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Rating:  Summary: Me, Glorious Me!!! Review: From a man who makes his classes on Great American Fiction at John Carroll University read his own novel what can one expect? Not much. It constantly surprises me that Wingardner has not already written a novel entitled "Let Me tell you About Me," with a follow up novel entitled "More about Me." Wingardner fancies himself a great writer, I supposes there's no harm in letting him go on in his dillusional ways. "Elvis Presley Blvd" is just another road trip novel. I'd rather read the Atals.
Rating:  Summary: Great to read Review: I found 'Elvis Presley Boulevard' a wonderful read. I'll have to admit that it's no 'Blue Highways' or 'Lost Continent', but the book is full of great dialogues, is often very funny and hard to put away.
Rating:  Summary: Jim? Hell, I wanted to hear from Akers. Review: I guess all the refugee's of Miami U./ Oxford's "Monday Night Smoking and Drinking" from the early 80's are commenting here.I knew Mark, I knew Jim, I knew Akers. I forget who's idea the trip was, but Akers was supposed to go before she had something come up. Some sort of poetry emergency. Anyway, Jim was/is a better writer than Mark, Akers was better than both, and doing a book about it was her idea. That's the way I remember it and I am bigger than any 2 of them. The best thing I can say about Winegardner is that as a writer and original thinker he was very good looking.
Rating:  Summary: Jim? Hell, I wanted to hear from Akers. Review: I guess all the refugee's of Miami U./ Oxford's "Monday Night Smoking and Drinking" from the early 80's are commenting here. I knew Mark, I knew Jim, I knew Akers. I forget who's idea the trip was, but Akers was supposed to go before she had something come up. Some sort of poetry emergency. Anyway, Jim was/is a better writer than Mark, Akers was better than both, and doing a book about it was her idea. That's the way I remember it and I am bigger than any 2 of them. The best thing I can say about Winegardner is that as a writer and original thinker he was very good looking.
Rating:  Summary: I wanted to hear from Jim Review: I know Wingardner, and I know his road trip buddy, Jim. Trust me, Jim would have written a MUCH better story. Wingardner's prose is flat, his tone is at once snide and "gosh golly gee whiz," and he scripts himself as the hero in nearlly every chapter. I agree with the first reviewer that "Elvis Presley Boulevard" is more "Me, Glorious Me," which is a shame, given the potential richness of the material. Jim sent me a postcard of a fur-bearing trout from this trip, and the message on the back had more drama, wit and affection for the subject than this whole book.
Rating:  Summary: Had potential, but dissapointing Review: I was planning a roadtrip around America this past spring
and thought reading this book would psyche me up even more for it. Well, it didn't quite do that. I didn't
feel that there was anything to the book except that
they saw some Elvis stuff along the way. I guess I was just
used to Kerouac's On the Road where he tells of an amazing story and the road is just the backdrop of what
happens. Anyway, that is what I think.
Rating:  Summary: Elvis Presley Boulevard Review: This is a "two guys in a beater car with no cash or agenda road book." One guy is getting married at the end of the summer, the other one is searching for a life (he thinks he may have left it in Colorado the year before). They get together and hit the road. Their mission seems to center on hitting those 'roadside attractions' that 'grownups' with all that common sense avoid with a passion. The book kept me laughing all the way through it. A major theme of the book deals with their discovering the phenomenom of 'Give us this day, our daily Elvis'. The ending was anticlimatic, and disappointing, though
Rating:  Summary: intriguing Review: Winegardner seems destined to become one of the best writers of his generation, at least judging from his stellar short stories and in particular the masterful novel CROOKED RIVER BURNING. His sequel to THE GODFATHER will break him out to a huge audience. This book is an interesting insight into the beginnings of a major talent. The fiction is more mature work, yes, but this book is certainly a lot of fun.
Rating:  Summary: Interesting first book Review: Winegardner's later, amazing novels--The Veracruz Blues and Crooked River Burning--are the places to start reading this first-rate American writer. But this book really does give an intriguing taste of what this writer will do later. A smart, seminal American road trip, written with heart and verve.
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