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Jonathan Lethem continues his unique brand of storytelling with this collection of seven short works. There is no mistaking his range or ability as he writes skillfully about subjects as various as Hell and the NBA. As usual, reading Lethem is a bit like staring at an upside-down Picasso in black light with 3-D glasses--intensely interesting, often confusing, rampantly inventive and never dull. The underpinning of this book is not a theme or an idea but rather Lethem's pure, unleashed talent and a mind that can come up with ideas that will jolt even seasoned SF readers.
Book Description
A dead man is brought back to life so he can support his family in "The Happy Man"; occasionally he slips into a zombielike state while his soul is tortured in Hell. In "Vanilla Dunk," future basketball players are given the skills of old-time stars like Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. And in "Forever, Said the Duck," stored computer personalities scheme to break free of their owners.
In these and other stories in this striking collection, Jonathan Lethem, author of The Fortress of Solitude and Motherless Brooklyn, draws the reader ever more deeply into his strange, unforgettable world—a trip from which there may be no easy return.
Customer Reviews:
Huge Creative Range, but Not Always Satisfactory Execution.......2005-06-21
You never know what to expect from Lethem. Compare the terse, stripped-down language of "Gun, With Occasional Music" with his hyperverbose description in "Fortress of Solitude." The man is a literary chameleon, a ventroliquist of strange new voices.
Of what I've read so far, my favorite two Lethem stories are "Mood Bender" from The Best of Crank! anthology and "The Happy Man" from this one. Like what other reviewers have said, the rest is a mixed bag. Most are interesting, and might show the beginnings of Lethem's literary aspirations, as they are more vignettes than traditional stories ("Light and the Sufferer," about crackheads shadowed by strange mute aliens, is the best of these). Frequently, I found myself impressed by the ideas far more than the stories themselves.
But the collection is definitely worth reading, especially for fans of Philip K. Dick looking for something new in SF. I enjoyed them much more than his more recent novels, where he takes a nose-dive into big-L "Literature," with its endless description and dearth of plot.
2 Great Stories, 5.... Aren't.......2001-10-05
With this collection of seven stories (three of which are reprints from Asimov's) Lethem continues to befuddle me. I loved Motherless Brooklyn, Gun With Occasional Music, and a short story in the Best of Crank anthologyÑbut I hated Amnesia Moon and another story in Best of Crank. While all the stories in this collection benefit from brilliant premises and Lethem's dexterous prose only the two best two ("The Happy Man" and "Vanilla Dunk," both from Asimov's) have true "endings." The other five trail off into nothingness or incomprehensible weirdness that make me wonder if Lethem's subconscious is bound by the old writer's adage that no ending is better than a bad ending.
"The Happy Man" features a dead man who is raised from the dead so he can financially support his family, the catch is that his consciousness must reside in hell part of the time. There he has bizarre nightmares that lead to an unfortunately predictable denouement. In "Vanilla Dunk," professional basketball players are issued suits giving them skills of former greats. From this interesting idea, Lethem fabricates one of the best sports stories I've ever read, as an obnoxious white kid wins the "draft lottery" and gets to be the next Michael Jordan and racial tensions ensue. "Light and the Sufferer" follows a crack addict, his brother, and the mysterious alien who follows them around New York. The humans' story ends rather obviously, but the significance of the aliens is left somewhat obscure. "Forever, Said the Duck" is about a cocktail party inhabited by clones of everyone who's had sex with the two hosts. It's promising enough at first, but degenerates into a psychedelic nonsense. The nifty notion of "The Hardened Criminals" is that convicts are physically hardened and used as bricks for a massive prison tower. Lethem seemed totally unable to make anything out of the premise, however, and when a young criminal meets his father in the wall, the result is rather forced. "Five ..." presents the mystery of a woman who has sex with a man and "loses" two weeks of her life. Unfortunately, the story implodes rather than leading anywhere interesting. The final story, "Sleepy People" is simply odd and makes you wonder why it was included.
Lethem is certainly a creative genius, however, he's still pretty hit or miss in harnessing his creativity. Sometimes he doesn't seem to know what to do with it and ends up writing himself into a bizarre corner. Still, I'll continue to read him to catch the sparkling stuff.
Lethem's Outstanding Range.......2001-08-02
It is the sign of a true master that none of these short stories bears any resemblance to another, yet each is in its own way outstandingly audacious.
Some worked better than others, and from reading the other reviews here it seems the selection varies from reader to reader. Yet the range and boldness of his ideas nearly staggers the imagination, and to have pulled this off -- not once, but seven times -- is astonishing.
Great writing without much plot.......2000-10-12
I loved _Gun with Occasional Music_ and _Amnesia Moon_ but this collection didn't really do it for me. _The Happy Man_ was great, I liked _And Forever, said the Duck_, _Vanilla Dunk_ was fun even though I hate sports. But like another reviewer said, no real conclusions, more like story fragments. His quirky style is great, he just needs more room to develop it.
As a huge Lethem fan, I hated this book.......2000-08-23
After reading Gun With Occasional Music, Amnesia Moon and Motherless Brooklyn and thoroughly enjoying all 3, I consider myself to be a Lethem fan--DESPITE this book.
I have not read any other short stories by Lethem, but I didn't enjoy ANY of the stories in this book. They all start with really interesting and promising ("lethemesque") premesis and then either go somewhere too wierd in what is apparently an attempt to be provocative, or go nowhere. Each could probably be a great novel if flushed out. Instead, they either gross you out, put you to sleep, or bore you to death.
Customer Reviews:
Simply beautiful.......2007-01-02
I just finished reading Strangers and Sojourners today. I am so glad I read it and I find myself wishing everyone would read this beautiful work in large part because I'd love to discuss it with the world - there is so much rich and precious insight into life in this book and it's so moving that it's difficult to just keep it all in.
This book is poetry in the form of prose. The writing is something to savor - I don't want to sound corny, but it's just delicious how the writer plays the English language like delicate watercolors to convey thoughts, images, feelings.
The story, the settings, the characters and the humble, bening brilliance behind it all - if you are a seeker, a stranger or a sojourner in life you will find this work to be precious indeed.
A Good Book, Really Is Literature.......2006-06-08
While some of the other reviewers found this book slow and disappointing, I strongly disagree.
Anne Delaney is a woman who, while prophetic and speaking for truth, struggles for most of her life with issues of belief and unbelief, trust and fear. She does find a resolution to her "shadows" in the end. Pay careful attention to the visit by Fr. Andrei while she's ill in bed, and the fact that he said a few words, Latin words, that should have been said a long time ago. The journey the family and the community take collectively is the focus of the tale. Anne Delaney and her family are the connecting threads of the story. There is little within this book that does not have some meaning if you spend a moment contemplating it. It is beautifully written and a sympathetic depiction of various forms atheism, doubt, and despair takes, while at the same time providing very real answers.
A wonderful book. It is apocalyptic literature, as compared to the apocalyptic grocery store novels that were the Left Behind series.
Strangers and Sojourners.......2005-08-02
This book is incredibly fascinating, well written, and insightful. The author's knowledge of history, geography, literature and art is amazing. His recognition of the way evil penetrates society, especially through the media is food for thought.
Not what I thought.......2005-07-17
I found this book to be disappointing. There are part of it that are insightful and make you think, but overall the story seems rather disjointed. I am not sure what the theme is supposed to be - if it's the family, the book doesn't give a complete picture of all the family and what happens to them. If it's the spiritual development, it is lacking because you never know exactly what the husband Stephen's faith consists of and the wife Anne's faith is nonexistent until at the end of her life she finds something but what it is seems vague. I really didn't much like this book - at the end I got the feeling that life is awful and then you die. It is not uplifting or inspirational in the least.
Inspiring but too slow.......2005-06-03
The author employs fascinating dialogue with great insight to characters and their spiritual journey. Unfortunately that did not start until after about 190 pages into the novel. This is a slow developing novel with too many sub-plots and problems with character development.
I can only recommend this book because of the great insights this author provided within the novel. There are small gems scattered throughout the last half of the book.
O'Brien's book Fr. Elijah is still one of my all time favorite books, so maybe I am setting the bar too high.
Average customer rating:
- Very interesting
- A Stranger And a Sojourner: A Stranger to Facts
- A VALUABLE ADDITION
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A Stranger and a Sojourner: Peter Caulder, Free Black Frontiersman in Antebellum Arkansas
Billy D. Higgins
Manufacturer: University of Arkansas Press
ProductGroup: Book
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ASIN: 1557287775 |
Book Description
This book tells the extraordinary story of Peter Caulder, a free African American settler in the Arkansas Territory. After serving as a rifleman in the war of 1812, Caulder established a community of free-born African Americans in northern Arkansas and was largely accepted by his white neighbors until an 1859 expulsion law forced the community to flee the state and settle in Missouri. To document such a man's life, and to determine how he thrived within a slave society and came to join a free black backwoods community, Higgins has skillfully interwoven oft-neglected primary sources--many of which are reproduced here--from around the country; and through the information revealed in these materials a fascinating--and groundbreaking--account of Caulder, his family, and his community has emerged.
Customer Reviews:
Very interesting.......2007-06-18
Before reviewing, in the interest of full disclosure, I should say that I am Peter Caulder's great-great-grandson.
This came as something of a shock to me, as I'd been told all my life that I was half Dutch and half Cherokee-Choctaw. Nothing about my features, save for a tan that lasts in some degree all year and a high resistance to sunburn, give much of a clue, and I generally think of myself as half white and half Amerind.
Yes, I'm certain of this; I have fond memories of my grandfather - who also had no immediately obvious african features - Henry Elbert Caulder, who is on the last line of the Caulder geneaology in the book. He had three fingers on one hand, having lost them in a combine accident, and died quite some time ago...early 1990's I believe.
So I have a bias.
That said, I really enjoyed the book. For one thing, it gives an insight into a totally different kind of black man in the early 19th century than we are generally led to believe existed - a free sharecropper who joined the army and served for 14 years, helped establish a small colony of free blacks in north-central Arkansas, helped build Ft. Hood...I am generally of empirical mind, but I didn't find enough lacking in the documentation to detract from the value of the information presented or the way it was presented.
I'll concede that much of it is second-hand and speculation, but the basic facts - that Caulder was a free black man born in South Carolina who joined the US Armed Forces with several other colored men (and family members) in his area as 'seconds,' a fairly common practice at that time (and long before the Tuskeegee Airmen, not to detract from their noble accomplishments!) There's no question that he was well-regarded by his fellow soldiers and superior officers, and he seems to have served well, if not in remarkable enough fashion to earn notable commendations.
Regrettably, he also deserted after 14 years, by all indications to be with a woman he loved and help start the aforementioned colony.
There is also no question that when Arkansas made free blacks illegal, a substantial percentage of the commune, including Caulder, moved to south-central Missouri and put down roots there. He still has descendants living there, including at least one of Henry Elbert Caulder's sisters, I *think*. I'd have to ask my mom.
Beyond my obvious personal interest though, I appreciate this book for exposing me to a new way of thinking about what life was like for black people in the years before the Civil War really started building. There is further indication in the book that Peter's father, Moses, was married to a white woman and they lived as husband and wife. Prior to Moses, there seems to be no information, so I can't say if any of my ancestors were slaves or not, and I hope I can say without offending anyone that I don't much care.
It's a fascinating, well-written story that will give you pause to challenge your own notions about the history of race in America, and I think it's well worth reading, regardless of my personal relation to the book.
I *would* like to thank Billy D. Higgins - with whom I've never spoken, nor has anyone in my family that I know of, he seems to have worked exclusively from publicly available information - for putting this book together, both from the personal point of view and from that of a reader.
A Stranger And a Sojourner: A Stranger to Facts.......2006-04-06
The book lacks any proper documentation, and it is full of speculation, in other words, a work of fiction. Higgins portrays the entire population, of Free Persons of Color in Marion County Arkansas as black, this is not the case, most of these families living on white River during that time frame that Higgins talks about in his book, were indeed Native Americans, some of these Indians were of mixed heritage, but I doubt if there were any full Blacks as Higgins tries to make you believe. If Higgins would have done any real research he would have known that there can be a difference between a Free Black Person and a Free Person of Color, anyone atempting to write a book, that covers the issue of race, should make an attemp to do proper research on the subject, before they put pen to paper .
Anyone wishing to use Higgins book for genealogical research is wasting thier time,it is full of errors in most of the ancestrial lines he quotes, but if you have time to spare and like fiction, you might enjoy it, that is if you can work your way around all of the ifs, maybes and probably so's.
A VALUABLE ADDITION .......2005-02-03
Billy D Higgins presents information in this book that broadens our understanding of US history. He tells the life story of Peter Caulder, a man of color, who grew up in an integrated rural community in Marion County, South Carolina where free black and white yeomen lived and cooperated in apparent harmony. Peter, his father, and several friends were recruited into the local milita unit as substitutes for more affluent neighbors and then into the US Rifle Regiment. These people of color served in an integrated army unit during the War of 1812 and, in Caulder's case, long after.
Caulder remained in the army for fourteen years, spending most of his time at frontier posts in northwestern Arkansas Territory. After leaving the army, he became a landowner and taxpayer in a free black enclave on the White River in Arkansas.
Unfortunately Higgins as created his book out of very limited documentation by padding fact with speculation, repitition, and extraneous information. Peter Caulder,like most of the people around him, was illiterate. The written record of his life is scantily recorded in census counts, army records and reports, sutlers' accounts, tax rolls, and the accounts of the few literate people with whom he came in contact. The book is awash in "may have", "might have", "perhaps", and "probably". The factual material is sufficient for a scholarly article, but not a book.
I still recommend it. In addition to telling Caulder's story, the book describes military life on the southeastern frontier and supplies interesting glimpses of US-Indian interaction in the wake of the Louisiana Purchase. Like NEGRO COWBOYS by Durham & Everett, A STRANGER AND A SOJOURNER compels the reader to rearrange the furniture in his attic of preconceptions.
Book Description
The social history of the communities which now make up Baraga, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon counties.
Customer Reviews:
Arthur W. Thurner is the premier Keweenaw historian.......2005-12-10
I agree with another Amazon reviewer that the reading can be a tad 'dry' at times, quite uncustomary for the author.
However, it still has that "Thurner style" fast, pleasing pace that precludes excess verbiage and allows for the covering of a rather-broad topic in a single, readable volume. Furthermore, the author is a native to the area, which doesn't hurt his case.
For 'complete' coverage of the Copper Country, look no further than Mr. Thurner's three such books.
Strangers and Sojourners.......2004-01-26
I purchased this book after a vacation to the beautiful Keweenaw Peninsula where I toured one of the copper mines mentioned in the book.
To enjoy this book it helps if one has a curiosity about the region's history it's industry and the melting pot of people that made up it's workforce.
Although a dry history at times, I believe this book to be one of if not the best on the topic. An important contribution to Michigan History. It is my hope that upon reading it people will recognize this book as the labor of love it truly is.
Average customer rating:
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Strangers and Sojourners
G.Ter Haar
Manufacturer: Peeters Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 9042906634 |
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Strangers and Sojourners: Jewish Identity in Contemporary Francophone Fiction (Francophone Cultures and Literatures, Vol. 26)
Joyce Block Lazarus
Manufacturer: Peter Lang Publishing
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0820440205 |
Book Description
Strangers and Sojourners demonstrates that there is a distinctive French Jewish literature today, characterized not by its authors' common nationality, but by their identification with a Jewish collectivity and with French language and culture. The six authors in this study, Memmi, Wiesel, Schwarz-Bart, Perec, Modiano, and Jacques, all writing after Auschwitz, engage in a quest for a modern Jewish consciousness. Torn between the opposing pulls of Judaism and French cultural values, they exhibit their tension and ambivalent feelings through the themes and structure of their fiction, and in their ambiguous relationship with the French language.
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Strangers and Sojourners: Stories from the Lowcountry
Mary Potter Engel
Manufacturer: Counterpoint
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1582432643
Release Date: 2004-05-11 |
Book Description
For readers of Allan Gurganus and John Kennedy Toole, stories set in a small Southern town where a young Jewish doctor tries to bring compassion and science to a cast of misfits, loners, and eccentrics.
A one-hundred-and-fourteen-year-old woman living alone, a deaf recluse, a Jewish alligator hunter and his New York wife, a gay African-American drummer, a woman accused of poisoning her husband, a homeless, transgendered person, a woman scarred by a dog attack, a Jewish shopkeeper with unfulfilled aspirations, a wife with an AIDS-afflicted husband--these are a few of the characters in these twenty-one linked stories from the diverse and vital rural culture of the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Struggling to wrest meaning from the tragic events of their lives, these characters create unorthodox views of God, the world, and justice, simply as a way to survive. Their stories revolve around an outsider, Dr. Jake Reuben, who during his stay in Coosawaw County is educated by the Lowcountry people into a new way of healing, and who learns that the benefits of a small measure of respect far exceed the contents of his medical bag. Full of surprises, humor, compassion, and wisdom, Strangers and Sojourners is as entertaining as it is moving.
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The Structure of the Missionary Call to the Sandwich Islands 1790-1830: Sojourners Among Strangers (Distinguished Dissertations Series, Vol 2)
Sandra Wagner-Wright
Manufacturer: Mellen University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0773499385 |
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ATTENTION OR EXPLOITATION?(Brief Article): An article from: Sojourners
Elizabeth Newberry
Manufacturer: Sojourners
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
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ASIN: B0008HB3G0
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Sojourners, published by Sojourners on July 1, 2000. The length of the article is 769 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: ATTENTION OR EXPLOITATION?(Brief Article)
Author: Elizabeth Newberry
Publication:
Sojourners (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 2000
Publisher: Sojourners
Volume: 29
Issue: 4
Page: 56
Article Type: Brief Article
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
- The Warrior's Apprentice (Vorkosigan)
- Tokyo Mew-Mew, Book 3 / Party of Five
- Tomas Sanchez
- Too Close to the Sun: The Audacious Life and Times of Denys Finch Hatton
- Treason: Liberal Treachery from the Cold War to the War on Terrorism
- Truth Machine
- Untitled
- Virtual Unrealities: The Short Fiction of Alfred Bester
- Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang: A Novel
- A Door into Ocean
Books Index
Books Home
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Gun, with Occasional Music (Harvest Book)
Men and Cartoons
