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Conor Bowman

Autor von The Last Estate

7 Werke 72 Mitglieder 28 Rezensionen

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Bildnachweis: Wolfson College

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Diese Rezension wurde für LibraryThing Early Reviewers geschrieben.
Did not enjoy this book is all. There was no redemption for the main character. He was an over the top jerk and hated him for the thankfully short length of the entire book. The other characters were too set in stereotypical ways; the evil mother in law, rebellious kid, doting wife. Would not recommend.
 
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OracleOfCrows | 12 weitere Rezensionen | May 18, 2013 |
Diese Rezension wurde für LibraryThing Early Reviewers geschrieben.
This was an early reviewer book. Watch for spoilers, although I read it a while ago so I've forgotten a lot. This is a weird book. It is short, that's a redeeming feature. The attempt is to be very realistic in some ways, the story is told in the voice of a man who is an asshole and I guess part of the point is to convey his point of view, where what he is doing makes sense to him, or he can't resist doing it, or something, But it is also an over-the-top comedic novel where each character is an extreme. The son, who is not given much personality, is a budding rock star (seriously) who needs his father's OK on the contract; the daughter is perfect and I forget if she is described as Asperger-y, but she seems it and she is writing a book on apples. And the wife is loyal and true, and the mother-in-law is evil, or at least has a rational idea of the character of the main character.... There is all this drama. I guess it did stay with me more than I thought so that's a sign that the writing is of fairly high quality, but the content...well mostly it is just silly. The whole thing about being related to Elvis, and the gorgeous woman who forces herself on our hero because of her love for Elvis, is really silly and also sad, and also he treats her badly/ And everything ends up good for him, he faces down the mother-in-law with her secret secret, and she dies so he is rid of her...and the son is a great son...and the problems all end. As I said, a comedic novel, and not one that I would recommend because it doesn't have much heart & I think we need heart these days.… (mehr)
 
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franoscar | 12 weitere Rezensionen | Oct 23, 2011 |
Diese Rezension wurde für LibraryThing Early Reviewers geschrieben.
George Baxter Henry is in a word, a pig. He is honest about the bad things he does, and he thinks that this is somehow redeeming. It's just not. George is horrible to all of the women in his life and he never really stops being that horrible to them. He pretty much ignores his children until he can't anymore. It's only in the very last pages of this book that he seems to get that he needs to behave better. But he still does it mostly for selfish reasons--so he doesn't go bankrupt and end up alone in the world. While there were some things I liked about this book--I liked the quirkiness of the daughter and Pearl seems like a good person--overall I found this book to be somewhat distasteful. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Just the fact that the "f" word is used in pretty much every sentence left a bad taste in my mouth, and I am known to use the word myself on occasion! I'm sure some people will like this book. It's not badly written and the pace is good. Some of the characters are interesting. But George just isn't that interesting in the end--he's just like so many middle aged men who fight off their insecurties by bedding young women and being horrible to their wives. And in the end he never really does do anything to redeem himself from the ruin he spreads in lives of the women who are unfortunate to be in his life.… (mehr)
 
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drsyko | 12 weitere Rezensionen | Oct 2, 2011 |
Diese Rezension wurde für LibraryThing Early Reviewers geschrieben.
By Conor Bowman
The Permanent Press 140 pgs
ISBN: 978-1-57962-220-6
Submitted by The Permanent Press
Rating: 3.5

re-demp-tion [re demp shuh`n] noun
1. an act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed.
2. deliverance; rescue.
3. Theology . deliverance from sin; salvation.
4. atonement for guilt.
5. repurchase, as of something sold.

George Baxter Henry is a middle-aged attorney from Boston. He is married to Pearl. Their college-age son Billy is in a band being wooed by record companies. Iska is their 14-year-old daughter. Muriel is Pearl's mother. The entire family is on vacation in a small village in France.

OK, now try this. George is having an affair. Pearl is mostly clueless. Billy is a cocaine addict. Iska is obsessed with apples. Muriel, who discovered George's paramour, hates him. The entire family is on vacation in a small village in France for some bonding in an attempt to save themselves from themselves and each other.

It was refreshing to see an author treat this material as a farce. After all, with this material, Mr. Bowman could have chosen to write just another teleplay for Lifetime. George is not a sympathetic character but he is the center of attention, so you have to put up with him. In fact he's fairly appalling but he is an original voice, often hilarious, and offers no apologies. He is who he is. This book tells the story of how his family learns to put up with him. In the spirit of farce all issues are resolved by the conclusion of this novel, one way or another, and tied up in a neat package.

This book puts me in mind of second chances. Because that's what redemption gives you, right? A second chance.

Check out The Permanent Press for other offerings: http://www.thepermanentpress.com/

P.S. I loved Iska and the apples
… (mehr)
½
 
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TexasBookLover | 12 weitere Rezensionen | Sep 9, 2011 |

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Werke
7
Mitglieder
72
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#243,043
Bewertung
½ 3.3
Rezensionen
28
ISBNs
11

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