John Bowers (1)Rezensionen

night people and the night

Breezy writing is all well and good, but not when the breeze turns into a hurricane.

This book is a very good read, but it achieves that by making everything far too simple. Yes, Braxton Bragg was quarrelsome in the extreme, and most of his officers disliked him -- but can he really be reduced to a case of a man with extreme saddle sores (which Bowers calls by a rather earthier name)? Was William S. Rosecrans really the sort of moral coward we see here? I doubt it.

And there are other problems -- officers given the wrong ranks, for instance. And there is one big, big discrepancy. Other source I've read say that, on the second day of the Battle of Chickamauga, Rosecrans tried to address a defect in his lines by ordering a certain division to improve its positioning -- and a staff officer misunderstood the order, and told the division commander to make a move that opened a big hole in the line, and into that hole James Longstreet poured almost half the Confederate army. But the whole botched order is downplayed in this account. If it happened, it needs to be described; if it didn't happen, the discrepancy needs to be explained, and it just doesn't happen.

The result almost seems like fiction. It really is a good read. But I'm left searching for another account of Chickamauga; I just don't know what to trust here.½

Reading this book made it pretty clear that John Bowers is older than I guessed. I looked it up; he’s eighty-six.

The reason I looked is that he makes references to people and things I don’t know about – often, using them like adjectives in the story he’s telling:

…like Maggie of Jiggs and Maggie…

Uniforms went away or had a Ruptured Duck on them…

Their models were June Allyson and Deanna Durbin…

…latest episodes of Jack Armstrong, the All American Boy…

…always a handsome, taller figure resembling Tab Hunter.

I was now Trevor Howard in the Outcasts of the Islands.

…and despite myself, I thought of Greta Garbo in Camille

I’ve seen Garbo (but not in Camille), Many others, of course, I got; being only one and a half generations removed. This use of specific references grounds the text in culture, and given how many I understood, might even be good: but I wonder how much I missed – there were many more references than I’ve shown here which I just had to gloss over.

The book is in three parts; the first part contains tall tales – mostly pleasant enough but a bit more sexualized than my own experience growing up: perhaps I’m repressing something. Part two has more tall tales (all of which are pretty entertaining, yet fairly disconnected – I had no trouble putting the book down and picking up up later while I was reading these sections.) Part two also has about five pages of what seems to be a much less embellished history of the narrator’s parents and grandparents. This stuck out, as if it were too serious to be joking about. Part three, however, was enthralling. I had to stop reading in the middle and as soon as I could, I picked it up again. Part three tells the story of the narrator’s first real love. It’s got lots of humor, but a sad ending. Afterwards I poured myself a drink and sat for a minute. That’s just the way it hit me.

I liked the book. I might say it was uneven, trying to be both large and truthful, and a little over-sexed, but I really liked it. Judging from this book, Bowers is the sort of guy I want to hang out with – he’s got a lot to say. I’ll read more of his work, no question.½

A charming, simply-written, coming-of-age story set in Tennessee. Bower’s youthful narrator recalls the trials and tribulations from his life in regards to his search for love. The book really captures the essence of pre-teen and teenage emotions toward love and sex (two connected, yet, at times, wholly separate things.) The prose reflects the simplicity of youth that is complicated by deeper ideas of love. It was a great novel to study concerning the growth of a young male’s understanding of both his place in the world and his hopes for finding (and bedding) his one true love.

This is one of the best books I read last year. If you like Southern literature, coming of age stories, and nostalgia, you will love Love in Tennessee.½

Ever wondered what it would be like to live at a writer's colony? The Colony is a candid look into the life of a writer who spent time under the tutelage of Handy Lowney--the woman behind James Jones' From Here to Eternity. Bowers' book is comical, endearing, and educational all in a Tennessee accent. He brilliantly captures the stress of youth in regards to "what path should a young artist choose". He feels pressure from a young woman he loves to be with her, yet feels he should (and is also required by Handy to) avoid, women except at brothels, while working on his first book. The Colony is not so much a coming of age tale, but rather a confession from a young man who was trying to be a writer on top of becoming a man.

The trials and tribulations he has you facing along with him are often times hilariously poignant. A brilliant read for anyone who ever looked up to someone and thought: "Everything they say must be trusted." only to discover the heartbreaking ramifications of buying into the stringent beliefs of another.

I got this book quite a while ago from the Early Reviewers program, and kept picking it up, wanting to read it so I could review it, but the battered old car on the cover kept putting me off. When I finally did pick it up I was impressed with the quality of the writing, and enjoyed the portraits of the different characters in his town. Toward the end, though, I realized it was trying to be a coming-of-age story, disguised as fiction, but the author just couldn't manage to get close enough to his own feelings - perhaps because he passively let the love of his life get away. So the book didn't quite work: it was unfocused, trying to be two things at once.

I just couldn't get into this disjointed book. I gave it several attempts but found myself daydreaming instead of trying to slog my way through.½

I didn't connect with this book, or maybe it didn't connect with me. I thought it was well written and short enough that it wasn't hard to finish, but it just wasn't my style of book. I felt it was all very disconnected until the end which I had a hard time following. I also never really felt a connection with the main character, you learned so much about other characters but never enough about the main character. The ending was strange, I guess I wanted more to tie it all together but instead I felt like it just ended. I think this book would appeal to some but not a broad audience. Unfortunately, it wasn't for me but I hope others will enjoy it.

Written as a memoir, Love in Tennessee is the story of a man learning the ins and outs of love as well as struggling with the restraining yet comforting presence of his small and sleepy hometown in East Tennessee. His struggle becomes embodied in the young woman he falls in love with, Sunny Dale. Our anonymous narrator must reconcile his love for a hometown girl with the desire to escape the only place he knows as home.

Though uneven at times, Bower's novel is an excellent portrait of life in a small southern town that is coming of age during the twentieth century. The narrator recounts experiences of love and lust from childhood until young adulthood, always against the backdrop of East Tennessee. I wonder if this is why the novel may not appeal to everyone. Growing up in a small town in the South is a distinct experience. Unless you've lived in a town like the one described in Love in Tennessee, it may be hard for the reader to relate to the characters and experiences that unfold.

The novel has some serious flaws, including an abrupt ending and somewhat pointless characters (I'm still unsure why the character of Gilmore plays such a prominent role). I also found most of the physical descriptions of sex kind of cliched and over wrought. "Going at it" is a phrase too frequently used. Despite this, when Bowers is good, he is really good. Particularly impressive is the chapter on the narrator's parents, a story of love, devotion, and quiet despair.

For me, it was worth it to slog through some uninspiring writing in order to reach the few gems included inside. I give the novel 4 stars and would recommend it to most people I know.

Love in Tennessee is collection of short stories that portray the coming of age the author, John Bowers. Having grown up in a small town, I can relate to way he describes life in Eastern Tennessee, the way he longed to break away from small town life, and the price he paid for his freedom. The stories revolve around the different loves of his life--be it his pets, friends, first girlfriend, or even his hometown. Bowers voice shines through as he shares the thrill of adolescence with his stories of sexual discovery and disappointment.

It was a fine book overall. However, nothing about it engrossed me fully or kept me reading late into the night until the last page was turned. Entertaining, yes. A life changer, no.½

Good story-telling ("tall tales") but it just did not connect with me. Don't know why, but "just not my cup of tea".

I got this thru Early Reviewers and I thank them very much. But somehow I think this was sent to me by mistake. I'm not going to send this to the donation pile just yet however. I'm going to leave it for another day - perhaps it just that I want to read a different book right now.

Just a note to the publisher, it really annoys me when a book just can't seem to open flat, without breaking the binding. But I do like your graphics and the great red hen card that you sent.

Bowers recounts his life growing up in small town Tennessee in the 1930's and 1940's. The series of vignettes all have the theme of love, love between friends, love of parents and sibings, but especially the more erotic kinds of love that he remembers as early as age three, toddling between the stockinged legs of his mother's friends as they sat around the dining room table. Our poor author finally meets his match, Miss Sunny Dale, in his early 20's, after a stint in the Army and college and back home again. But he's not quite ready to settle down yet and takes off to the bright lights of the big city, promising to return to his first true love.....will he?

Love in Tennessee is hysterically funny and quietly simple at the same time. The first half of the book follows an unnamed narrator throughout his growing-up years and the resultant unique assembly of characters fit right in with the culture of a small southern town.

As a young boy the central character struggles to understand the complexities of the male-female relationship. Sex is one great big mystery that he is desperate to solve.

The second half of the book focuses on his young adult life as he embarks on a relationship of his own. His pursuit and acquisition of the object of his enormous desire is sweet, yet realistic as only one suffering from imposed virginity can be. As he mismanages this relationship, the reader groans as he makes mistake after mistake.

The ending is quite abrupt. There are sections that are hysterically funny and sections that are sad and poignant. While I liked this book, I didn't love it. It's worth reading, but probably won't be your favorite book this year.

Thank you, LT Early Reader Program!