Ernest's work, in America, this is worthwhile.

The most fantastic novel I have ever read!.......2003-08-29

Five stars simply does not cover the utter greatness of this book; mabye it is six, or seven stars! The way it is written is absorbing and the story is mindblowing. As I closed the book at the end I nearly cried, and I begged that I might find a sequel. I have never felt changed by a book before but now . . . . Please, read this book, it is like nothing else!

Average customer rating:

GOODNIGHT NEBRASKA
Tom McNeal
Manufacturer: Publisher Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WR74UK

Average customer rating:

Goodnight, Nebraska
Tom Mcneal
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0385410174

Average customer rating:

Goodnight Nebraska
Tom McNeal
Manufacturer: New York: Random House,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000U2KVAC

Average customer rating:

Goodnight, Nebraska Reading Group Guide
Tom McNeal
Manufacturer: Vintage Books USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0676585868

Book Description

The rave reviews for John Wright's science fiction trilogy, The Golden Age, hail his debut as the most important of the new century. Now, in The Last Guardian of Everness, this exciting and innovative writer proves that his talents extend beyond SF, as he offers us a powerful novel of high fantasy set in the modern age. Young Galen Waylock is the last watchman of the dream-gate beyond which ancient evils wait, hungry for the human world. For a thousand years, Galen's family stood guard, scorned by a world which dismissed the danger as myth. Now, the minions of Darkness stir in the deep, and the long, long watch is over. Galen's patient loyalty seems vindicated. That loyalty is misplaced. The so-called Power of Light is hostile to modern ideas of human dignity and liberty. No matter who wins the final war between darkness and light, mankind is doomed either to a benevolent dictatorship or a malevolent one. And so Galen makes a third choice: the sleeping Champions of Light are left to sleep. Galen and his companions take the forbidden fairy-weapons themselves. Treason, murder, and disaster follow. The mortals must face the rising Darkness alone. An ambitious and beautifully written story, The Last Guardian of Everness is an heroic adventure that establishes John Wright as a significant new fantasist. It is just the start of a story that will conclude in the companion volume, Mists of Everness.

Customer Reviews:

Good story, Ponderous writing.......2007-05-08

At the heart, there is a great story here. The characters and plot are both intriguing and well-thought out. Unfortunately, Wright spends too much time describing unnecessary scenes.

It's difficult to write a GOOD dream sequence; there's always the danger that the reader will be overwhelmed while trying to figure out symbolic connections and allusions. This book is full of dream and memory sequences, some of which aren't necessary to either plot or character development; they punctuate the story and are slightly painful to read (boring actually). I had a very hard time actually getting to the end of this novel because of all the irrelevant prose I had to plough through.

Essentially, the bones of this novel seem strong, but they are buried under a mountain of dross.

Wright should stick to Sci-Fi.......2006-10-16

As K. Butler said in another review, and this bears reiterating, Wright's excellent Golden Age science fiction series should not be used as a benchmark for Everness.

Everness, while mildly entertaining, is by no means a masterpiece. In fact, it is not even that great of a novel series. Throw a few different brands of mythology in a big blender, chuck in some hollywood stereotypes for characters (including the Bitter Old Vietnam Veteran), and stir until no longer lumpy. Try not to fall asleep while eating.

Go for Golden Age. It is incredible. Pass by this pile.

The High House Returns in a dream.......2006-03-19

I am amazed no one has stated the co-incidences of the plot with James Stoddards "The High House" which was called evenmere, while this High House is called "Eveness". It even has that same high fantasy feel to it.

Epic Fantasy for the rest of us.......2006-02-19

This book is an amazing, epic fantasy, but with an intimate cast of characters. Following three central characters, the plot follows our heroes trying to thwart the attempt of evil beings in the dreaming to break through ancient protections in order to conquer our normal world and bring about a reign of darkness. When you put it that way, it seems cliche. However, this book (the first of a duology) is full of inventiveness and originality.

John C. Wright does not coddle his readers. You have to be paying attention in order to follow all the plot threads in this novel. You should definitely be up on your European mythology and symbolism. If you read and understood a good part of Neil Gaiman's Sandman graphic novels, you'll have most of the background you need. Everness addresses some of the more hoary fantasy clichés, and then subverts them, bringing them within some realm of plausibility. This is not a good book to start with if you are completely new to fantasy, since then you wouldn't appreciate some of his perfectly aimed pokes at tradition.

All in all the book is enjoyable, serious but not taking itself too seriously. The main characters are not normal people, but they are making their way in our world quite realistically. They don't know the rules of the game, and are discovering them as they go. The odds are decidedly against them, and there is great pleasure to be had in turning the page to see how they can keep going. The end of the book doesn't pull any punches; it's a cliff-hanger, and a seemingly very dark place for our heroes. For the first time in quite awhile, I found myself thinking while reading a fantasy book: "Wow, I'm really, really glad I'm not them."

One other note: if you've read and enjoyed the Golden Age science fiction trilogy by the same author, there is a good chance that this will also appeal to you. Similar balancing of light and dark, plot and philosophy and engaging, if not realistic, characters. If you haven't read that trilogy, you really should.

A big, fluffy dream sequence........2005-10-03

Having devoured the Golden Age trilogy I eagerly dived into Everness. Then I actually had to check the cover to see if it was the same author. Going from the dazzling mental gymnastics of Golden Age to this bit of fluff was jarring. This book reminds me more than anything else of all the Piers Anthony novels I read in high school. Just about every tired fantasy theme is thrown in--weak boy is the chosen one, must go on quest, buncha enchanted stuff to acquire, world going to end unless he defeats insanely powerfull baddie, yadda, yadda. It all reminded me of why I stopped reading fantasy years ago.

Even worse, it's all done in a kind of fuzzy dreamland where nothing seems all that real. You're transported there by mystical dream horses (which Wright should've just had the balls to call Night Mares after the Xanth novel). The characters can be suddenly transported to other frames of reality with little explanation of how or why, so why should I ever believe anyone's really in danger? This just killed any chance of suspense for me. If you're like me and you can spot a dream sequence in a movie after two seconds and resent the manipulation, this isn't the book for you.

On the one positive note, Wright can write. Even when he's writing fluff he can put words together so skillfully I found myself re-reading paragraphs just out of technical appreciation. His passages written in old english style have the kind of weight and lyrical beauty I haven't experinced since Tolkein. An extra star for that, but still I can't recommend the book. Read Golden Age three times first.

Average customer rating:

The Last Guardian of Everness
John C. Wright
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTWCH6

Book Description

From time-viewing to teleportation, from secret worlds to dream worlds, from the medieval to the modern, these stories explore the yearnings of the human heart. In these pages you will meet Edward, Jane, and Stephen, whose dreams are more real than their realities. You will journey with Alaric to the fortress in the Lake of Death, walk the seashore with Lydia in search of the great dark bird, and follow the blind man under the subway with Donnie and his father. You will pursue revenge with Tayis and heart's desire with the sleeping beauty's one true love.

Customer Reviews:

twilight Zone twist to this collection.......2003-05-17

Seven of the nine stories that make up this speculative fiction anthology were written between the mid-seventies and early eighties, insuring difficulty in finding them. The other two were furnished within the last six years. Each tale is dark as Phyllis Eisenstein shines a light on the innermost secret dreams of her varying protagonists. As the author explains in her introduction her contributions can be classified as fantasy or science fiction as she seems to have a leg in both genres. All the tales are top notch and fans of short fiction in a twilight Zone twist kind of way in which nothing is as it first seems will want to read NIGHT LIVES.

Harriet Klausner

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful!.......2007-09-01

I am studying to become a member of the Opus Sanctorum Angelorum, the official teaching and devotion arm of the Roman Catholic Church on all things concerning the Angels, and I ordered this and several other books about them to add to my personal library.
I love to read about and study them and I have a devotion to my own Guardian. This is an excellent book, and I would highly recommend it to everyone.
I especially love the way the Angels are explained in their relationship to their Queen, the Mother of God Herself, and if we are devoted to Her in our love of the Angels, we may expect their aid in all our undertakings.
I also have a devotion to Her myself (Blue Army, Our Mother of Perpetual Help), so this is a perfect addition to my reading...and I will most likely refer to it over and over again for many years to come!

How Bad Does The World Have To Get?!.......2006-01-21

This incredibly encouraging, uplifting book is a classic world-wide. It doesn't matter what particular faith you follow, or no faith at all. But I find it curious that when disaster strikes personally or en masse, virtually everyone cries out - "Oh my God!" Perhaps it is one's soul that prompts us to do this. I don't have the answer. But this book does!! St. Michael and the Angels are there (not in a movie, or TV - at least that's my belief) but exactly where we are both physically and metaphysically. The problem is this. Like Our Lord who encountered obviously sick or dying folks in His time on earth, He waited for THEM to ask for help or tell Him what they wanted. It's the same with your Angel, St. Michael and even the 9 Choirs of Angels! We have to ask for help - and when we do, as this book relates so eloquently, they come shining through. I don't care if you think I'm crazy. But that is my experience, and many others through the centuries. Bottomline: After all, it's only a book. And how bad does the world have to get before we call out for powerful spiritual help?

I FELT IT WAS OK..........2005-06-03

A NICE BOOK BUT DIFFICULT TO READ. VERY WORDY AND DRY MOST OF THE TIME. I GUESS THIS TONED DOWN MY EXCITEMENT AS I KEPT READING. MOST IMPORTANTLY I DON'T THINK I WALKED AWAY KNOWING MORE ABOUT ANGELS THAN I DID WHEN I STARTED. IT MOSTLY JUST QUOTED WHAT A FEW SAINTS SAID ABOUT ANGELS. NOTHING VERY SOLID TO WORK OFF OF. PERHAPS IF IT TALKED MORE IN DEPT ABOUT INTERCESSION ( AS A CATHOLIC ) WITH OUR ANGELS, I WOULD HAVE FELT MORE FULLFILLED LIKE I HOPED.

Review from the Publisher.......2001-03-16

This is perhaps the most popular book ever published on angels. Beautiful and inspiring stories on angels taken from the lives and writings of the saints. Tells of the role they play in our salvation. Led by St. Michael, the angels guard us, serve as messengers from God, surround the altar at Mass, and bear the graces of the Mass like incense to the altar of God on high. Explains how Mary will send us angels at our request of her. Includes many prayers and litanies and details on the preeminent role of St. Michael. Terrific! Beautifully illustrated. 133pp. PB.

Average customer rating:

An Exquisite & Essential Read Which Completes Every Cook's Library

My Vue: Modern French Cookery
Shannon Bennett
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Australia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
French | European | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0684037491

Book Description

Shannon Bennett, chef and owner of Melbourne's famous French restaurant, Vue de monde, takes the reader on a tour of exquisite French cuisine. Sharing his passion and obsession with classical cuisine, Shannon describes his own experiences in some of the great kitchens of Europe and shows you how to create in your own home, an unforgettable dining experience.

Recipes range from the deliciously simple such as classical tomato gazpacho and the perfect mayonnaise, to the highly challenging assiette of hare.

Customer Reviews:

An Exquisite & Essential Read Which Completes Every Cook's Library.......2005-12-14

This is my most prized cookbook which permanently resides on my bedside table, constantly read and used.
Extraordinary Melbourne chef, Shannon Bennett, has collated a unique collection of recipes that reflect the culinary excellence that is Vue de Monde, the Gourmet traveller 2005 Restaurant of the Year.
Clear and precise instructions as to both ingredients and technique combine with tantalising photography and beautiful illustrations that inspire and give confidence to even the novice.
Only after I visited Vue de Monde and cooked from this book did I finally come to appreciate and understand what is, French cookery. When asked if I have eaten there, I feel obliged to answer by saying I have had a great experience there as opposed to simply enjoying a meal. Pretentious? That is not my intention. Rather, I simply seek to differentiate between a unique experience and another fine meal.
When cooking, I started with the sublime Cold-Pressed Tomato Soup and was stunned with the results.The mushroom risotto which owes its depth of flavour to an incredible acid butter, gives an entirely new meaning to risotto. And the list goes on...
The chapters are helpfully organised according to ingredients concluding appropriately with ( what else) chocolate. However, we found it hard to push past the potato chapter.
Finally in support of this review, please note the forward of this special book is by Paul Bocuse who most eloquently says ".. But men of the quality of this chef, know how to leave their mark on the world of cuisine...Congratulations and all my best wishes of success go with him."
I hope you do buy this book and soon.

Lisa M Harris - Brisbane

Book Description

The skeleton clock probably is the most fascinating of all clocks. It displays, by means of its fretted-out frame and lack of any protective case other than a glass dome, its inner-most workings. Therefore, this type of clock attracted the attention of some of the finest makers, particularly those working in France from circa 1760-1860 as it enabled them to display their skills so completely. It was for the same reason that it was popular with their wealthy clients, who could show off their latest acquisitions so perfectly. A typical example of this is an amazing clock made by Sarton for the Duke of Lorraine, the dial of which swings to and fro so that wherever you are sitting in the room you can see it clearly. Other examples are the glass-plated clocks which apparently have no frame and often go for six months at a single winding, and clocks which show not only the time but also such things as day, date, month, moons, age and phases, sunrise and sunset, the time in other world locations, and even the equation of time(i.e. the difference between the sun's and our time). Many of these are more than clocks-they are great works of art. Numerous examples, including the products of countries such as France, Holland, Austria, and America are included and fully illustrated, frequently in color, in this book. There is a chapter on modern skeleton clocks that shows that fine clockmaking still is very much alive and well. The fascinating information on skeleton clocks made in America is the first full account to be published in over a decade.

Book Description

If you can roll, press, cut, and mold clay, you’ve got the required basics. To do the rest, just let your imagination soar! Bright, colorful pages filled with captivating jewelry, pottery, buttons, and baskets. Choose paint or glaze colors and select a clay. Make flower-decorated pins, lacy tiles, glazed cross boxes, and more.

Customer Reviews:

Great book for teachers working with kids and clay!.......2003-05-28

As a longtime ceramic art instructor working with children of all ages, this is a fun book to refer to and I've added it to my list of books to tell the parents about with many students wanting to continue to work at home on projects. It's also a good book for adult beginning ceramic crafters. You just need an electric kiln or access to one. I really enjoyed the book!

Great book for playing in real clay!.......2000-04-17

I love this book and highly recommend it. It could help craft or school teachers, studio owners or adults who want to work in clay. There are great step by step photographs allowing you to make delightful projects in minutes. Handmade Clay Crafts is written for the person who likes to make crafts not the serious potter unless they want to have fun with clay. I've make most of the projects in the book and I am planning to sell them craft fairs. The author's second book is a soft cover version of the first book with almost the exact information in both so buy one or the other, not both.

Book Description

Whether you are part of the home-working revolution and work at home full-time or simply need a well-structured place to do paperwork, Calm Working Spaces will help you to create a haven of peace and productivity.

First, you must find the right location. Whether you need to commandeer part of a room or can afford to convert an attic or garage into a purpose-designed office, Calm Working Spaces gives you all the options. And if you can't spare a room, this book will show you how you can convert awkward corners on landings and under stairs into dream offices.

The style section is full of innovative and exciting ideas to brighten up and personalize your work area. From color theory and aromatherapy to soundproofing and soft furnishings, use style to make your work space pleasing as well as efficient. Feng shui will help you create a sense of purposeful calm. Function features, too, with advice on buying a well-designed office chair, a flexible lighting system and efficient storage.

For anyone who has ever dreamt of spending all or part of the working week at home, Calm Working Spaces tells you how to create a work place that you will want to return to day after day.

Customer Reviews:

I recommend this book to everyone........2002-12-12

This book gives very good general tips on designing and decorating your home office. The pictures are beautiful and show a wide variety of styles. The book describes the benefits of different types of furniture. It also gives you sources for where to get the products in the photos.

Bonus: It has a section titled "work-space basics" which give you tips for floor planning, safety (e.g. outlets and cords), heating and cooling, and security.

I recommend this book to any one who is setting up a home office or wants tips to refresh the home office they already have.

Book Description

In this extraordinary novel, William Boyd presents the autobiography of John James Todd, whose uncanny and exhilarating life as one of the most unappreciated geniuses of the twentieth century is equal parts Laurence Stern, Charles Dickens, Robertson Davies, and Saul Bellow, and a hundred percent William Boyd.

From his birth in 1899, Todd was doomed. Emerging from his angst-filled childhood, he rushes into the throes of the twentieth century on the Western Front during the Great War, and quickly changes his role on the battlefield from cannon fodder to cameraman. When he becomes a prisoner of war, he discovers Rousseau's Confessions, and dedicates his life to bringing the memoir to the silver screen. Plagued by bad luck and blind ambition, Todd becomes a celebrated London upstart, a Weimar luminary, and finally a disgruntled director of cowboy movies and the eleventh member of the Hollywood Ten. Ambitious and entertaining, Boyd has invented a most irresistible hero.

Customer Reviews:

Shades of Tristram Shandy (Stern) and Tom Jones (Fielding).......2007-01-14

A wonderful rampage through the twentieth century in the vein of the best eighteenth and nineteenth century chroniclers, Boyd's fictional hero is so well drawn, so detailed and so human that each page produces new fascinations. From the turn of the century until the 1970s when he stands on the wealthy promontory of life, by the Mediterranean, looking back on his journey, Boyd produces a young man desperate to (1) lose his virginity (2) avoid dying in a trench somewhere near Ypres during the Great War and (3) find a purpose.

I was lent a copy of this book by a friend and I have enjoyed it so much that, not having read Boyd before, I have ordered two other Boyds plus this one, so I can return my borrowed copy. It should be compulsory reading for 18 year-olds studying English lit, but I suspect it won't be because it will be deemed 'too long.' Although 476 pages, they are long pages (small letters, 40+ lines) and the book, sized the same as a 'typical' paperback, would weigh in at closer to 700 pages, although the length detracts not a jot from the book's brilliance and it never feels padded, unlike many shorter books.

another sweeping saga by Boyd fully entertains.........2005-09-19

William Boyd is a terrific storyteller. His prose is of high quality, characterizations livid and entertaining. I'm glad to say 'The New Confessions' is standard William Boyd material. It is a faux autobiography of a Scotsman as he reminisces through his full life of the first three quarters of the twentieth century. He experiences the horror of trench warfare in WW I, he becomes a famous silent film director of the Germany avant-garde cinema, and then lives several years in turbulent Hollywood before retiring on an island in the Mediterranian. He is no hero, and not a particularly nice guy. But is life story is very rich; I wish I had a grandfather like him!

However 'The New Confessions is not perfect. The ending is a bit of a disappointment, and overall the book seems too much like his 'Any Human Heart' (..which he wrote later but I read earlier). I do wish William Boyd would return to the stellar form he demonstrated with 'Brazzaville Beach', a less ambitious but much more powerful novel.

Bottom line: thoroughly competent but Boyd can do better. Still, any average effort by Boyd is worthy read.

An Outstanding Fictional Memoir.......2003-12-25

This fictional memoir displays Boyd's consummate skill and style to full effect, ranging across time an place to create a vivid tale. Jean Jacques Rousseau's Confessions is (perhaps arguably) first tell-all memoir, and here Boyd updates it through the reminisces of James Todd. The story unfolds chronologically from his birth in 1899 and upbringing in Edinburgh to the 1970s, when he sits incognito on a quiet island writing his memoirs. The years between are a picaresque journey through the first half of the last century and one man's attempt to create meaning in his life.

The early years in his domineering father's household document an unhappy child yearning for love and approval. His father's quest to perfect and patent medicines provides an uncommonly interesting background for this. When a family friend introduces him to photography, the die is cast. As a teenager, like so many British men of his age, he is swallowed by the first World War, where he is wounded at Ypres. Here, Boyd's descriptions manage to breath fresh life into carnage whose horror has been well-documented. Fortuitously, he is then transferred to a propaganda unit, where his talent in photography is applied to the new realm of film. Captured by the Germans, he languishes in prison, where a guard befriends him and gives him a copy of Rousseau's Confessions to pass the time. The work insinuates itself into him, and it percolates in him in the postwar years as he works in the London silent film industry. Despite marrying and fathering several children, his ambitions remain thwarted and he moves to Berlin to pursue his pet project of making an epic version of Rousseau's book.

In Weimar Berlin he embraces the vibrant (if pfenningless) art community and reconnects with his former guard, who is now an actor. Working together, and with Armenian producers, their careers start to take off and Todd becomes embroiled in a lifelong love affair with an actress. Boyd's description of the inter-war Berlin film scene is so vivid, and the discussion of Todd's career so convincing that one is tempted to put the book down and rush to the video store to see his films. With the juice to get his pet Rousseau project made, Todd throws himself full-tilt into the project, only to see the emergence of "talkies" scuttle it. This propels him to Hollywood, where makes some quiet B-Westerns embedded with subtle social messages until t he next war finds him scrambling around as a war correspondent for third-tier U.S. newspapers.

Following WWII, he falls afoul of the McCarthy witch hunts for communist in the entertainment industry and appears before HUAC. Here, is perhaps the book's one flaw. The HUAC hearings provide Todd with an opportunity to both stay afloat by naming names (some of whom have already named him), and exact revenge on his longtime archnemesis-but he doesn't take it. Although he's presented as variously idealistic and honorable, it's the one time in the book where the character doesn't hold true. And from here, the book bogs down a little, as Todd's current situation as apparent exile starts to loom over the proceedings. Despite a somewhat unsatisiying ending, the story's overall quality is head and shoulders above the pack. Once again Boyd has researched a plethora of subjects and places, and recreates them perfectly. At the same time he occasionally deploys a light comic touch to lighten this story of the search for meaning and the role of chance in life.

An Old Man's Story.......2003-08-01

I'm a sucker for books that chronicle a man's life. I found it very enjoyable as J.J. Todd's life moves in parallel to his obsession, Roussou's CONFESSIONS.

This book reminded me of Mark Helprin's SOLDIER OF THE GREAT WAR.

Boyd knows how to make the journey worth while.......2002-05-12

You know you have read a bad book when you sit through it, sneering in disgust until you reach the end, when you throw it across the room or hide it in shame. The wonderful thing with William Boyd is he is so magical with the subtlety of his messages. Reading Confessions I knew I was in the hands of a good writer, and that I would not be let down. True to form, the ending wrapped Confessions up neatly and fittingly. Reading books like Boyd's are a relief - there is so much [junk] out there and we must all thank God there are published writers who actually have true gifts of literacy (and I challenge anyone to beat Boyd at his game, he is a true master of the english lexicon). All in all, I love this book and if you, like me, feel good books are few and far between, read this for a good dose of refreshment.

Confessions of a Hollywood Director (Scarecrow Filmmakers Series)

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Confessions of a Hollywood Director (Scarecrow Filmmakers Series)
Richard L. Bare
Manufacturer: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Entertainers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Movie Directors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Direction & Production | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Direction & Production | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0810840324

Book Description

This is the memoir of Richard Bare, sole director of the television series "Green Acres". Bare's career spanned over 40 years starting with his USC student film, " So You Want to Give Up Smoking", which resulted in a long-term contract at Warner Bros. He has directed over a dozen feature films and over 400 television shows including "Maverick", "77 Sunset Strip", "The Virginian", and the Twilight Zone". Follow Bare through his many years in film industry, which brought him into contact with Hollywood's biggest stars, such as Gary Cooper, Betty Hutton, Debbie Reynolds, Eva Garbor, Eddie Albert, and Charlie Chaplin, as well as heavyweights such as Steve Spielberg, George Lucas, and Walt Disney. Bare opens with a gripping story of how he and the crew of MGM's "The Islanders" almost lost their lives in a devastating plane crash in the Caribbean Sea. The excitement is sustained as Bare takes us through the highs and lows of his life and career, always with humor. The book contains a full filmography of Bare's career compiled by Jerry Roberts.

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