Edson

Rating:
Summary: Bill, don't give up your gigs!
Review: After seeing Bill Morrissey perform at a small club in New York, I couldn't wait to read his novel. What a time waster! Flat, one-dimensional characters with little to say in a town where nothing much happens. If there's a story line here, I missed it! Dialogue is inane, with an over-abundance of women who sigh, "Oh, Henry...," at the protagonist.

Rating:
Summary: Reads like Morrisey's songs feel
Review: I loved this book. Like Morrisey's carefully crafted songs, the books expands the low key events in a small New England mill town until they feel as important to the reader as they are to the characters. Those looking for high adventure or unlikely plot twists should look elsewhere; This book is for those who love a simple tale-well-told. I can't wait until he tosses his hat in again with another book.

Rating:
Summary: Evocative and wry, like Bill's songs
Review: Morrissey, who gave us new ways to see things through song (listen to "Dance the Grizzly Bear" sometime) moves seamlessly from guitar to page. His novel emphasizes character development and setting; plot comes a long way last, but at the end I didn't care about that -- what I did care about was what would happen to his characters. Dare we hope for a sequel? It's hard to ask more of a novelist.