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Original Essays | December 12, 2009

Alexander McCall Smith: IMG The Courage of Others



I have recently written a novel about life in England during the Second World War. I felt some concern before I tackled this theme — the War... Continue »
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    La's Orchestra Saves the World

    Alexander McCall Smith

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The Dog of the South

by Charles Portis

The Dog of the South Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

As a novelist with a brilliantly singular vision of America, Charles Portis has invited comparisons to Pynchon and DeLillo. This reissue of The Dog of the South, to be followed by Masters of Atlantis, Norwood, and Gringos, is the perfect Portis initiation for new readers and a welcome reunion for longtime fans.

The Dog of the South is the story of Ray Midge tracking down his wife, Norma — who has run off with her first husband — by following credit card receipts (His credit card ). Midge starts out in Norma's lover's compact car, which has 74,000 miles on it and a quarter-turn slack in the steering wheel (They took his Ford Torino ). The trail leads from Arkansas, down to Mexico, and into Honduras, where Midge stops to help, and of course gets entangled with, Dr. Reo Symes in his broken down bus. The Dog of the South. Symes is a pure Portis character — a crazily optimistic, broken-down dreamer obsessed with secret knowledge in the form of John Selmer Dix, the elusive writer of inspirational books for salesmen. As Midge chases Norma and Symes tries to sort the true from the false Dix sightings, Portis spins an extraordinary novel that addresses with comic eloquence the deep longing of the American psyche for things just to make some sense.

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j. nobs, September 25, 2008 (view all comments by j. nobs)
TexArk. Schoolbus. Boy sleeping in a tomato box.
Pre-recorded lectures on the civil war. This book is a dream come true.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781585679317
Author:
Portis, Charles
Publisher:
Overlook Duckworth
Afterword:
Rosenbaum, Ron
Subject:
General
Subject:
Family saga
Subject:
Married people
Subject:
Automobile travel
Subject:
Humorous fiction
Publication Date:
June 2007
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Pages:
253
Dimensions:
8.08x5.48x.72 in. .53 lbs.

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