|
|
|
|
||
|
HELP | |
|
  $24.95
New Hardcover
Ships in 1 to 3 days
More copies of this ISBN:This title in other formats:Woodsburnerby John Pipkin
Review-a-Day (What is Review-a-Day?)"[W]hen the embers begin to cool and the various story lines in Woodsburner draw to a close... all of [the characters] will linger in your mind." The Washington Post Book World (read the entire Washington Post Book World review) Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:In 1844, the year before he built his cabin on Walden Pond, young Henry David Thoreau was a lost soul, resigned to a career working for his father's factory. But a fateful event set him on a very different course. One dry spring day, he struck a match to start a campfire, and in minutes the trees overhead were ablaze. By day's end, 300 acres of the woods were destroyed. Haunted by whispers of Woodsburner, Thoreau retreated to Walden and began the writings that altered the landscape of American thought. Against this factual background, John Pipkin's ingenious debut evokes the imagination of the young Thoreau and the American moment that shaped him, as he crosses paths with a cast of citizens who harbor passionate dreams. Oddmund Hus, a lovable Norwegian farmhand, pines for the wife of his brutal employer. Elliott Calvert, a prosperous bookseller, is also a hilariously inept aspiring playwright. And Caleb Dowdy preaches fire and brimstone to his congregation through an opium haze. Each of their lives, like Thoreau's, is changed forever by the fire. Like Geraldine Brooks's March and Colm Toibin's The Master, Woodsburner brings America's literary and cultural past to life with insight, wit, and deep affection for its unforgettable characters. Review:"Most readers know Thoreau's Walden as a treatise on man's respect for nature, but Pipkin's debut novel adds something new to the equation. A fictionalized version of a true event, this book explores Thoreau's overwhelming guilt for a Concord forest fire he accidentally set a year before his Walden retreat. Pipkin jumps effortlessly among the perspectives of Henry David and several unconnected townsfolk brought together by the fire, taking the blaze itself as his central character: 'not one enemy but many, thousands of individual flames, chewing through trees, taking possession of the woods as if this were their inheritance.' Fire chews through his character's lives as well; as the flames grow too large to control, the townspeople must one by one face the absurdity of man's bulwarks against nature. Pipkin tosses off hints of Thoreau's writings ('man's inability to conceive of the world's limits,' instructing a local bookseller to 'come to this very spot and build your home from the blackened timbers'), but his novel succeeds beyond the confines of its literary pedigree, making it a thought-provoking page-turner in its own right, a successful balance of story and character study." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:Late in April 1844, a pair of misfits went camping on the Concord River in Massachusetts, with plans to survive "Indian-style" on the fish they caught. The forest along the banks was dangerously dry, but one of the young men started a campfire anyway. Encouraged by a brisk wind, the flames quickly spread to the grass and then to the pines and birch trees. Before the end of that awful day, 300 acres... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) Review:"Witty, bawdy, philosophical, touching, and humorous, Woodsburner is a novel I didn't want to end. While Pipkin's book celebrates a sense of both the abundance and fragility of Thoreau's Nature, it also creates a new American Adam and Eve, thoroughly flawed from the beginning but ultimately victorious in their shared joy. Much as in our own time, the characters struggle with their desire for life-shaping change, the age-old stirrings of the body, and economic necessity along with their quests for spiritual, intellectual, and artistic fulfillment. This book is packed with interesting ideas, vital characters, and vivid writing." Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab's Wife and Four Spirits Review:"Characters whose inner lives are richly and complexly rendered, a suspenseful narrative, and impeccable period details make Woodsburner an exceptional debut. Pipkin tells his story with the verve and authority of a veteran novelist, and the result is a book that, once begun, compels the reader onward to the very last sentence." Ron Rash, author of Serena Review:"What a terrific tale John Pipkin spins! He has taken a dramatic episode in the life of Thoreau and the history of Concord, Massachusetts, where I have lived for over thirty years, and transformed it into a gripping and profound work of fiction. More than a century and a half ago, my fellow Concordian, Ralph Waldo Emerson said of Walt Whitman. 'I greet you at the beginning of a great career.' The same can now be said to the wonderfully talented Mr. Pipkin." Doris Kearns Goodwin Synopsis:On April 30, 1844, Henry David Thoreau accidentally started a forest fire that destroyed 300 acres of the Concord woods. Against the background of Thoreau's fire, Pipkin's ambitious debut penetrates the mind of the young philosopher. Synopsis:Woodsburner springs from a little-known event in the life of one of America’s most iconic figures, Henry David Thoreau. On April 30, 1844, a year before he built his cabin on Walden Pond, Thoreau accidentally started a forest fire that destroyed three hundred acres of the Concord woods—an event that altered the landscape of American thought in a single day. Against the background of Thoreau’s fire, Pipkin’s ambitious debut penetrates the mind of the young philosopher while also painting a panorama of the young nation at a formative moment. Pipkin’s Thoreau is a lost soul, plagued by indecision, resigned to a career designing pencils for his father’s factory while dreaming of better things. On the day of the fire, his path will intersect with three very different local citizens, each of whom also harbors a secret dream. Oddmund Hus, a lovable Norwegian farmhand, pines for the wife of his brutal employer. Elliott Calvert, a prosperous bookseller, is also a hilariously inept aspiring playwright. And Caleb Dowdy preaches fire and brimstone to his congregation through an opium haze. Each of their lives, like Thoreau’s, is changed forever by the fire. Like Geraldine Brooks’s March and Colm Tóibín’s The Master, Woodsburner illuminates America’s literary and cultural past with insight, wit, and deep affection for its unforgettable characters, as it brings to vivid life the complex man whose writings have inspired generations About the AuthorJOHN PIPKIN was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, and he holds degrees from Washington and Lee University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Rice University. He has taught writing and literature at Saint Louis University, Boston University, and Southwestern University. He currently lives in Austin, Texas with his wife and son. What Our Readers Are SayingAdd a comment for a chance to win!
Average customer rating based on 1 comment: | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Don't Miss
