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- Gripping.
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Bullet Park
John Cheever
Manufacturer: Vintage
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The Stories of John Cheever
ASIN: 0679737871
Release Date: 1992-01-15 |
Book Description
Eliot Nailles and Paul Hammer meet, presumably by chance, on Sunday at church in Bullet Park. Nailles is open, no secrets. Hammer is, dangerously for him, not what he seems.
The third crucial character, Tony Nailles, is the one who holds the bag. How he got into it and how in the nick of time he appears to get out is the crux of this tale.
Download Description
In Bullet Park, Eliot Nailles and Paul Hammer meet, presumably by chance, on Sunday at church in Bullet Park. Nailles is open, no secrets. Hammer is, dangerously for him, not what he seems.
Customer Reviews:
Gripping. .......2007-07-28
"Bullet Park" is funny, sad and poignant. John Cheever is a latter-day Mark Twain. This 1969 work better describes the Generation Gap (see the relationship between Nailles and son Tony) than anything I've read. A superb slice of post World War II Americana.
Witnessing a gift.......2006-02-27
The opening is genius, and it grabbed me and took me straight to the conclusion. That suggests a gift for storytelling, and most writers don't have it. For that alone, anything less than four stars seems unfair here.
It's an uncomfortable subject-that alone guarantees some negative reviews here. But he tells a story so well-not perfectly, but who has more than brief moments that may be perfect-that he belongs on a short list of writers worth reading.
"Paint me a small railroad station, then".......2005-07-12
I remember reading this book when it came out, and feeling disappointed that it wasn't a more powerful, apocalyptic novel. Those were the 60s after all, a time when we still looked to our novels for the answers to the day's problems. Cheever wasn't interested in solving problems. As we now know, he was torn in a psychic split between different parts of his identity--the average family man, colorless and yet possessed by a love divine, vs. the bisexual swinger who lives for sensation and the authenticity of the gutter.
BULLET PARK represents this conflict in allegorical terms, and now I can see that the two neighbors and antagonists, Nailles and Hammer, form two halves of the same person. Well, that's a crude way of putting it, but at any rate reading back into the biography they perhaps represent two of Cheever's warring personalities, and in their conflict over the future of Tony Nailles, the appealing teenage son, they are going to war themselves. At stake is nothing less than the future of American literature.
I always thought this would have been a good movie--back in the day I wrote Cheever a note asking him to make sure that Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas would play Hammer and Nailles in the film version. He was polite but non-committal. And I don't know who would be good among today's actors. I picked Lancaster and Douglas because those two, who of course made many pictures together, gave off the almost untangible sensation of somehow having been made for each other, like the way Plato wrote that we are all looking for the other half of the soul we were once part of. Thus even when they were playing antagonists, Lancaster and Douglas still seemed to be seeking each other out, not in an erotic way especially, but in a search for meaning that would never end.
button down fiction.......2004-01-23
This is an engaging story. It takes on suburbia and treats it poetically. It tells the story of two men, Hammer and Nailles. Really, it is two novellas, the first about Nailles. There isn't much interaction between the two men until the end. It looks like a rather simple story with much subtle humor (like the two men's names) at the beginning and gets darker and more twisted as it moves forward.
Stay away from reading the book's jacket. It gives away too much of the story.
Superb suburban saga.......2002-08-12
The realm of much of Cheever's fiction is the affluent suburban sprawl of Thruway-threaded upstate New York, Westchester County and environs. Like the infamous Shady Hill of his short stories, Bullet Park is a whitebread outpost for white-collar professionals who commute daily to the city and drink heavily on weekends, and often weekdays. In a comfortable house on a comfortable street in this town lives Eliot Nailles, a chemist whose specialty is mouthwash and who plies his craft with the conviction that bad breath can lead to global destruction, a respectable family man devoted to his wife Nellie and his teenage son Tony, and an avid churchgoer, although more out of a sense of duty than piety.
Tony's privileged status as an only child and a middle class Baby Boomer has bred an adolescence painful both to himself and to his parents, and he still continues to teeter on the brink of knuckleheadedness. With the insight of a child psychologist and the wisdom of an embattled father, Cheever recounts Tony's various phases: his addiction to television, his threat against his French teacher, his strange sudden interest in poetry, the brash older woman he invites to his parents' house for lunch, and especially his mysterious depression which confines him to bed for weeks and requires the healing power of a "swami" whose idea of therapy is to repeat mantras.
One day a man named Paul Hammer and his wife Marietta move into Bullet Park and befriend the Nailleses. Through first person narration, Paul reveals his colorful past: The illegitimate child of a wealthy, sculpturally ideal father and an eccentric, bookish mother, he uses his Yale education to drift drunkenly through life, translate the work of an Italian poet, and search for the perfect home -- one with a room with yellow walls. His mother's hatred of American capitalism inspires him to murder a well-to-do suburbanite as some kind of statement against bourgeois complacency -- and the man he chooses happens to be Tony Nailles.
The climax is quite surprising and arrives at a moment of the highest suspense and tension, an unusual technique for Cheever, who tends to use dialogue, thoughts, and impressions rather than action to resolve his characters' conflicts. But Cheever's fiction is always full of surprises, even though his subject matter seldom changes; his talent lies in his ability to imagine fascinating stories lurking behind the bland facades of American suburbia and crystallize them with his reliably brilliant prose. "Bullet Park" is a satire and a comedy; it patiently observes suburban provinciality and materialism, and even raises a question about oyster etiquette, all while holding up a distorted mirror to an anticipated readership that lives in places very much like the one it describes.
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Bullet Park
John Cheever
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GKRQTM |
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
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Biting the Bullet (Jaz Parks)
Jennifer Rardin
Manufacturer: Orbit
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Binding: Paperback
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Once Bitten, Twice Shy (Jaz Parks)
ASIN: 0316020583 |
Book Description
The Raptor, the CIA's longtime nemesis, is back. Jaz Parks and her vampire boss Vayl are asked to join her brother David's special ops team to take him down. But when her spirit guide tells her that she's being lead to the wrong man, and she starts asking the wrong questions, her life -- and her job-- are threatened. And the one person who can help her--her boss-- is off on a wild goose chase. Add to the mix a pack of reavers bent on revenge along with a small army of desert monsters, and BITING THE BULLET will take you so close to the edge of your seat you may want to leave a pillow on the floor just in case.
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BULLET PARK
John Cheever
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LRB2NG |
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BULLET PARK
CHEEVER JOHN
Manufacturer: ALFRED A. KNOPF COPYRIGHT IST EDITION
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MMYLVU |
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Bullet Park
John Cheever
Manufacturer: ALFRED A KNOPF
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UCJ1DU |
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Bullet Park
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000H000RG |
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Bullet Park
John Cheever
Manufacturer: BANTAM BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TXNC2Q |
Book Description
Set in an enchanted world one step from reality, R.A. Salvatore's Spearwielder's trilogy follows the adventures of Gary Leger, who stumbles into a realm of elves and dwarves, witches and dragons-and takes up the magical spear of the land's lost hero.
Now, together for the first time in one collectible volume, these three novels showcase the very best of fantasy and adventure-the very best of R.A. Salvatore.
Featuring:
The Woods Out Back
The Dragon's Dagger
Dragonslayer's Return
Customer Reviews:
A Good Read.......2007-08-16
I thought the beginning was a bit corny and I've read better R.A. Salvatore books. If you are just starting to read the fantasy genre, I would start with R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt Dourden saga and not buy this book until you've fallen in love with his writing. However, if you are a R.A. Salvatore fan or junky I would recommend buying the book. It is still a decent, entertaining read once his characters actually make it to the fantasy land he creates.
Fantastic read for all ages.......2005-08-19
I was first introduced to Salvatore through the Drizzt novels (Dark Elf Trilogy being my first Salvatore books). When I saw this book on the shelf Salvatore's name alone sold me this book.
When I got home and finished reading it, what I found is an unusual tale with an unusual hero. How many fantasy books have you read where the hero doesn't want to be the hero? Where at times the hero bumbles and stumbles and more oftent han not needs to be saved by his friends? I have said it before and I'll say it again, I love heros who have flaws and aren't all powerful.
The Spearwielder's Tale covers the story of three books all encased in one fantastic collection. I won't go into any spoilers here, but this is truly a book for all ages. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up.
A great lighter read from Salvatore.......2005-01-22
If you've read Salvatore, you probably expect a lot of over-the-top acrobatics in the fight scenes, characters whom are developed through hundreds of pages, and a world that draws you in and never lets go. Spearwielder's Tale has all of these but not to the point of over-doing it so younger readers won't feel overwhelmed by the atmosphere or the depth at the beginning. However, by the end, there may just be another fantasy lover in the world!
If you're expecting a hero as complex as Drizzt, then you're in for a surprise! Gary Ledger, the "Spearwielder," is an unintentional hero who is taken to the land of Faerie from a "gate" outside his home. There, he learns about his role in the world and learns about himself all while "saving the world!" His development is not nearly as deep as Drizzt but then again, he spends most of the books in a land he is unfamiliar with and has little time to develop his past, his full value structure, nor his plans for the future. But, throughout the story, there is enough development for any avid reader to not be asking themselves "why?" certain things are done by the character; a welcome departure from the Drizzt series, I must say.
There is light humor throughout and it isn't distracting in the least as it comes at points in the story when there needs to be a bit of humor. Like Salvatore's Drizzt series, the book is not a laugh a minute by any means but it will keep you in good spirits and repeating the phrase "heeland coos" for a while!
One small note of caution on language: There is a single word that some parents of younger children may not want them reading. It begins with an "S" and is only said twice if memory serves. Other than that, there are a few points that the characters start to curse but are stopped by various means (nothing overly vulgar). If any of these things bother you, you may want to preview the book for your children. But let me say that the context of these are all in a humorous fashion and do not detract in the least from the overall story and any child age 12 and up should have no problems reading this. And almost every "PG" movie has worse language and situations than Spearwielder!
Overall, this is a great read. The Trilogy books each end at a great point but you will always want to keep reading so the "easy pace" you impose on yourself may not be able to be kept! A book per day is the pace I read it at and I could see having read it much faster if I'd had the time. Light? Yes. Worth the read? Very much so!
Entertaining... waiting for more from Salvatore.......2005-01-05
Good read.
This book is not nearly as "deep" as the Dark Elf series (and not meant to be!)but provides an entertaining storyline with good character development. The book covers a wide range of fantasy races... much like other Salvatore releases.
Spearwielder is a lighter read than the Dark Elf books and would hold younger readers' attention as well.
Customer Reviews:
Light, but highly-entertaining.......2007-10-05
Life is certainly not turning out for Gary Leger the way he had hoped that it would - trapped in a factory job filled with mindless repetition, broken only by the wandering of Gary's imagination. However, when he finds himself spirited away to the land of Faerie, he finds himself drawn along on the dangerous quest of the elfin lord Kelsenellenelvial Gil-Favadry (call him Kelsey, everyone else does). Now life is anything but boring! Wrapped in the armor of Cedric Donigarten, and carrying a broken magical spear that must be reforged, Gary must complete the quest, and, if at all possible, stay alive!
R.A. Salvatore is best known for his excellent Drizzt Do'Urden stories, but those are not the only great works that he has produced. The Spearwielder tales are, admittedly, somewhat light. The characters are quite interesting, but the land of Faerie is somewhat shallow, not giving the reader the feel of a real world, but seeming more like a stage for the characters to perform on.
But, that said, I did enjoy this book's take on dwarves and leprechauns. Also, I found the storyline to be interesting, and I really enjoyed the action. So, if you are looking for another Lord of the Rings, you will be disappointed. But, if you want a highly-entertaining swords-and-sorcery, elves and dwarves type story, then this is the book for you. I highly recommend it.
Unoriginal and unbelievable.......2005-06-18
Ok so it's a fantasy .. so how can it be believable you may ask! It like reading a story about the A-Team in fantasy land. Endless encounters with foes that the party genarally escapes from unscratched. That is until the end .. which I will save until the last paragraph in case you still want to read the book after this review.
I just finished reading this as the first part of the series, the Spear Wielders Tale. So we know from page one of chapter one that it's going to be about someone from the US transported to a magic land, but the way he gets there is nothing original. Why have a US citizen be transported? Why not just find a character from their own land to wear the armour. It's not like it fits Gary properly anyway?
Gary, who is a young man magically transported to fairy land by Pixies to meet a Leprechaun. The leprechaun was in the debt of an elf. The elf has superhuman ( or should that be superelf) powers. There is nothing this elf can't do. Capture Leprecauns, kill trolls with his sword, enslave dwarves, shot ropes from a 100 yards with his bow and arrow, fight dragons .. he makes the A-team members look like amateur police cadets.
As for Gary .. yes he is a bit of a loser, but he somehow manages to perform remarkable feats of endurance in a suit of armour with which he is totally unfamiliar.
Gary comes up with this 'brilliant' escape plan from an island which involves a giant. How stupid are we supposed to believe these characters are, that none of the others could envision the same obvious escape plan.
Finally the battle .. (stop reading now if you still want to read this book) .. with the dragon. An elf armed only with a sword and shield is fighting a dragon. The shield stops the dragons breath from harming him, even though the rocks around him are bubbling from the heat. When the dragon finally gets astrike on the elf, the leprechaun conjures an illusion that not only fools the dragon into believing the elf has won, but also this illusion can somehow pick up a shield and hold the dragons mouth open with it.
On the up side, it is a light and very fast read (you don't want to spend time goiing over every detail because you'll find they just don't add up).
Finally I would like to give the book an extra half star just the attempt at humour, but I just can't bring myself to find 2 stars.
I am going to persevere with the two sequals just because they just can't get any worse.
Salvatore at his Best (yes, even better than Drizzt).......2004-11-04
I know I'm not following the popular belief that R. A. Salvatore's (RAS) best work is Drizzt. Or even Demon Wars. I've read every single title by RAS (except Tarzan) and have enjoyed all of them on different levels. But I've always listed the Woods Out Back as my favorite.
The story revolves around our human hero, Gary Leger, an elf, Kelsey, a dwarf, Geno, and a leprechaun, Mickey. Gary is transported to an alternate realm and is unwillingly sent on a quest along with his unlikely companions. You may find the action a little slow and unrefined compared to other works by RAS, but this story is mainly about the characters. These are real individuals that you can easily relate to. You may not know a dwarf, but you probably know someone who acts like one. And even RAS admits that many of them are based on people from his world. I guess it's almost like a fantasy version of Bob's autobiography.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy this wonderful tale of a man's adventure through an unknown world. You'll quickly find out that strong characters make a great story.
Gary, the Ultimate Loser.......2004-06-11
Our main character, Gary, is magically transported to a "Fairy World". He asks little or no questions what so ever (It's just a dream, so enjoy it, RIGHT!). Does what he is told, risks life and limb for the ones who have basically imprisoned him in this world. Then the ending... What a loser, in this world as well as the Fairy World.
Salvatore vs Anderson.......2004-03-01
Read Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions." Then, as soon as you're done, read R.A. Salvatore's "The Woods Out Back." They are essentially the same story. A mundane figure from `our world' finds himself in an alternate world (both involve the myth of Faerie), where he is chosen to wear the armor and guise of an old hero, and take up that hero's weapon - which, in both cases, is essentially a spear, or lance. The `stranger in a strange land' then becomes embroiled in a plot to save the world, confronts witches and trolls, befriends strange-accented little people (Hugi and Mickey are nearly the same character!), and ultimately tries to use his modern logic to win the day in a world that defies logic in all its forms. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Salvatore flatters Anderson in the same manner he often flatters Tolkien. If a novel's quality is gauged by its originality, then "The Woods Out Back," as you can tell, comes up short. Even so, it's a fast-paced read, and colorful enough that it differentiates itself a little from Anderson's likewise compelling (but superior) novel. Still, there's something to be said for borrowing concepts so blatantly from other writers. For goodness' sake, the lead characters in both "WOB" and "THaTL" are even similiar PHYSICALLY! I liked Salvatore's take on this kind of story, if only moderately, but I can't resist being the one to point out the glaring parallels between his work and Anderson's. Keep it in mind.
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Out of the back woods
Eldon Clay Frye
Manufacturer: Carlton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Protestant | Church History | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Presbyterian | Protestantism | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0806219068 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on October 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1830 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Out of the woods.(Sports)(Alsea football coach Laric Cook is back on the sidelines after surviving life-threatening accident)
Publication:
The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: October 1, 2002
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: E7
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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The woods loafer's gun: Winchester's darling .25-35 WCF is back.(OUT OF THE BOX[TM]) : An article from: Guns Magazine
Holt Bodinson
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
Sports | Subjects | Books | Baseball | Basketball | Biographies | Books on CD | Books on Cassette | Coaching | Extreme Sports | Football (American) | General | Golf | Hiking & Camping | Hockey | Hunting & Fishing | Individual Sports | Miscellaneous | Mountaineering | Other Team Sports | Racket Sports | Rodeos | Soccer | Softball | Training | Water Sports | Winter Sports
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ASIN: B000BIUWNG
Release Date: 2005-09-21 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Guns Magazine, published by Thomson Gale on November 1, 2005. The length of the article is 1056 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The woods loafer's gun: Winchester's darling .25-35 WCF is back.(OUT OF THE BOX[TM])
Author: Holt Bodinson
Publication:
Guns Magazine (Magazine/Journal)
Date: November 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 51
Issue: 11
Page: 34(2)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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Out of This World - A Collection of Hermits & Recluses Their Ways of Life & the Stories Behind Their Retreats. Collyer Brothers, Mary E. Wood, Mary & William Colgate Colby , Leary Sisters, Baby Doe Tabor, Hetty Green, Emily Thorn ETC
ILLUSTRAted 15 Photographs, FORMER OWNER STAMP Back Blank Flyleaf, Photographic Endpapers, Preface Helen Worden Erskine
Manufacturer: PUTNAM, Collyer Bros.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JD9YQ4 |
Product Description
The 3-Volume Series. "Gary Leger thought life after college would bring great things. Instead, he's stuck in a dead-end job and finding that the real world isn't all it's cracked up to be. But when he walks into the woods behind his house one day, Gary finds a world beyond the 'real world' - a realm of elfs and dwarfs and witches and dragons. There he discovers that he is the only one who can wear the armor of the land's lost hero - and wield a magical spear. And if he doesn't, he can never go home again....
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The Woods Out Back
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GTDYZS |
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