About this title: On a winter morning in the 1920s, a shot is fired on a farm in rural Illinois. Lloyd Wilson is dead. A tenuous friendship between two lonely teenagers - the narrator, whose mother died young, and Cletus Smith, a troubled farmboy - is shattered: Cletus's father committed the murder.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Description: Acceptable. Former Library book. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: MASS MARKET PAPERBACK
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN-13:9780345291943ISBN:0345291948
Description: Very Good. 0345291948 Condition: VERY GOOD. (Book may have one or a combination of the following characteristics: former library book, cover wear, name written inside cover, light underlining/highlighting, remainder mark, etc. Overall, the book is in solid shape. This is a blanket description. Please email us if you require a specific, detailed description of the book condition. We will typically respond within one week of your request). read more
Binding: S Trade Paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780679767206ISBN:0679767207
Description: As New. Appears to be unread: square, solid, perfect spine, no writing or anything like that--really a terrific copy! You'll do the watusi across the front lawn when this book gets to your door! ! ! read more
Description: Octavo, softcover, VG in b & w pictorial wraps. On a winter morning in the 1920s, a shot rings out on a farm in rural Illinois. Some fifty years later, one of the teenage boys at the time of the murder of Lloyd Wilson-now a grown man, tries to reconstruct the events that led up to the murder. Out of memory and imagination, the surmises of children and the destructive passions of their parents, the author magically invokes this luminous and magically evocative novel. 135p. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Date Published: 1981-01-12
ISBN-13:9780345291943ISBN:0345291948
Description: Good. Ballantine Books [Published date: 1981]. Soft cover, 149 pp. Second Printing: May 1981. Good/ NO dust jacket. White glossy pictorial soft covers have light nicking to top and bottom of spine and light bumping to edges and corners. Light overall rubbing, scratching and yellowing. Light creasing to top cover near spine. Binding tight. Pages browned but otherwise clean and unmarked. NOT Ex-library. NO remainder marks. A good reading copy. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1/3/1996
ISBN-13:9780679767206ISBN:0679767207
Description: Very Good. 0679767207 May show signs of shelf wear. Choose EXPEDITED shipping, receive in 2-5 business days. Please email with questions. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: David R. Godine, Pub. -Paperback Reprint
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780879237547ISBN:0879237546
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 135 pages. "A murder on a tiny Illinois farm in the 1920's is at the center of this intensely moving exploration of passion and its effects on two families". In Very Good condition (light edgewear, very slight creasing at corners, clean copy), no dust jacket. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Vintage/ Randon House, New York, New York, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780679767206ISBN:0679767207
Description: New. New trade paperback; slight shopwear. read more
Description: New. Brand New! Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
"William Maxwell is one of those authors who I've thought for a long time I'm familiar with, but then realize upon picking up a book by him that I've never read him before. And then there's the painful discovery that I've clearly been missing out all this time.
This short novel is told by an elderly man reflecting upon his adolescence. The story begins with a farmer being killed, and from there branches out into the narrator's life and friendship with the farmer's son, a friendship that is altered after the murder. According to the synopsis on the book cover Maxwell found an article about the murder in the newspaper and wanted to write a story about it. This, of course, is it. It's a small-town murder mystery, a coming-of-age story, and a beautifully written piece of prose all tied up into one tight little package. Again, it's a short novel but concise, with no loose threads or distracting pieces of information.
This looks like it was his last full novel, though he continued writing articles and short stories up until his death in 2000. If his other novels are as good as this one I'll be pretty darn excited for having found a new (to me) author to read. I might even delve into his short stories, which can make or break any deal with me. But I'll give this Maxwell dude the benefit of the doubt."
"Where has this book been all of my life? This is a short book, written cleverly and sensitively about some scenes recalled from the narrator's youth. The writing completely took me; I decided afterward to read ALL of William Maxwell's books. I may not, but I may!! Here is what John Updike said about the author: "Maxwell's voice is one of the wisest in American fiction; it is, as well, one of the kindest." The book cleft me open and revealed for me all of my worst faults and made me wish they were not there. I am reminded of the seminary quote: "If I am accused of being Christian, will there be enough evidence to convict me?""
"People I respect greatly had been pressing me to read this short, odd novel, and when I finally did read it I was not disappointed. William Maxwell was a fiction editor at the New Yorker magazine for decades, and was responsible for launching and/or helping the careers of many great novelists. Ironically, though, it is probably only through this one novel (out of several that he wrote) that he is remembered as a writer himself. Telling the story of one friendship interrupted by tragedy and another torn apart by betrayal, Maxwell makes vivid the sense of isolation felt by a small town boy who is different, as well as the very real isolation of lives lived without purpose. It is haunting and sad and very moving. My only quibble with the novel is that, despite its brevity, I had trouble keeping the characters straight. But then their sameness was actually a great part of what the novel was about."
"I had never read any William Maxwell before. But I think he had just died and I was at Borders and they had this big display and I picked this one up.
The story of two friends and how paths can diverge.
But the thing that stuck with me the most was that one could go along for long periods of time saying good night to your friend "So long, see you tomorrow." But then one day something happens. And you never see him again. But, the thing is, you never know when that one day will be.
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