Book Description
Boxing gyms are uncovered in all of their glorious grunge in these photographs and essays that reveal both the stark reality of success and the possibility of promise in the sport of boxing. This intimate look at the fighters, trainers, and hangers-on who inhabit these gyms brings to life the tough—and surprisingly tender—world of American boxing. Evocative images reveal the pain, sacrifice, and discipline of the "sweet science" as well as the triumphs, tragedies, and big dreams of the men and women who practice it. A dozen essays by veteran boxing writers such as Katherine Dunn, Carlo Rotella, Kate Sekules, F. X. Toole, Lucius Shepard, Robert Anasi, Loic Wacquant, Joe Rein, and Ralph Wiley explore the community and culture of boxing gyms, an endangered American institution that serves not only as the training ground for the next generation of great fighters, but as a sanctuary in tough neighborhoods, a lifeline for troubled kids, and a repository of a centuries-old tradition of pugilistic knowledge.
Customer Reviews:
Good Choice for Boxing Fans.......2006-08-04
This book is filled with inspiring photographs as well as many interesting, educational, and thoughtful texts to go along. I love to watch boxing and admire the heart of the sport. This book encaptures that vulnerable side of the sweet science. I highly reccommend this to all boxing fans.
Balanced writing, brilliant photographs--unignorable!.......2005-06-06
Shadow Boxers is a miracle of a Father's Day gift. Not without a fight, however, will pop hold onto the book--not while his wife and children are around to read it and, of course, look at it.
The universal appeal of Shadow Boxers owes much to its balanced tone, primal subject, and powerful contributors. Here are writers contending in their own prize rings--Esquire, The New Yorker, National Geographic, Time Magazine, Harper's--for trophies as big as the National Book Award and The Best American Sports Writing. Katherine Dunn, especially, packs a mean punch; again and again she finds your solar plexus before you've finished her first paragraph. (A sample: "One day many years ago, I rode my press credential into a busy boxing gym and was shocked to see a hard-punching monster known as Frankie `The Preacher Man' doing push-ups in the ring with his year-old son sprawled on his back. Amid the din of ringing bells, drumming speed bags, and smacking leather, the baby slept, his long lashes fanned across the chubby cheeks, rocking in the smooth rise and fall of his father's powerful shoulders.")
The photographs alone are worth the cost of admission. Jim Lommasson approaches his subject with the hard-hitting nostalgia of Annie Leibovitz, alongside whose photos of bluesmen, rockers, and gospel singers these fighter shots necessarily belong. Indeed, Pottery Barn has yet to make the coffee table worthy of holding Lommasson and Liebovitz's rock-solid studies of two deep-dyed national passions: Shadow Boxers and American Music (Random House, 2003).
Shadow Boxers opens with a foreword by heavyweight champ Joe Frazier (sole inspiration of the beef-punching scene in Rocky) and features a brief but vivid history of boxing gyms.
The ensuing essays abound with keenly observed ironies about the noble science (e.g., "The game is brutal, but its core is strangely gentle"; "It's dawned on me over the years that there is less macho posturing in boxing gyms than in the average corporate boardroom"), and with crisp details (e.g., the memorable description of Larry Holmes' "jump jab," and the sketch of a city gym in Portland, Oregon, where "a speed bag hung several feet above a wooden pallet, which was used to help children reach the leather punching bag"). So, too, do the essays abound with sharp personal accounts (e.g., a Golden Glove champ who "never weighed more than 140 pounds" and who first entered the gym owing to his girlfriend's parting shot: "you're not man enough"), and with touching accounts of young hoods meeting the coaches who might not only change their lives but save them.
To read Shadow Boxers is to feel the strange warmth, the beckoning glow of boxing gyms, those shabby sanctuaries where individuals can still find a devoted mentor, a group of brothers and sisters, a path toward redemption.
A unique insight into the world of professional gyms.......2005-06-06
Enhanced with a foreword by the renowned world heavyweight champion Joe Frazier, Shadow Boxers: Sweat, Sacrifice & The Will To Survive is compiled and edited by photographer Jim Lommasson, who has been documenting boxing gyms from more than a decade. Informed and informative essays are contributed by boxing enthusiasts Katherine Dunn, Carlo Rotella, Kate Sekules, Lucius Shepard, Robert Anasi, Ralph Wiley, F. X. Toole, Loic Wacquant, Joe Rein, Rene Denfeld, Larry Seurynck, Timothy Taylor, and Mark Kram, Jr. With the inclusion of 110 duotone and 65 color photographs, this 176-page, strongly recommended compendium provides a unique pictorial insight into the world of professional gyms and what those men and women who aspire to excel in their chosen sport/profession and is of especial interest to dedicated fans of boxing, as well as students of American popular sports culture.
Book Description
Prince Naseem is the one of most charismatic boxers the sport has ever seen. From his early days at Brendan Ingle's gym in Wincobank, Sheffield, he fought his way to his first world title in 1995, and is now a household name. The Shadows of Boxing visits Prince Naseem's roots, chronicles the contrasting fortunes of the hard men of Ingle's gym, and looks at how the Hamed family have coped with the incredible pressures of fame. It also features the first major interview with Naz since his defeat at the hands of Marco Antonio Barrera.
Amazon.com
San Francisco boxing columnist Billy Nichols figured he'd covered all the angles and pinned the blame where it belonged for the pair of killings that lay at the racing heart of Eddie Muller's first noirish crime novel, The Distance. But he didn't know the half of it. Now, in Shadow Boxer, the loose ends that Nichols left hanging entangle him in a conspiracy involving coerced testimony, a multi-million-dollar bunco racket, and stolen evidence that the reporter fears could liberate the man accused of murdering his lover, Claire Escalante.
It's late 1948, only months after Claire's death, and Nichols (aka "Mr. Boxing") would rather see her killer "rot in a prison cell, for life," than help him prove that he's being sacrificed to cover up a more extensive criminal operation. Yet when the defendant's former secretary--hiding out to protect her life--shares with Nichols a file of dubious trust documents linking her ex-boss to a prominent but freshly deceased lawyer, the newspaperman smells a story--a stink, really--that carries all the way up from San Francisco's ringside seats, through a backroom abortion clinic, and into the city's top law-enforcement offices. Nichols, shaped by both the newsroom and the sometimes larcenous sport he loves, is an appropriately flawed protagonist, engagingly employed by Muller, a film-noir authority (The Art of Noir) and the son of a renowned Bay Area boxing writer. Shadow Boxer spends regrettably less time in seedy arenas and sweaty locker rooms than its predecessor, and its convoluted plot may knock some readers for a loop. However, Muller's hard-muscled prose and fast-count pacing still make his second novel a main attraction. --J. Kingston Pierce
Book Description
In his celebrated debut novel, The Distance, author Eddie Muller created a world of "gritty authenticity" (Booklist), plunging readers into the atmospheric and electrifying boxing culture of the 1940s, as seen through the eyes of morally complex and charismatic boxing columnist Billy Nichols.
Now, in Shadow Boxer, Billy is back on the beat for the San Francisco Inquirer. But his problems are hardly behind him. A man's in jail, accused of murder. But did he do it? By aiding a beguiling woman, Billy stumbles on evidence that could exonerate the defendant, who only months before was one of the town's top fight promoters. One big problem -- the victim was Billy's secret lover, and he has no desire to help set her killer free.
But once his reporter's instincts kick in, Billy can't let go of a twisting trail of suspense that stretches from Tenderloin fight clubs to Marina district mansions, from mountain retreats to the Hall of Justice. He squares off with an intriguing cast of characters: a bombastic novelties promoter, a former colleague turned muckraking lawyer, a society doyenne on the skids, a crooked booze distributor, a shifty deputy DA, an opera-crooning pugilist, a homespun abortionist, a crafty and celebrated defense attorney, a murderous stalker -- and the unfathomable Virginia Wagner, a leggy legal secretary with many more secrets than just the gun in her handbag.
Clues are unveiled, allegiances formed, friendships betrayed. Billy wonders if he's nothing more than a shadow boxer futilely sparring with phantoms. And if he discovers the truth about the murder and the shocking facts behind it, will his conscience force him to come forward -- or to bury the evidence?
In Shadow Boxer, Eddie Muller takes risks unusual in crime fiction, making clear that when it comes to pitch-perfect noir inflection and top-shelf suspense, nobody does it better.
Customer Reviews:
A Good Little Noir Book.......2005-04-30
2nd book in the Billy Nichols series; Historical Mystery.
Eddie Muller is the son of a newspaper reporter, and that background really helped him create a very well described late 1940s California scene (at least I thought he was, though his official website does not note this fact in his biography). Muller's first book in the series, The Distance, has won the Shamus Award, the Mystery Ink Gumshoe Award for Best first Novel and was nominated for the Anthony, Macavity, and Barry awards. A non-fiction work that Muller apparently worked on between the Nichols books was nominated for the Edgar and Macavity awards (The Art of Noir). Unfortunately, his second Billy Nichols book is seemingly lacking in nominations or awards (and none of his other books has so far been nominated for anything).
The first book was deeply involved in Nichols working as "Mr. Boxing," the premier boxing journalist in California. The second book, on the other hand, while including some boxing activity, has Nichols submerge himself into the world of financial/business journalism. The man who Nichols helped put in jail was apparently involved in a financial fraud/scam in California, involving some high ranking people (or at least highly regarded people). Nichols, though reluctant to help Burney Sanders, decides to examine the situation and acquires help along the way from one of the best financial journalist of the era (though he is now working outside journalism). Along the way Nichols ends up trying to help Sanders former secretary, who apparently had fled the scene when the trouble started in the first book.
A very detailed, imaginative historical noir book that is not as good as the first book in the series (the first book was given 4.60 stars out of 5; the second barely makes it over 4 stars).
A strong sense of place.......2004-03-02
San Francisco Inquirer boxing journalist Billy Nichols is back. This book picks up exactly where THE DISTANCE leaves off. Burney Sanders, the man accused of killing Billy's mistress and wife of boxer Hack Escalante is in jail requesting Billy's presence. He claims he was framed by some of the city's top officials. He convinces Billy to help him or else he will let all know of Billy's infidelity. As Billy searches for the truth, the reader is treated to a panoramic view of San Francisco of the 1940s.
SHADOW BOXER by following so carefully on the events of THE DISTANCE actually requires the reader to read both books in order. What is most notable about this particular work is the extremely strong sense of place-- San Francisco of 1948. Events are even created to highlight certain areas of the city such as a scene at an amusement park no longer in existence. There is a dark edged noir atmosphere throughout the book. Characters are gritty and violence quite common. However, the plot is extremely difficult to navigate. Nonetheless, characters and setting easily make up for the convoluted story line. I'm not sure I will come back for more but certainly didn't regret what time I spent with Billy Nichols.
Mr. Boxing has the knockout punch.......2003-12-17
If you want the old golden era of Hollywood in a book then look no further. Shadow Boxer is a wonderfully plotted, atmospheric book of the forties. The mood and style is captured vividly in the lead protaganist, Billy Nichols. Billy is the boxing columnist for the San Francisco Inquirer and he gets deeply embedded in mayhem, murder and femme fatales.
In his Through the Ropes Column Billy writes:
Life is fixed. That's why I offer simple advice to any amateur turning pro; Kid don't leave it up to the judges. Get yourself a knockout punch.
Shadow Boxer has a punch that takes your breath away. This is one entertaining read. Don't miss out.
Like the story, not the derivative style.......2003-07-25
Let me start by saying I didn't read the first Muller book, and since so much of that is backstory for the second (in which Claire's muder is "re-solved!") it might not be worth my time or money. That said -- I happen to like convoluted plots that aren't easily unraveled by the reader if they are well laid out, and a good "paper trail" mystery can really hold my attention -- this one is and did. If this makes sense: I liked the people but not all of the characters, and the problem is the writing.
I see by his other work that he has written extensive non-fiction about film noir, and unfortunately he makes the mistake (as many who tackle this oh-so-difficult genre do) of trying to be Raymond Chandler. As was pointed out in the excellent PBS American Cinema series episode devoted to noir, Chandler was a unique voice in American literature; no one wrote like him before he came along, and no one has since. Copying Chandler hasn't worked in the past, doesn't work now, and won't work in the future. For this reason, I am only giving the book 3 stars. The story is better than that, but the derivative style detracted a lot for me. When I find myself laughing out loud on page 1 because it is so overloaded with Chandler-wannabe similes, this is not a good sign. Far better is Pelecanos' "The Big Blowdown" -- he doesn't try to write in anyone's voice but his own and this makes "Blowdown" the hands-down winner as a noir novel. I'm hoping Muller tones down the over-writing and develops his own voice as well. There's a future (for me as a reader) if he does.
Average customer rating:
- Boxing and Growing Up
- Shadow Boxer
- Awesome story about courage and wisdom.
- Shadow Boxer -- a mystical student from Westchester
- Sad, and tragic
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Shadow Boxer
Chris Lynch
Manufacturer: HarperTeen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
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Lynch, Chris
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ASIN: 0064471128 |
Book Description
I was nine years old the first time I hit my father and made him bleed. He was proud.
It's now five years after his father's death, and fourteen-year-old George is the man of the family. He knows all too well how brutal the life of a fighter can be. Didn't it kill his father?
But Monty, George's younger brother, has a completely different attitude. Boxing comes naturally to him. It's in his blood. He thinks of it as his father's legacy.
Unless George figures out a way to stop it, will boxing kill Monty, too?
Customer Reviews:
Boxing and Growing Up.......2007-07-04
When he was nine and his brother Monty was seven, George's father died from a brain hemorrhage due to years of boxing. Before he died, he spent a lot of time with George, teaching him life lessons, lessons about fighting and about learning the right way not to have to fight. George took these lessons seriously, and after his father died he vowed to watch out for Monty and to make sure these same lessons were passed along.
Everything was easy when Monty was little and looked up to George. But now that he is eleven, he is beginning to think for himself and to question his big brother's words. The most problematic issue is that Monty seems to be far too interested in boxing for George's or their mother's taste. He doesn't remember how his father's mind went in the end and what boxing did to him; he only thinks of his father as some sort of hero. George is terrified that his little brother will turn out like their father did. But how can he make Monty see the truth about boxing without making their father look bad?
I liked that this novel was told in short stories, most of them not about boxing, but all of which gave a well-rounded picture of what the relationship was between George and Monty. I also liked that this was a novel about discovery and growing up, instead of just being about boxing as I had expected.
I thought that George was a bit mean and overbearing, though. I can understand that he was trying to protect his brother, but if I were Monty, I would not have stood for his telling me what to do for as long as Monty did.
Shadow Boxer.......2003-05-21
Shadow Boxer by Chris Lynch was a great book for the younger teenage audience. This heartfelt story is about an older brother trying to guide and show his younger brother the way because their father is not around to do it. Their father died several years before from boxing and Monty, the youngest of the two brothers had caught the boxing bug. George, his mother, and the boys uncle Archy do everything they can to get Monty out of the ring. In the end they expose him to the truth to bring him back to reality.
The story takes place in inner city New York and deals with many of the hardships that inner city youth face. The boys are introduced to a ýbig brotherý because there mom fears it may be the only way to save Monty and that it may do the boys some good. George takes this offensively because it makes him feel as though he has screwed up on raising his younger brother who assumes responsibility for.
I would recommend reading this book because it is an easy read for the high school level and it is a really great book. From the beginning you connect with the characters and really get an understanding for why they are the way they are. As an older brother I really enjoyed seeing how George felt the responsibility for his younger brother and always wanted to protect him.
Awesome story about courage and wisdom........2002-12-15
This book is about a courageous boy named George, who goes through many hardships in his life. When he was just a little boy, he knocked his father, and made him drip blood. But his father wasn't mad, he was happy. This is an excellent story to move your heart. When hardships and friendships intervene with each other. Monty, Geoge's little brother is a young little man, who want to be just like his father was. A great boxing hero. But George doesn't want Monty to die a tradgic death like his father. But the spirit of Monty is too strong. Will George stop Monty? Or will the past repeat itself?
Shadow Boxer -- a mystical student from Westchester.......2002-10-07
Shadow Boxer is a book in my opinion with mixed emotions. I feel that it is mostly a tragic story. It has humor every now and then about little things like an elephant man. In this book, the characters are misled about their father. The kids grow up thinking that their father is one of the best boxers there ever was, but later in the story they find out that he isn't that great of a boxer. I also think that George (one of the main characters) loses a large, important, part of his life growing up being considered as the man of the house. I feel that it was a large weight put on his shoulder at the young age that he has. To me this book is very realistic. The author realy makes the characters come alive, and you can really feel the emotins that author discribes.
Sad, and tragic.......2002-09-10
This book, really hit the spot. As I read it to my...brother, he even cried. Although, he didn't understand a thing. Chris Lynch made is so sad, funny and everything else a person can want. A boys life, as boxing makes it go down, and all the other side stories
Average customer rating:
- Turbulent and old-fashioned, in a good way
- love,sex,desire and memories
- Best book I read in years
- Yawn
- A great adventure story
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The Shadow Boxer
Steven Heighton
Manufacturer: Mariner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Heighton, Steven
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Afterlands
ASIN: 0618139338 |
Book Description
This is the story of Sevigne Torrins, poet and boxer, who sets out to make it in the world but whose sexual and professional misadventures take him from a demanding, muscular boyhood on the shores of Lake Superior to the trendy, bohemian life of Toronto and even to Egypt. In the tradition of such classics as LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL and JUDE THE OBSCURE, THE SHADOW BOXER is that rarest of contemporary performances, an ambitious, unabashedly romantic story about an exposed soul determined to live life to the hilt. Only a writer of Steven Heighton's extraordinary gifts could pull it off with such unsentimental passion and literary grace.
Customer Reviews:
Turbulent and old-fashioned, in a good way.......2004-06-03
Steven Heighton's book is like something written in the 1940s, with all the passion, turmoil and poetry of that era. It's hard to recconcile this overwhelming impression with the chronology of the storyline that places the action in a different era. I wish Otto Preminger were still around, it would take a film-maker of his magnitude, unafraid of the corny and the obvious, to tackle this novel and whip it into a sprawling film. Heighton is loaded with talent and the relationship between Sevigne Torrins and his father is magnificently drawn. Like Michael Ondaatje, Heighton is a Canadian poet of repute but the parallels stop there. I liked "The Shadow Boxer" a lot and I wonder why it wasn't more of a success in the USA. Indeed I wonder how it did in Canada, where it might be considered a book sort of in the vein of Leonard Cohen's turbulent novel "Beautiful Losers" from the 1960s.
love,sex,desire and memories.......2003-10-28
I've read all of Heightons work and found SHADOW BOXER to be the 'can't put down book' of the year. The book is full of emotion a real man vs nature / man vs himself reflection. Men of all ages should read this book it makes you think and then makes you pause and evaluate where and what your battles may be.
Best book I read in years.......2002-10-23
Great impression I got since first pages of this surprising and eminent work of Steven Highton an author still unknown for me. The history, the atmosphere, the rithm and superb quality of writing has touched and troubled me. I found in this book the remote and always powerful world of images, sounds and architecture I received when I met the great authors of universal literature of all the times. I even was obliged to stop some times the reading because of the excessive charge of emotion and toughts the book comunicates with the strenght of an immense river. The Shadow Boxer has been a capital experience I wouln't hope to meet again in a young author og these days and I recommend this book to everyone is looking to find in books the supreme and rare deed of beauty and truth. Hoping Steven Highton will come to Italy and meet his italian readers.
Yawn.......2002-04-12
I bought this book because the title intrigued me and the opening paragraphs were well written. I wish I hadn't bothered. A novel that showed promise quickly degenerated into a self absorbed whine of the I'm-such-a-poor-misunderstood-artist type. My advise -- skip this one.
A great adventure story.......2002-04-05
THE SHADOW BOXER is a great coming of age story that becomes a love story, adventure story, and, at the end, a meditation on what really matters in life. I've not read any of Heighton's other books, but his romantic style and deeply feeling narrative make me want to -- I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for something to curl up with on a rainy day.
Average customer rating:
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Shadow Boxer
Steven Heighton
Manufacturer: GRANTA BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OJJPYO |
Average customer rating:
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The Shadow Boxer
Noel Behn
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K08B06 |
Average customer rating:
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The shadow boxers
Edith Heal
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006AUJV4 |
Average customer rating:
- Simply outstanding
- It's Different...
- Astonishingly Beautiful
- One of the best books I've ever read.
- A Truly Great Work & roosters best friend
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The Book of the Dun Cow
Walter Wangerin
Manufacturer: HarperOne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Book of Sorrows, The
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As For Me And My House Crafting Your Marriage To Last
ASIN: 0060574607
Release Date: 2003-08-14 |
Book Description
Walter Wangerin's profound fantasy concerns a time when the sun turned around the earth and the animals could speak, when Chauntecleer the Rooster ruled over a more or less peaceful kingdom. What the animals did not know was that they were the Keepers of Wyrm, monster of evil long imprisoned beneath the earth ... and Wyrm, sub terra, was breaking free.
Customer Reviews:
Simply outstanding.......2007-08-23
The Book of the Dun Cow is a masterpiece. I was completely pulled into Wangerin's world of roosters who rule not only their coop, but the surrounding area and it's animals.
This story has everything - comedy, tragedy, flawed characters who nonetheless rise to the occasion (mostly) and do the right thing against terrible evil.
The one small thing I found annoying, contra some other reviewers, was Mundo Cani dog - he was just *too* annoying, and I couldn't sympathize with him much because he brought so much abuse on himself by wallowing in self-pity. But that is a *very* minor point in the midst of a truly great book.
It's Different..........2006-12-11
This ain't your hyped-up alien conspiracy book, or your crazy new fad dieting book. This here is something truly different. At first glance, it seems to be a typical talking barnyard animal fable, but when the Cockatrice is born from a creature beneath the Earth, the whole barnyard atmosphere is instantly tossed asunder. I was disappointed to see that author Walter Wangerin didn't in fact invent the snake/rooster monster that is the Cockatrice, but it's neat how he weaved a lesser-known mythological creature into his barnyard tale.
The Cockatrice may be the most evil villian in any book I've ever read, even more so than Dicken's Quilp, so naturally I thought, "Hey, this book is pretty good." I even like the hero of the book - the plain, ordinary rooster Chauntecleer. He's pretty sour for a hero, always mad about something. It's funny.
Even though the violence in this book is extraordinarily plentiful, and Chauntecleer's dream about the river is as heavily powerful and frightening as drama can get, the book manages to end in a light-hearted comical routine between Chauntecleer and a wacky weasel. Strange, strange, strange.
The whole Earth is left with a literal scar after the events in this book take place, and I can definitely see how one can interpret this particular scenario Biblically. Biblical themes abound in the text, but I found the Earth's scar example to be the most obvious. Also of note - The Dun Cow herself seems to be some kind of representation of the Holy Spirit.
One thing I really like about this book is it makes you want to read the sequel without putting any kind of "To Be Continued" message at the end. Of course, it leaves the possibility for a sequel open, but doesn't demand that the possibility be met.
Overall, an awesome book. The worst thing I can say about it is there's a typo in the table of contents, and I wasn't too crazy about Mundo Cani Dog. Everything else is gold.
Astonishingly Beautiful.......2006-11-23
I've been a fan of Walter Wangerin Jr.'s writing for many years and somehow put off reading "The Book of the Dun Cow" until recently. One of his most highly acclaimed works, the book weaves a hypnotic tale of the war between good and evil as experienced by a number of memorable characters...all of them animals (barnyard and otherwise). The main character is the rooster, Chauntecleer...the leader of his group of loyal animals. His stunning journey from "keeper of the coop" to spiritual leader and warrior is at the center of this amazing tale. I suspect that some readers, like myself, might be somewhat reticent to read a book populated with talking barnyard animals...but...the grandeur of this tale coupled with Wangerin's amazing talent transform it into a true work of art. I actually realized somewhere around pages 140ff. that the story had become so powerful that, for lack of a better word, the experience of reading had become mildly "electrifying". This is a stunning example of what a writer of Wangerin's caliber can do with a simple story.
This is not just one of his best works...this is a true -masterwork-.
I'm currently reading the sequel..."The Book of Sorrows" and am still amazed. Walter Wangerin, Jr. is just one of those authors that you just can't help sharing with others!
One of the best books I've ever read........2006-09-17
Walt Wangerin Jr. is a genius of storytelling! This novel goes beyond allegory to create a new world with different rules than ours (talking animals, spiritually significant cows, roosters that are natural leaders, etc), yet which is powerfully helpful in understanding the moral, emotional, and spiritual realities we deal with everyday. The Book of the Dun Cow (and its sequel "The Book of Sorrows") are on my shelf with Lord of the Rings and Narnia.
A Truly Great Work & roosters best friend.......2005-02-12
Before my review of the rest of the book I would like to spend a paragraph in praise of my favorite character from the book. Mundo Cani, if you are a dog person, will evoke such emotion from you that you will fall in love with him within bare lines. If you are not a dog person, and, in fact, hate all dogs, it might take as much as a few pages for you to fully enjoy and care for this humble and self-sacrificing character. Mundo Cani is worth the price of the book all by himself, and the depth of the other characters that play their parts in this beautiful story will simply spoil you for the flat and tasteless fare that many of us sometimes find we have accidentally become accustomed to.
As a reader, I regretfully admit, I am fairly easy to please. However, I am happy to amend that quality with a very critical nature when it comes to comparing newer or lesser-known writings with my established favorites among classics. Very few works, in my opinion, can stand rank file with the best of, to name a few, Lewis, Tolkien, and Peake. If anyone had told me before I read this Book of the Dun Cow, that it should surpass Watership Down, that I should stand in awe of a cow the way I stood for Galadriel, that I should fear maggots and a simple cockatrice more than any foul thing born in the darks of Mordor, that my mind should be as stirred by prose concerning a chicken coop as it was by the darkly beautiful language that told of the Castle Gormenghast, and that this same story should be imbued with meaning so as to rival or even surpass the great works of C.S. Lewis, I would have spit on their forehead, laughed in their face, and made a crude reference concerning a deficiency in their genetic background. As it is, I must swallow all of my pride and humbly apply to any readers of this review, that Wangerin has taken a barnyard where others have taken castles and great forests, and created characters of cows where others used tall elves and mysterious wizards, and, with these common instruments, has created an epic work of fantastic literature that can stand fairly beside any of these others' greatest works.
Average customer rating:
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The Book of the Dun Cow
Jr., Walter Wangerin
Manufacturer: London Allen Lane 1980.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0713913282 |
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Animal Farm/The Book of The Dun Cow (Center for Learning Curriculum Units)
George Orwell ,
Walter Wangerin , and
Jayne R. Smith
Manufacturer: Center for Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 156077150X |
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