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Book question for you

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by SF_Express, Jan 12, 2007.

  1. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    First, understand I don't read a ton of books, and right now I'm plodding through "The Gang That Wouldn't Write Straight," which I might simply sit down and get through it in the next few days and be done with it.

    I also have Hannibal Rising and The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer sitting on my coffee table from the holidays.

    That said, I see that Lay of the Land by Richard Ford was one of the Times' top 10 books for 2006. Is it, and Independence Day, worth reading?
     
  2. Jones

    Jones Active Member

    Dude, you need to read the Tender Bar.
     
  3. Ben_Hecht

    Ben_Hecht Active Member

    Not badly written, but the guy was so spoiled/lucky it makes you cringe, and much of the dialog sounds
    as made-up as does Albom's.

    JMO.
     
  4. Alma

    Alma Well-Known Member

    Both of Ford's efforts are worth reading. I preferred, mostly because I prefer short stories, Men With Women.
     
  5. Jones

    Jones Active Member

    Y'ouch.
     
  6. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    SF, if you haven't read "The Sportwriter", read it before "Independence Day" and his new book.
     
  7. SF_Express

    SF_Express Active Member

    No, see, that's the thing. I HAVE read The Sportswriter. And I figure I ought to read Independence Day before the latest.

    Ben, does this: Not badly written, but the guy was so spoiled/lucky it makes you cringe, and much of the dialog sounds
    as made-up as does Albom's. JMO.

    refer to the Tender Bar or Lay of the Land.
     
  8. JR

    JR Well-Known Member

    Read Independence Day first. You don't have to but you may enjoy Lay of the Land more.
     
  9. Bubba Fett

    Bubba Fett Active Member

    I want to like Richard Ford's work more than I actually do. I feel the same way about Wilco.
     
  10. Double Down

    Double Down Well-Known Member

    I think Ford is much easier to digest in short story form. He'd boring as a novelist. He writes very pretty sentences, and after 90 pages, I'm ready to slip into a coma.
     
  11. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Me too. I read the Sportswriter and shrugged.
     
  12. Duane Postum

    Duane Postum Member

    I've tried both too, and your parallel really struck me. Supposedly a great American writer and a great American band, and neither engaged me at all.
     
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