Tennessee Books

I downloaded this onto my pda on a whim one night from another site and only stopped reading when my battery was giving out. I have to agree with everyone else who said that they found it hard to believe that this was a debut novel. I'm sure Ellison has more unpublished gems hiding away some where and I want them! I know that the next book in this series is coming out in a few months, but I don't want to have to wait that long :)

If you love thrillers and are on the lookout for new authors, get a copy of ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS. It was hard for me to believe this was her first novel. J. T. Ellison got so into the characters that I thought for certain she was retired police or work in the field. Also there is a fine line of too many details, at least for an ADD reader like me, but she never once crossed over to the dull side.

It gets five stars, because I can't recommend a better thriller. In fact, I want to read her next one, 14. It's to be on sale in September. I plan on getting it. Got to find out more about Dr. John Baldwin. Is he really going to quit? How does their (Taylor & John) relationship progress? I was given enough in the first book to want to know more.

As an avid mystery reader I get frustrated with the formulaic approach taken by many first time writers. Ellison escapes much of these problems by not dragging out the personal drama in the plot. One character that I knew was going to cause problems in the later part of the book died midway through the story. It is these types of twists that kept me turning pages and "happy" with the conclusion. I'm eagerly awaiting the next book.

This is a strong and memorable debut introducing Nashville Homicide Lt. Taylor Jackson. The story develops through complex forensic and evidentiary details which keep the reader attentive and involved. By tracking down not only a serial killer but a serial rapist at the same time, it is clearly apparent that she is a tough, intelligent and dedicated cop. I sincerely hope that Taylor Jackson has a long and productive career... and that we get to read about each and every case.

EXCELLENT first book!!! Keeps you on the edge of your seat with its well written suspense. J.T. Ellison is a new Patricia Cornwell or Kathy Reich equal, if she keeps creating like this. I highly recommend this book if you love suspense like me!

I made a mistake. I already had one and ordered another one.
I will give it to someone else! The book did come in
perfect condition and got here fast. Would do business with this seller again.

This book touched me tremendously in a very personal way. It brings to light that "Depression" is a true life in the dark. Chondra does enlighten readers that it is okay to admit to the illness and that medications which have a stigma placed on them are sometimes necessary to get through the darkest days. I hope that this brings more light to the world that mental illness is an illness just as with any other organ in the body. Thank you Chondra for sharing your intimate times with us. God Bless you......

This book was great! Chonda kept the flow of her experience going and adding her humor with the pain. I too have been in that "gray" room and like her I don't ever want to go back. When I finally relied on God and my meds I got better. The Lord was just waiting for me to say "help" and to listen. I think this book will help many people realize that it's ok to take medication for depression or other mental health issues. We don't seem to have a problem taking medicine for other health issues. I have already shared this book with friends and they are planning to buy copies to give to family/friends who need it.

The first several chapers were a bit wordy but then settled in to have several good thoughts in the latter part of the book.

Chonda Pierce has been tops on my list since I saw her perform in the Washington area about a year and a half ago. I've savored many of her books and videos since that time. This particular book is close to home, honest and still demonstrates her wonderful gift of humor. An enjoyable and educational read.

One sitters - they don't come around too often but when they do it's worth the wait. I read Nashville 1864 in one evening and wished I hadn't! This little (but I might add perfectly formed) novel - some 129 pages in length - contains so much in it's pages that it left me moved, sad, a little repulsed at the nature of war and death, but thankful I'd stumbled across it while browsing Amazon.

I'd just finished Cloudsplitter by Russel Banks which at 758 pages is an intense and powerful read. Nashville was the ideal follow on - it's short, to the point, refreshing in its simplicity and more importantly an entertaining, quality novel.

Jones is a wonderful storyteller, not a word out of place, not a wasted sentiment or action, this book involves you as a reader on a range of levels.

Often the Civil War is portrayed in a romantic light, thus reflecting how it was commonly perceived in the immediate aftermath of the shelling of Fort Sumter on April 12th 1861. Nashville is harrowing and disturbing rather than romantic and here lies it's strength. The novel is honest and if that means leaving me as a reader slightly uneasy then it's done exactly what good writing attempts to do - to make a difference.

Some books after their reading will sit on my shelf gathering dust, I don't think that Nashville will be given enough time to gather dust at all.

It is clear today that the Southern Confederacy is regarded as an evil aberration in American history. Many books and films depict the gray-coated Rebs as uncouth huns bent upon the destruction of a paternal and benevolent Union. Today, their symbols are reviled and their memory is denounced as if four states of the Confederacy weren't also Founding colonies themselves.

Nashville 1864 is told from the point of view of a 12 year-old boy, but the narrative is suitable for adults as well. Imagine an American city occupied by an enemy army. We have to reach all the way back to the Revolutionary War period for a practical analogy, but that period is so far behind us it is difficult create a connection within our 21st Century minds. The Civil war, however, is much closer to us. Young people may not be able to empathize, but people in their late-forties and older will probably remember a grandfather or great grandfather who lived during that time, so for us the Civil War is still real. Nashville was occupied by the Union Army, and the bitterness from that occupation still shows up from time to time.

Madison Jones' descriptions of the period and the emotion and the misery of war are vivid. When young Steven Moore's father tells him, "They have beat us, Steven", you can feel the agony and despair, and so throughout the book.

There are many great Civil War novels, but Nashville 1864 should not be overlooked.

Amazon.com have informed me that my review of Nashville 1865 has been swollowed into the land of computer nothingness. So impressed was I with the book that I'm posting the review a second time.

One sitters - they don't come around too often but when they do it's worth the wait. I read Nashville 1864 in one evening and wished I hadn't! This little novel - some 129 pages in length - contains so much in it's pages that it left me moved, sad, a little repulsed at the nature of war and death, but thankful I'd stumbled accross it while browsing Amazon.

I'd just finished Cloudsplitter by Russel Banks which at 758 pages is an intense and powerful read. Nashville was the ideal follow on - it's short, to the point, refreshing in it's simplicity and more importantly an entertaining, quality novel.

Jones is a wonderful storyteller, not a word out of place, not a wasted sentiment or action, this book involves you as a reader on a range of levels.

Often the Civil War is portrayed in a romantic light, thus reflecting how it was commonly percieved in the immediate aftermath of the shelling of Fort Sumter on April 12th 1861. Nashville is harrowing and disturbing rather than romantic, and here lies it's strength. The novel is honest and if that means leaving me as a reader slightly uneasy then it's done exactly what good writing attempts to do - to have an effect.

Some books after their reading will sit on my shelf gathering dust, I don't think that Nashville will be given enough time to gather dust at all.

I am sometimes disappointed with fictional accounts of the U.S. Civil War, perhaps because the historical accounts are so remarkable in themselves that they seldom benefit from fictional license. There are indeed exceptions, splendid novels like The Red Badge of Courage, Andersonville, The Killer Angels, and the subject of this review, Nashville 1864 - The Dying of the Light, by Madison Jones.

In this fascinating short novel Confederates forces are continuing to fight against overwhelming odds, with little hope of victory. Nashville has been occupied by Northern soldiers since February, 1862. In a desperate attempt, General Hood's shattered forces, severely crippled shortly before in the disastrous battle at Franklin, Tennessee, are now engaging the Union Army in what is today called the Battle of Nashville, December 15 and 16, 1864.

Madison Jones portrays this battle and its immediate aftermath from the perspective of a young boy, Steven Moore, as he searches for his father among the wounded Confederate soldiers. The story is presented as a memoir written by the adult Steven Moore many years after the actual event, but nonetheless filled with detail and emotion that remained deeply etched in his memory. Steven Moore had not forgiven the North for its severe, mean-spirited occupation of Nashville, especially the period under General Rosecrans.

This short novel, Nashville 1864 - The Dying of the Light, is good, powerful fiction, and it is also good history.

At the outbreak of the Civil War, 12-year-old Steven Moore watches on as his father Jason saddles up his horse to join other Confederates in the fight to protect Tennessee. After many months of hardship, Steven's youngest sister, Liza, becomes so gravely ill that he decides to find his father and to bring him home. With his mother's approval and a crude map, he and his companion, a young slave named Dink, set off into the heart of the battle to find his father.

This is one of the most compelling novels of the Civil War, told from the perspective of a 12-year-old boy. Through his eyes, we see the area surrounding Nashville change from healthy farmland to desolate battle fields. The Confederate soldiers whom he knew to be proud and strong turn out to be haunted men with sallow faces, bare feet and rags for clothing. He and Dink watch some of the fighting firsthand: the booming of the canons, the black troops fighting for the Union, the dead and the dying everywhere. And, still he continues to search for his father, diving deeper and deeper into the heart of the battle.

With fantastically detailed imagery and strongly developed characters, Madison Jones has created a Civil War novel that appeals to all readers, both young and old. You have a real sense of what the war must have been like for a young boy, witnessing his family life upturned and almost destroyed. Nothing is romanticized. A strong novel for young adults and anyone interested in the Civil War.

My favorite book of the past ten years. The view of the mountain people of North Carolina and Tennessee is somewhat dated, but many of the human chacteristics of the people are true to this day. If you want to know about the Scotch-Irish of the mountains in the early part of the 20th century, this is your book.

This is another excellent source to better understand these people in their very unique culture.

We northeasterners have little knowledge of our Southern highlanders or the reasons for their unique lifestyle. This book, written by a participant, is a real eye opener, and a fascinating one. The subject area may as well be the moon for all we know. I couldn't put this down. Especially good was the discussion of how these people came to live where they do, where they came from and why. Enjoy this look at a life we seldom think about and know so little of.

I believe that the author, Horace Kephart, gave a very vivid and true descripiton of life in the western part of North Carolina in the Great Smokies during the early 1900's. I live in Asheville, NC and was raised here, as was my ancestors as far as I can remember or have been told. My grandmother and great grandmother often told stories of their childhoods living next to laurel thickets and getting their water from the springs. The mountains here are so beautiful and haunting and Mr. Kephart apparently found this as he says in one section of his book "the richness of the Great Smoky Forest has been the wonder and the admiration of everyone who has traversed it". This book was a pleasure to read and would recommend it highly.

Don't buy this book. My family has lived in the heart of Appalachia 200 years and these quaint stereotype are just not true. We are, and have always been, much like Scotch-Irish people anywhere else in America, (after all, they came from us). Ohhh, O.K., maybe we're a teensy bit better.

W.R. Morris was Buford Pusser's authorized biographer, he wrote the best selling "The Twelth of August" however in 1973 he told People Magazine, "Buford can be a really nice guy one day and the next day he's barely civilized. I thread delecitly in the book." Did Pusser and Morris have a falling out or did Morris' research cause him to have a change of oppinion on the hero?

Regardless, this book is the origins of the loose mob that Pusser destroyed. The crime element along the Tenn and Mississippi border was the result of a government crackdown on the illegal activities in Phenix City, Ga in the late 40's. The displaced con artists and prostitutes settled on the stateline of Tn/Miss on highway 45. Morris provides a fasinating discription of the self destructive lives of this murderous group. It seems that Alcorn County, Miss is the hot bed of much of the criminal activity-yet McNairy County, Tn got the title of "Murder County USA" due to it being the dumping ground of many of the unsuspecting victims of the so-called "state line mob." One of these victims was a young Buford Pusser, who had the guts to go back and rob the robbers.

The ring leaders of the mob have an amazing ability to avoid long term jail sentences. They are soon challanged by a new sheriff- Buford Pusser, who has an amazing ability so withstand knife wounds and gunshots. Pusser believed in "fighting fire with fire" a true unconventional law enforcement warrior. Shortly after taking office he picked up a mob leader and took him out to the swamps and beat him up for three hours. Morris, as well as the author of "Mississippi Mud" believe that Pusser knew who was behind the ambush that killed his wife, but he kept the information from the authorities only to track down and kill, or hire to kill, the men himself. The result of this book is that Buford Pusser may have been a flawed and tragic hero, but in the end he got the bastards- and walked damn tall doing it, even if outside the law.

Morris covers some interesting material. However, I don't believe he did as good a job as he did on The 12th of August. Much of the material in this book is just a reprinting of some of his previous book. I compared the two books as I read this one though and sometimes the wording of conversations had some variation. This book is not well written for someone with the journalistic background of Morris. Yet there are some interesting theories in regard to Buford Pusser's possible involvement in taking out some of those who he believed were involved in murdering his wife. I think the book is an overall worthwhile read but there are places in the text where Morris used vulgarity for no other apparent reason than to be vulgar. It did not help drive home the point any better.

Once I started reading the book, it was hard to put it down. I live only a few counties north of where all this was taking place. I only thought I
had an idea of what was taking place and about the people who were running the gambling, illegal whisky, and prostitution operation. That was one tough
area vs one tough sheriff who had to "fight fire with fire".

It took only one day to read this book. It was like a magnet in my hands I could not put it down. I have seen
the movies, and heard stories of Buford Pusser, but now
I know the facts. What an awesome book.

as a little boy who grew up thinking sheriff andy taylor had a cool job, i've always found the sheriff pusser stories interesting.(in a 21 year law enforcement career, i found the job required a little buford pusser and a lot of andy taylor) i read the twelveth of august back in high school and thought the story fascinating but poorly written. the state line mob was better written and after meeting w.r. morris,his lovely wife cathy and spending an afternoon riding the roads of mcnairy county, i began to understand the relationship between him and the sheriff pusser. he couldn't tell the story inthe state line mob while sheriff pusser was living. i think he did a good job of telling the story. he told me about getting into a discussion with one of the characters in the book, who was voicing his displeasure with his portrayal in the book and mr. morris asked him one question: did i lie about you in the book? the man answered to the negative but he still didn't like being mentioned in the book. i've just order my second copy seeing how i loaned my first out to a so-called friend who never returned it. it's a keeper.

The writing style was super and the characters believable. You can't help but be involved with them. It's funny and sad all at the same time.

A surprisingly intriguing story line brings forth a select grouping of trailer park residents and their emotional stews. Humorous, sensitive and a quick read, this is delightful fiction for those craving diversion.

I had my doubts about this book at first, but I was pleasantly surprised. Coming from a small rual town in Arkansas, some of the characters actions are things I've witnessed from local residents. I think anyone would enjoy this book regardless of your background.

A surprisingly intriguing story line brings forth a select grouping of trailer park residents and their emotional stews. Humorous, sensitive and a quick read, this is delightful fiction for those craving diversion.

I knew people like this growing up. And I grew up in South Dakota. It's a story of poor people who could be anywhere. Characters are great -- I like a book where I don't necessarily like the characters -- they're just real. This is a "must read" just for the exposure to the Trailer Trash side of life.

I highly recommend this book. It is a great follow up to Death's Acre. I am currently finishing this book (should wrap up over my lunch hour today), but I have read Death's Acre and had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Bass and Mr. Jefferson a few months ago at a book signing for one of their new fiction books. I had actually purchased this book prior to the meeting, but hadn't gotten the opportunity to read it. The authors are just as interesting in person and were gracious enough to sign my book! As an aspiring prosecutor I find the information both interesting and insightful. I have gleaned information about the human body that will help me understand the questions I need to ask of potential law enforcement and other key witnesses to better develop my cases. I hope there will be another nonfiction book by the duo. I recently came back from Tennessee, traveling through some of the areas mentioned in the book- it was an interesting experience. I also highly recommend Teasing Secrets From the Dead- written by Emily Craig, one of Dr. Bass's former students mentioned in this book and Death's Acre. It too is a real treat.

Great!! Loved the part on the Big Bopper. The whole book is wonderful just like the original!

I found this book to be as engrossing as Death's Acre. Dr Bill Bass is truly a pioneer in forensic science. I found that I couldn't put this book down!

This is a quickie review for a quickie book. Dr. Bill Bass, the man who revolutionized forensics by examining the corruption of the flesh with scientific exactitude, follows up his memoir "Death's Acre" with a collection of stories of the cases he's worked on.

With the help of writer Jon Jefferson, Bass is an avuncular storyteller, exhibiting a pleasure in his work that readers who are uncomfortable with the thought of spending one's life hanging around the dead might find offensive. Of course, one should have a means of protection, a detachment that is vital when dealing with someone so elemental as witnessing for the dead.

Over 16 chapters, Bass and Jefferson recount 13 cases, some of which were solved or advanced due to research performed at the Body Farm. There's the case of the body found in the burnt-out car, whose time of death was determined by the age of the maggots breeding on him. There was the assistant DA, found trussed and stabbed inside his home, whose time of death helped convict the man who did it.

The high point of the book was a guest appearance by The Big Bopper, who died in a plane crash with Buddy Holly and Richard Valens. The rumored presence of a gun on board the plane, and the possibility of it going off and killing the pilot, led the family to request an exhumation. The Bopper's son, who was born after the singer's death, was present, and the tale acquires a thin sheen of fiction as he, surprisingly to all, finds a bit of closure with his tragically absent father, due in a large part to very, very good embalming.

True crime finds will probably treat "Beyond the Body Farm" like a treat, gobbled quickly and mostly forgotten -- apart from the Bopper's tale and that poor man's intestines -- but it also serves as a tonic against the "CSI effect". Solving mysteries in real life takes money, time, human effort, and is never interrupted by commercials. And in some of the cases, we're still left with questions.

Dr. William Blass has written an entertaining and informative book about real forensic science. While he discusses the differences between television forensic science, such as show like "CSI", and the less flashy day to day life of a real CSI, he still makes real life forensics seem exciting and interesting.

Dr. Blass has written novels based on his experiences at the Body Farm, but I haven't read any of them. This real life look at crime scene investigation is as interesting and compelling as any screenplay or novel.

Although some of the cases were very touching, and all of them tragic in one way or another, this book still offered entertainment, information, and built a true respect for real forensic scientists.

Bruce Feiler presents what one supposes to be an 'insider's' look at country music. He had access to Garth Brooks for what was suposed to be a magazine article (which never materialised) for about 48 hours total. Much of what is written is a re-hash of past articles, conjecture and 'sound bites' from Garth Brooks. I have had it on good authority from Garth himself to disbelieve the majority of what is written about him. For example, Mr Feiler portrays Mr Brooks as a 'womaniser' throughout school; Mrs Brooks (Garth's mum) had stated in several interviews Garth did not date widely, and was somewhat shy in that area.

There are several easily verified errors in the book. The Wynonna web sites deride this piece of fiction, and perhaps that is the best description: fiction.

Very easy reading. Every time I had a question in my mind, Bruce answered it fully. I was truly impressed with this book.

Growing up in Mississippi, I heard my share of country music, though I was much more a top 40 and rock and roll fan. I ended up working in radio (album rock radio) during the country-rock era (Charlie Daniels, Poco, Marshall Tucker, John Prine, etc.) and one of my favorite albums (that's how long ago this was) was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band's "Will The Circle Be Unbroken." So, while I can't say I'm an old time Hank Williams fan, I do have a fondness and familiarty with the music. But it turns out I didn't know that much about the music. Thankfully, Bruce Feiler has filled in all the blanks for me. His research is thorough and he weaves it seamlessly into the stories he has to tell on three good examples of Nashville in the '90's. It's a terrific mix of music history, market analysis, anecdote, and observation.

Feiler's book is ostensibly a portrait of three modern country artists, Garth Brooks, Wynonna Judd and Wade Hayes. And though he provides interesting portraiture of all three, what he really documents - using the three artists as vehicles - is the changing business of the country music industry, and by association, the broader changes wrought by and to American media and culture. It's a well-written volume, with some illuminating conclusions, fleshed out by first-hand observations the author made in and around Nashville.

Much has been made of Feiler's veracity, but, to a large degree, his larger theses are independent of the specifics. Brooks and Judd have each taken their digs at Feiler (the latter being more surprising, since Feiler's portrait of Judd is, ultimately, quite flattering), so one might take his biography of their lives with a grain of salt. Even so, his conclusions about Nashville's changing face, both musically and operationally, are usually spot-on.

The Cliff's Notes rendition of Feiler's work focuses on his portraiture of the three principals: Garth Brooks as an obsessive careerist who only finds joy during his time on stage, Wynonna Judd as the screwed-up (but ultimately triumphant) result of a screwed-up childhood brought upon her by the most heinous of mothers, and Wade Hayes as the naïf, making his way through a hurricane of market forces. By threading these three stories with history of Nashville's business, the reader sees how the threads of art and commerce have intertwined over the years, with commerce realizing a substantial choke-hold on artistry in the '90s.

Of particular interest is Feiler's description of the symbiosis between artists, labels and radio. The manipulations of hit single charts, the conniving for chart position (and the lurid world of not-exactly-payola that fuels it), the trading of accurate charts for those that can be "influenced" is eye-opening for those outside the industry. Feiler's discussion about various trends in country music, the rise of women signaled, in part, by the Judd's supremacy, the displacement of Wynonna by the sex-appeal of Shania, and the replacement of earlier artists by a new wave, are all very compelling.

The book is weighted towards reporting on Garth Brooks, which isn't necessarily a negative, since his is the most complex portrait, and Feiler finds his greatest insights in Brooks' rise and plateau. On the negative side, parts of this book were previously published as magazine articles, and there is some unnecessary repetition. The careful reader will wonder whether Feiler's editor actually read the entire book through.

Feiler is a fine writer, and has provided a unique portrait of Nashville through the peak of its '90s supremacy. Whether or not you believe the details he reports on his principal subjects, there's a deep ring of truth in his analyses.

O.k. here goes. I thought this book was tremendously captivating and informative. It shows a different side of two of the more super-superstars and also the hard knocks that a newcomer faces in the music business via Wade Hayes. I almost didn't read this book, simply because the artists had spoken out so much about how they didn't recommend it and did not approve of it. But, I think that every true fan of country music and even those who don't care for it so much, will get alot of useful and entertaining information from it. Alot of the outerworkings of the business, as well as behind the scenes accounts of the tabloids were what I believe to be the best part of the book. I am a dedicated Wynonna fan and after reading this book, have found that many things that were confusing before reading it, are not so confusing now: Strains between the Judds when they said everything was fine, about Wynonna's biological father, her suicide attempt after Naomi threw her out of the house. All very interesting reading and seems to have a "truth" ring to it.

However, I do advise that this book does have a sensational aspect to it. Feiler covers Garth Brooks and Wynonna at times that were tumultuous and very busy for the performers. But, it does give those who know very little about the business aspect of the music business, an insiders view on the workings of such.

This is probably the most exhaustive and authoritative book on outdoor craft that I have read. Very dry and detail oriented so you have to be interested in the science for it to work. It is not extreme lke the 60/70's survivalist dogma but presented matter of fact and unpretentiously by someone who lived it. With this book you could eke out a living off the land just about anywhere. There are many books that are a better casual read. But it will be hard to beat this book for its pure reference capacity. A classic that makes a great gift to anyone who is outdoors person, wants to know more, about how and why or just curious.

Not just one of the classics, one of the best of the classics. If you're serious about the outdoors, this should be on your bookshelf.

This is a must for any library of outdoor books. It may lack a lot of modern day political correctness but, it was how it was done back then. A great look into outdoor history, this was THE handbook for outdoor wilderness skills and recreation. Any student of wilderness skills MUST have a copy.

You won't find reviews of the latest or lightest gear here. The wisdom though is timeless. For years it has continually provided me a "new" way of doing something in the outdoors, by looking back on how it had been done successfully. Unless your great-grandfather was a camper and left you his memoirs, this belongs on your shelf for ready reference.

The book is really old- getting close to a century- but some of the practical advice is sound. Some of course is bereft of anything but historical value. If you want a practical guide, you can find better.

Firebird is another tour de force by Mark Doty. The power in this book comes from two sources - the writing and the story. Mark Doty is first and foremost a poet. He uses language to paint pictures, using metaphors that speak to the imagination and causes the reader to consider the power of language. Metaphors cause us to go deeper into the story and make it our own. Mark Doty is a master of language. He can make even the ugliest realities beautiful and personal.

The story in Firebird is also very powerful. It is a story of longing and discovery. In some ways, Doty centers his story on the line from Petula Clark's classic Downtown -"Maybe you know a little place you can go to / where they never close - Downtown." He searches for that place where he can go and be himself, a whole person not torn apart by insecurity and loneliness. How well so many of us can relate to this!

It is interesting to note that Firebird was written after Heaven's Coast, a memoir about Doty's later life and the death of his partner. Maybe he needed to delve into the meaning of the present before he could unearth the pains of the past. Both books are very much worth reading. They will remain with you long after you finish reading them.

Mark Doty is one of the finest poets of our time, writing eloquent, informed poems, essays, books, and musings about life and art. To read FIREBIRD: A MEMOIR almost breaches credibility, so stressful and trying was his childhood and youth. But perhaps, and probably, this is why he is able to write with such sensitivity today. FIREBIRD relates the coming of age of a chubby, nerdy, alienated, pre-gay, geeky kid who finds little solace in his family (a deeply disturbed alcoholic mother, a passive ne'er-do-well military type father, a sister headed for incarceration) yet manages to capture moments from this distorted childhood, like expressive dancing to Stravinsky's 'Firebird' and learning to paint from his mother, to head him toward the sucessful communicator he is today.

If this sounds a bit like a book you'd rather not endure, then think again. This is one of rare memoirs that reveals all the pain and learning that life offers to the sensitive mind and then shows how the body that holds that mind can rise from the ashes (phoenix/firebird) and behold a world of art, music, and write about it like few others. The book is immensely well written. There are comic moments, childlike reveries, imagination blooming among the atrocoties of discovery of what is adulthood that are related so clearly and eloquently that they beg to be re-read again and again. Example: "A life hurtles forward, tumbles out and ahead from these twin poles: firebird and revolver, diametrical opposites like the yes and no which rule the Ouija board: twin magnetic poles which cause a kind of gyroscopic spin, advancing the motion of my tale." and "All along, the firebird watches, patient in ashes, smoldering till the hour to flame. Just one dance teaches it to believe in the brightness to come. All it ever needed was a practice run, in preparation for someday's full emblazoning."

And with words like that this reader can only recommend this experience book to all who wonder whether they are of worth. Highly and joyously recommended!

It's not always a pretty story, but it's always intellectually and emotionally moving. Mark Doty is one of America's finest writers of poetry and prose. That such a mind should have triumphed over his stressful growing up years is remarkable. His background would have landed many other kids in a foster home. Firebird is a coming-of-age memoir of a pre-gay geeky kid with a deranged and alcoholic mother, a passive/conflicted father, and a sister whose middle name is Trouble.
Firebird is beautifully written, revealing how a person who lives in a world of art, music, and literature rose from the ashes of his youth like the proverbial Phoenix of legend. It could easily have been titled Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but somebody got to that one first.

I read (and met) Mark Doty while I was in college. On the grass at Sarah Lawrence, I memorized his sad, beautiful poetry and read and re-read his book, Heaven's Coast, chronicling his life with his partner dying from AIDS. So, I was very excited when Firebird was chosen by my book club. Again, I found myself amazed and delighted by Mark Doty's use of imagery, but I was also disappointed as the book leapt from experience to experience without explanation. Maybe this is why I never felt "inside" his character, and at the end, was left feeling as though the chapters were more like poems, mysterious pieces of his life that were without resolution. Mark Doty is a man of great accomplishment, a poet of unquestionable talent, but after this book, he's still a mystery to me.

FIREBIRD is one of those books that draws in the reader and holds his/her attention. The reader is at once morbidly fascinated and horrified by the author's life experiences. The author writes about his life without self-pity or a plea for sympathy. That he had the strength to survive all he has endured in the first half of his life is inpsirational. I am proud to have known Mark Doty for two brief school years in the late sixties. Thirty-five years later Mark Doty continues to impact my life.