Edson

by Bill Morrissey

Book Overview

A bittersweet first novel about the power of music and the resilience of the human heart. Edson, New Hampshire, is a typical New England mill town, where everyone knows everyone else's business, and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067944629X
• ISBN13: 9780679446293
• Release Date: April 1996
• Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
• Length: 237 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

I didn't want it end

I read this book over the course of a snowy new england weekend. I felt like I knew everyone in the book. I didn't want it end. Bill is about to publish another soon. It's a shame we've had to wait 13 years for another story by this master storyteller. His songs are short stories, this book is one bloody great one.

Evocative and wry, like Bill's songs

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.

Reads like Morrisey's songs feel

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.

Just like a Bill Morrissey song...

This is Bill Morrissey's first attempt at writing a book. He's been writing songs that go straight into the lonliness of contemporary America with great wit and magnificent turns of a phrase. Now, this book can take you deep into the heart of a man who needs the distance of a guitar and a few drinks to actually get closer to himself. Set in a dying New Hampshire mill town, EDSON plays itself out almost autobiographically. The characters were vibrant and distinct for a short book and the mise-en-scene could send you running for a bourbon. But the tender quality and underlying sense of hope prevails and in the end, you are left with wanting more, just like any Bill Morrissey song. Highly recommended.