A PRAYER FOR THE DYING is a terrific account of another plague if you have the guts for it. A doctor returns from duties during the Civil War and finds his entire small town is dying from a disease. He has to decide who to treat and how. Great book. Told in poetic language. O'Nan has said he alternates short books with long ones and this like Last Night at the Lobster is a shorty. I have most of Woodrell's books but this is one (Tomato Red) I haven't read. Winter's Bone is my favorite. Two books from Hard Case Crime, both with Jason Starr.
I don't hear much from HCC anymore. Are they still publishing? The Awakening, read it for a course. And, of course, it is a classic. Memento Mori, now I know I read this on a Muriel Spark binge, but I have little memory of it. It seems like it's about a person who makes unpleasant phone calls to a group of friends. Seems like it's worth reading again. Name of the Game is Death, Dan Marlowe. A terrific noir. Pretty terrifying if I remember it. Woman on the Roof, Helen Nielsen, never took it out of the plastic cover. I bought it when I was supposed to be on a panel about forgotten female writers. I think I ended up not going to that conference so I never read it.
Have you read any of these?
Also: DNR
can mean a range of things, which I didn't realize. For instance, if
you come off of a ventilator, putting you back on one constitutes
resuscitation. This may differ from state to state or even hospital to
hospital, but check it out before putting that bracelet on a wrist.
26 comments:
Great Information,
Thank you for sharing..
What's the bottom one? Can't quite make it out, and can't find my non-broken reading glasses at the moment.
MEMENTO MORI I've read, read an excerpt from the Chopin but not the entirety yet.
I always like seeing what other people have on their shelves, Patti, so thanks for sharing. And you've reminded me that I haven't read Sparks in a very long time. I ought to...
The bottom one is THE DRUID OF ROYAL OAK. It looks like an old book, but, in fact, it was published in 2017. I have no idea where I got it. Probably at a book sale. It is a book for kids. Royal Oak is the suburb next to mine. The author is Neil Paananen, From the description on the back, it looks like it was written to give Royal Oak kids a way to discover their suburb.
Like you, I like O'Nan, so mean to read A PRAYER FOR THE DYING.
I'm a huge fan of Ken Bruen, with the exception of the books he did with Jason Starr. I tried two and hated both. So, no on those.
I read THE AWAKENING in college too. Good one. I went on a bit of a Spark binge a few years ago but didn't get to MEMENTO MORI.
THE NAME OF THE GAME IS DEATH was, to my mind, one of the best paperback original noirs ever. The first sequel when he turned it into a series was good too, if not up to this one.
Love the O'Nan, Marlowe and Woodrell. Read the Chopin in college but don't remember much about it.
HCC is still very active. They recently published some Donald Westlake and a novel by Brian DePalma.
Me, too with Ken Bruen. I also have liked some of JS's books he wrote solo. But the combo didn't work for me. You may want to wait till this horror is over before reading the O'nan. I saw there is a film of Memento Mori
Steve is right about HARD CASE CRIME still being active in publishing. They're about to publish another Erle Stanley Gardner book with a great cover. I, too, like O'Nan. I need to reread THE NAME OF THE GAME IS DEATH which knocked my socks off when I first read it back in the early 1970s.
Well, you have me interested in Stewart O'Nan's books now. I will certainly find a copy of A PRAYER FOR THE DYING to try.
I have had a copy of TOMATO RED on my shelves for years and keep putting it off. I am pretty sure it will be too dark for me. THE AWAKENING is on my classics list to read.
THE NAME OF THE GAME sounds good. I thought I had something by Helen Nielsen but I don't; I will have to find something by her.
Pretty low score for me, just the Marlowe novel, an undisputed classic, and "The Awakening", which I read many years ago, possibly in college. I've been meaning to get to O'Nan for years since everything I've read or heard about his books makes them sound so interesting, but the only one I've actually read was a collaboration with Stephen King, "Faithful", about their love for the Boston Red Sox.
Michael-My favorite is Last Night at the Lobster, about the closing of a Red Lobster restaurant. A Prayer for the Dying is also great. You might like Speed Queen too, which is the closest he gets to crime fiction. The only one I was not crazy about was West of Eden, where he tried to capture the Fitzgeralds. His books about a marriage, Emily Alone and Henry on His Own are terrific. But he is clearly mainstream fiction-like an Anne Tyler, or Richard Russo.
Tomato Red was too dark for me, Tracy. Same too The Death of Sweet Mister.
Although I do read a lot of crime fiction I'm not at all opposed to the mainstream. My library, may it Rest in Peace, has (or had) a pretty complete collection of O'Nan. But they seem to have settled on the 12th of Never as a reopening date.
Yes, mine have been weaned by too many moves and my penchant for weeding out.
pruned.
Last Night at the Lobster is my favorite too. It was so specific, I can picture it in my head now - the restaurant, the weather, the parking lot. Brilliant, and short.
Yes. How are you feeling, Jeff? Pain better?
Yes, thanks. The turning point was yesterday after three days of Hell. I wouldn't say totally back to normal yet, but a HUGE improvement in the last 24-36 hours. I feel human again. Granted, didn't have a full night's sleep, but a lot better.
So glad to hear it.
Stark House has reprinted a few Dan J Marlowe novels. I've yet to read any of O'Nan's work.
I was looking up Stark House's Marlowe reprints, read the short Stark bio of Marlowe, and saw the reference to Marlowe's good pal,writing partner, and bank robber Al Nussbaum: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Frederick_Nussbaum
Lots of info from that association.
The Jack Taylor series by Ken Bruen is outstanding. Hardcore Irish-noir crime novels.
Love that series.
I've only read one or tow of the Jack Taylor series but really enjoyed the film versions. Those were streaming online, Amazon Prime maybe. Otherwise on Netflix.
The Galway scenery in the films was neat and made me wonder if local people would shake their heads and think, "There's no way near that much crime and murder here."
It was a good series although I often struggled with the accents.
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