Staff Pick
Brian Doyle, beloved Oregon author, discovered that Robert Louis Stevenson once referred to a book that he (Stevenson) would like to write one day: The Adventures of John Carson in Several Quarters of the World. Stevenson never did write that book, and scholars never did find a trace of John Carson. Brian Doyle, huge Stevenson fan that he is, could not resist writing that missing novel for Stevenson.
Full of rollicking and adventurous stories, cameos by such literary luminaries as Joseph Conrad and Mark Twain, and scientist Charles Darwin, and a deep empathy for Stevenson, this is one great novel. Covering the brief period that Stevenson spent in San Francisco in 1880, before his wedding, Doyle imagines an author struggling to survive and also pining for his long-deferred wedding to the woman he loves. Doyle reels in his own expansive and tumbling style and writes a Stevenson firmly set in his own time and prose style. With fantastic stories, deeply felt characters, and impeccable insight into Stevenson, Doyle delivers a spot-on novel that feels both tender and true. Bravo! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com
Brian Doyle, beloved Oregon author, discovered that Robert Louis Stevenson once referred to a book that he'd (Stevenson) like to write one day: The Adventures of John Carson in Several Quarters of the World. Stevenson never did write that book, and scholars never did find a trace of John Carson. Brian Doyle, huge Stevenson fan that he was, could not resist writing that missing novel for Stevenson. Full of rollicking and adventurous stories, cameos by such literary luminaries as Joseph Conrad and Mark Twain, and scientist Charles Darwin, and a deep empathy for Stevenson, this is one great novel. Covering the brief period that Stevenson spent in San Francisco in 1880 before his wedding, Doyle imagines an author struggling to survive and also pining for his long-deferred wedding to the woman he loves. Doyle reels in his own expansive and tumbling style and writes a Stevenson firmly set in his own time and prose style. With fantastic stories, deeply felt characters, and impeccable insight into Stevenson, Doyle delivers a spot-on novel that feels both tender and true. Bravo! Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com