About this title: This novel tells the simple story of a man's intense desire to be reunited with his son. John Nickel is a Black musician in Memphis. A protective man by nature, he sympathizes with Carl and Fay Taft, a young white brother and sister who seek work at his blues bar. Despite the trouble they cause him, the pity they induce in him helps him to define ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
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: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! 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
Description: Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Book shows minor use. Cover and Binding have minimal wear and the pages have only minimal creases. A tradition of southern quality and service. All books guaranteed at the Atlanta Book Company. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial, New York
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780060540760ISBN:0060540761
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. Remainder. 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches. 256pp. A Clean and Bright copy. Remainder Mark. Internally Clean. Lang: English. Vols: 1, Wt: 1lbs. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Harper Perennial, New York
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780060540760ISBN:0060540761
Description: Very Good. No Jacket. Remainder. 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches. 256pp. A Clean and Bright copy. Remainder Mark. Internally Clean. Lang: English. Vols: 1, Wt: 1lbs. read more
Edition: Second Printing
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Ivy Books, Westminster, Maryland, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1995
ISBN-13:9780804113885ISBN:0804113882
Description: Nice Cvr Art-No Credit Given. Good++ No Jacket. Massmarket Paperback. Slight edgewear, phone number written at top of fep, Small owner sticker inside front cover at the top edge. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Ivy Books
Date Published: 1995-08-30
ISBN-13:9780804113885ISBN:0804113882
Description: New. Paperback; Mass Market PB; Ivy Books; 1995; 7 x 0.75 x 4 Inches; As New; Unread copy, minor shelf wear. Unconditional money back guarantee. read more
"This book was compelling and an engaging read but it left me a little disappointed. I think that I expected more out of the ending then I got though I can't tell you what I was expecting. The end seemed obvious and shallow. The conflict never built to anything and it was ignored in the end. I feel sometimes when I am this disappointed in an ending that I just didn't get it and that may be the case here. I enjoyed reading the book but didn't enjoy ending it."
This is my least favorite of Patchett's books. The pace was slow, the writing not as refined or lyrical as her others. As usual, however, her characters come to life in a way that has stayed with me.
The book begins, "A girl walked into the bar. " I both love that and am annoyed by it.
Patchett has a piece about the book in the reading guide, in which she says, "When people ask me which of my own books I like best, chances are I'm going to say Taft, the same way a mother of five strappingly healthy, socially gifted children might point to the sixth child (the skinny, myopic one who likes to stay home and hold onto the edge of her skirt) and say, 'This one's my favorite, this little weasel here.' Like a mother, an author develops a similar fondness for the novel that exhibits a failure to thrive. Maybe it's because the others got a good deal of praise, and praise, according to my Catholic education, must be bashfully demurred. But the little book that never went anywhere, that's the one you're willing to promote. Sometimes I want to wrestle the copy of Bel Canto out of the reader's hands and give her Taft instead. 'Try this one,' I want to say, 'It's every bit as good.' "
You know I love her comment because I am willing to copy it out! There's more, but you'll have to read it for yourself."
"Probably my least favourite of Ann Patchett's novels, which is to say still incredibly good. Fabulous writing, and the character of John Nickel is well-drawn and engaging. Fay Taft is a little precious -- sweet and vulnerable but tough-as-nails, almost too perfect -- she's the closest to a type that I've ever found in one of Patchett's books. It feels more like a vignette or novelette than a novel. I'm curious as to what made Patchett choose to write a book with a black man as the main character. It didn't feel forced or unnatural to me, but then I'm so completely not a black man."
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