B. J. Hollars
Auteur van Flock Together: A Love Affair with Extinct Birds
Over de Auteur
B. J. Hollars is author of two award-winning nonfiction books, Thirteen Loops and Opening the Doors, as well as Sightings (IUP, 2013) and Dispatches from the Drownings. He is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Fotografie: By Brian Hollars - Brian Hollars, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40052875
Werken van B. J. Hollars
You Must Be This Tall to Ride: Contemporary Writers Take You Inside The Story (2009) — Redacteur — 20 exemplaren
Midwestern Strange: Hunting Monsters, Martians, and the Weird in Flyover Country (2019) 19 exemplaren
From the Mouths of Dogs: What Our Pets Teach Us about Life, Death, and Being Human (2015) 13 exemplaren
Opening the Doors: The Desegregation of the University of Alabama and the Fight for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa (2013) 7 exemplaren
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- Geslacht
- male
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This review originally appeared on my blog at www.gimmethatbook.com.
Thanks to the University of Nebraska Press for providing this ARC!
Author BJ Hollars has a unique writing style, at times wonderfully evocative, and at others somewhat cloying. He is great at describing the scene, whether it’s a dreary shelter or a well furnished blind woman’s home (he realizes that the decorations are for the sighted visitors, in an “aha” moment that pulled me up short, as did him).
He is also unashamed to describe his deepest and most secret emotions as well–he is very moved by the euthanasia of a shelter dog and shares with the reader his reticence to witness the event. Towards the end of the book, when he is recounting his road trip to scatter the ashes of his family pet that died many years ago, he lays bare his grief in a way that encompasses his family, his journey through life, and the love for his dog, even though she has been gone for years, her ashes gathering dust on a shelf in his parent’s home.
There are also times when he seems too glib for his own good, as he belabors the point of a bulldog’s gas, or saying a desceased dog was “found deflated” in a bedroom. These moments are few and far between, thankfully. Most of the book is filled with touching moments and “lessons” learned from his interactions, such as live your life with hope and don’t judge a book by its cover.
Dogs and people share space equally in this book; as we see how canines enrich the human lives and vice versa. Not all told here is sweetness and light, however. Hollars manages to take some of the darkest things we know: death, disability, and aging; then spin them into a story that will leave you with respect for the bond between a dog and his person. He is not afraid to cover touchy subjects, such as a dog sentenced to death for killing a cat (and how the shelter subsequently handles that situation).
I’m thinking that the readers of this book will come away with new knowledge and respect for both dogs and the humans that love and care for them. The stories are easy reading and can be read one chapter at a time without losing your place. Definitely a winner.… (meer)
Thanks to the University of Nebraska Press for providing this ARC!
Author BJ Hollars has a unique writing style, at times wonderfully evocative, and at others somewhat cloying. He is great at describing the scene, whether it’s a dreary shelter or a well furnished blind woman’s home (he realizes that the decorations are for the sighted visitors, in an “aha” moment that pulled me up short, as did him).
He is also unashamed to describe his deepest and most secret emotions as well–he is very moved by the euthanasia of a shelter dog and shares with the reader his reticence to witness the event. Towards the end of the book, when he is recounting his road trip to scatter the ashes of his family pet that died many years ago, he lays bare his grief in a way that encompasses his family, his journey through life, and the love for his dog, even though she has been gone for years, her ashes gathering dust on a shelf in his parent’s home.
There are also times when he seems too glib for his own good, as he belabors the point of a bulldog’s gas, or saying a desceased dog was “found deflated” in a bedroom. These moments are few and far between, thankfully. Most of the book is filled with touching moments and “lessons” learned from his interactions, such as live your life with hope and don’t judge a book by its cover.
Dogs and people share space equally in this book; as we see how canines enrich the human lives and vice versa. Not all told here is sweetness and light, however. Hollars manages to take some of the darkest things we know: death, disability, and aging; then spin them into a story that will leave you with respect for the bond between a dog and his person. He is not afraid to cover touchy subjects, such as a dog sentenced to death for killing a cat (and how the shelter subsequently handles that situation).
I’m thinking that the readers of this book will come away with new knowledge and respect for both dogs and the humans that love and care for them. The stories are easy reading and can be read one chapter at a time without losing your place. Definitely a winner.… (meer)
As a dog lover, this book is a must. I cried in parts but it was just an honest doggy book. Very Informative and a lovely read
As a dog lover, this book is a must. I cried in parts but it was just an honest doggy book. Very Informative and a lovely read
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Statistieken
- Werken
- 18
- Ook door
- 1
- Leden
- 174
- Populariteit
- #123,126
- Waardering
- 3.8
- Besprekingen
- 12
- ISBNs
- 38
Had the birds not come searching for me, I might not have gone searching for them. But they did, one warm September afternoon, just as I sat down for lunch. At first I mistook their tapping for a knock on the front door, but as iI moved toward it, it was evident that the sound was coming from elsewhere.