Chris-In-The-Morning: Love, Life, and the Whole Karmic Enchilada

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Summary: The peculiar and personal weltanschauung of Chris Stevens
Review: "Chris-in-the Morning: Love, Life, and the Whole Karmic Enchilada" is one of those books I would have loved to have put together. Louis Chunovic is not the "writer" of this "Northern Exposure" book, but rather has "Compiled and Edited" the proceedings, which are, of course, based on the television series created by Joshua Brand & John Falsey. The idea was to take pretty much everything said by the character of Chris Stevens (played by John Corbett), the voice and soul of the borough of Arrowhead County for everyone who loyally listens to K-BEAR's "Chris-in-the-Morning" radio show. I am not sure if every quote was actually uttered over the air, or simply in the radio station, and not on the streets of Cicely, but you get the idea. The result is that from the literal call of the wild to the complex vagaries of love to the fine art of curing a hangover, this book provides (in its own words) "a veritable aurora borealis of Chris's own recollection, speculations, dreams, and philosophies."

After an introduction that recalls how reading Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" changes his life from a budding hooligan of fifteen into an artist, this book is divided into two sections. Part I consists of Raps, Rants, and Wrenching Times. We are treated to The Chris Stevens Story, culled from his walks down memory lane, and then Chunovic tries to get thematic, with mixed results. Remember, for the most part these observations are divorced from the original context of their respective episodes. Part II is a catch-all section that offers Opinions and Observations, A-Z, which would be from Aging ("People impose all these chronological imperatives on themselves") to Zen ("See Carpentry; Mathematics; Plumbing; Technology") for those keeping track. As I said, I appreciate the attempt to present this collection of observations made by Chris Stevens as an articulated philosophical position, but this is more of a cultured and idiosyncratic weltanschauung. The key thing is that Chunovic is not trying to create consistent ontological, epistemological, or axiological positions. These are just scattered seeds of wisdom, embedded in Chris's recollections, speculations, dreams, and philosophies. Besides, the pleasure here is just getting a chance to re-read those big long speeches Chris used to unload on "Northern Exposure." The meaning, dear reader, lies not in Chris's words but in ourselves. Pick and choose as you desire.

My one minor complaint would be that the writers who came up with these great speeches and choice epithets are not credited. Allow me to rectify that with a list of all the writers who wrote on "Northern Exposure": Sybil Adelman, David Assael, Kate Boutilier, Joshua Brand, Henry Bromell, Jordan Budde, Mitchell Burgess, David Chase, Sean Clark, Denise Dobbs, Sam Egan, John Falsey, Diane Frolov, Robin Green, Barbara Hall, Karen Hall, Ellen Herman, Jessica Klein, Dennis Koenig, Jeff Melvoin, Geoffrey Neigher, Mark B. Perry, Robert Rabinowitz, Sy Rosen, Charles Rosin, Martin Sage, Andrew Schneider, Jed Seidel, Jerry Stahl, Meredith Stehm, Rogers Turrentine, Jeff Vlaming, Craig Volk, Steve Wasserman and Christian Williams. Thanks you very much, worthy scribes.

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Summary: Love this book, a must-have for NX fans
Review: Chris in the Morning is a wonderful collection of the Chris Stevens we all have come to love. I have all the episodes on tape, and granted, I could watch them all and listen to him execute his lines with eloquence, but , hey, sometimes it's just great to sit down and hear his voice in your head while reading this terrific book. I like to just open and and recollect a favorite episode, (but then again we love them all!) It's fun, it's Chris. Buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Great, if you remember the show
Review: Many of the witticisms and reflections herein wil tickle your fancy even if you've never seen the show. But enough of them hinge on knowing a character or remembering an episode that it'll be most appreciated by someone who's actually seen (and remembers) the series.

Rating:
Summary: A Must for all Northern Exposure fans out there
Review: This book is a must for all Northern Eposure fans out there! Chris' insight into love, life and the whole karmic enchilada will give you smiles and possbily provoke some inner reflection on how you view the world.
A great book!
(Wish I lived in their world in Cicely Alaska)

Rating:
Summary: A Must for all Northern Exposure fans out there
Review: This book is a must for all Northern Eposure fans out there! Chris' insight into love, life and the whole karmic enchilada will give you smiles and possbily provoke some inner reflection on how you view the world.
A great book!
(Wish I lived in their world in Cicely Alaska)

Rating:
Summary: Hard to find, easy to like.
Review: This is an out-of-print book that I've been looking in used stores for for years. I finally decided to just purchase online. Glad I did. It's a fairly simple read, maybe 1-2 hours, but it sure did take me back to the show. All kinds of quotes, stories, and sayings, primarily from Chris the DJ. It also has numerous pictures of just about every cast member. Anyone might enjoy this, but fanatics of Chris and "Northern Exposure" should love it. It goes well with the soundtrack. This book can be found many places online, but for many times the original cost. Watch for the new "NE" DVD too.