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From the first lines of A Handbook of American Prayer, award-winning author Lucius Shepard signals his place in the classic American tradition of confessional memoirists. While his plot is unique, his literary precedents include the great moral chroniclers of crime on the biblical scale. Wardlin Stuart is an American messiah, a man who seems to have a direct line to God--but if he does, it's a divinity unlike any you may have prayed to. Stuart's story begins when he kills a man in a bar and is sentenced to ten years in prison for manslaughter. In prison, he composes prose, poems, and prayers addressed to no recognizable god. He intends to produce only small benefits, no miracles. But miraculously, what he asks for happens, whether it be a girlfriend for himself or special privileges for fellow prisoners. Soon Wardlin is regarded as a local shaman, and he emerges from prison a national celebrity. Stardom pushes Wardlin into conflict with a fundamentalist minister, and. the two are destined for a showdown. In the meantime, it seems as if the god to whom Stuart prays has come into being, and is walking the earth.… (meer)
Yeah, this was a dud. A slacker works as a bartender and winds up killing someone in a drunken brawl. He goes to prison and after being shivved begins a secular practice of praying for a certain end. It happens. He theorizes about this event and cultivates a poetic vision of such. It catches on with the inmates and before you can say John Doe he's paroled, married , famous and becoming ever-so-influential. Wait before you can mutter A Face In The Crowd there is tension and doubt in his marriage and dark, dubious forces are soon lurking about. Everything then becomes like an outtake of Carnivale, even with extended scenes in Mexican cantinas, just like the show. I won't allow this misstep to discolor my appreciation for Shepard.
This is an excellent novel, really outstanding. It's about a man who has apparently invented a method of writing prayers such that when you pray them they are answered. It's like a literary equivalent of that film Limitless. Very clever stuff, and very well written. How's this for a sentence: "His eyes were so dark, I considered the possibility that he might be a slim black hominid without feature or mark, tucked into a human zip-skin suit." ( )
Eccentricly written novel in the vein of magical realism magical psychoticism by well-known horror short story/novella writer, Lucius Shepard. I've read much of Shepard's work, and the voice of this, Wardlin Stuart's voice, is much more crass and indeed more Cultural-Icon American than usual for Shepard. This is a literally visual treat that riffs on many of Shepard's common themes, religion, what isolation and imprisonment does to the spirit and mind, art leaping into "real" life, borders. Definitely worth reading for fans of his writing. ( )
This book was not at all what I expected. I did not expect this book to be written by a murderer. It was a really weird book. I'm not sure I liked it. Also, the book had several grammatical errors in it. ( )
Interesting story of a man in prison for murder, who begins writing prayers (although not ordinary prayers) that seem to work. When he gets out, he publishes his book of prayers, and develops a huge following, earning the wrath of a televangelist. It doesn't sound exciting, but it was actually very good. ( )
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
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Eerste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
When people look back at the things they're ashamed of having done and say it must have been another person who did those things, and they have no idea who that person was, what they're actually saying, though they may not understand it, is that they do know that person and they don't know who they are now.
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Laatste woorden
Informatie afkomstig uit de Engelse Algemene Kennis.Bewerk om naar jouw taal over te brengen.
I feel an urge, a powerful need to revisit and reemploy the process that made me who I am today, the product that contains not a single cancer-causing agent and will someday put my kids through college, yours for a wallet-friendly $19.95, I never pray.
From the first lines of A Handbook of American Prayer, award-winning author Lucius Shepard signals his place in the classic American tradition of confessional memoirists. While his plot is unique, his literary precedents include the great moral chroniclers of crime on the biblical scale. Wardlin Stuart is an American messiah, a man who seems to have a direct line to God--but if he does, it's a divinity unlike any you may have prayed to. Stuart's story begins when he kills a man in a bar and is sentenced to ten years in prison for manslaughter. In prison, he composes prose, poems, and prayers addressed to no recognizable god. He intends to produce only small benefits, no miracles. But miraculously, what he asks for happens, whether it be a girlfriend for himself or special privileges for fellow prisoners. Soon Wardlin is regarded as a local shaman, and he emerges from prison a national celebrity. Stardom pushes Wardlin into conflict with a fundamentalist minister, and. the two are destined for a showdown. In the meantime, it seems as if the god to whom Stuart prays has come into being, and is walking the earth.
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