Louisiana Power and Light

by John Dufresne

Book Overview

A favorite novel by "a generous and lyric storyteller" ( San Francisco Chronicle ) known for his tragicomic voice and unforgettable characters. Billy Wayne is the sole survivor of his oddball line of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393036480
• ISBN13: 9780393036480
• Release Date: January 1994
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.0" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Really Great Read

I think John Dufresne's first work -Louisiana Power and Light- was a fabulous read. I think anyone who doesn't like the book is from the North and doesn't understand it. This book is about people we KNOW down here in the South. It touches on our own family members and that is why it is so poignant. Truly a good book... I found myself laughing out loud several times. Looking forward to reading all Dufresne's works.

If you like the originality of this book...

Most writers today have difficulty finding a totally original voice. Many that do merely have several pieces of other writers in them. When looking back over the history of American Literature we see where new movements came from. Dufresne's writing is new altogether. Not that there aren't others out there with similar styles, but nothing quite like this. Funny (in a disturbing way that I am almost afraid to admit I can relate to), grotesque, depressing, and at the same time enlightening. If you like Dufresne, I suggest you also read Ed McClanahan (especially Congress of Wonders, My Vita if You Will), another southern writer. Upon first reading Dufresne I wondered if these two may have met in some backwoods revival meeting or moonshine festival.

superb characers - a modern day Faulkner

Ironic and intriguing twists of fate take this book well out of the ordinary. Superb characterization, and a wonderful sense of place make this book an especially evocative one.

A superb book of tremendous depth

This is a superb book of tremendous depth and painful humor. He's one of the few storytellers around who can make us laugh and cry in the same sentence. Wonderful wonderful work.

Gumbo of the delicious humor of ill fate in a southern town

The story of the folks of the fictional town of Limoges, Louisiana, a place where one family's pre-destined ill fate stirs up drama after drama. The characters DuFresne creates are so true to life in their matter-of-fact emotional extremes and absurdities that we are pulled into each and every one of their lives. With unforgettable characters like Moonpie and the tragic family lineage he has shouldered, the book is the quickest most well-written prose I have read in a long time. Laughing and crying through countless dramatic encounters the story's charactersgo through, I found myself a resident of Limoges for three months after I finished reading the book. One of the best qualities of DuFresne's writing lies in his ability to display humor, being one of the most important and warm human characteristics, as an instinctive defense mechanisms in playful and wonderfully surprising ways. I read this book close to seven months ago but can not get the charcters out of my mind. I would like not to divulge much of the story line since that would detract from your reading experience. Read it and you will remind yourself why you love literature be proud that we have such imaginative literary writers living in America during such turbulent times. Isn't it time all of us picked up a book that was NOT a national bestseller and read it for the sheer enjoyment of the playful words and literary merit? Reminiscent of Nabokov with a dash of John Irving and Tennesse Williams with the surreal literary quality of Paul Auster, "Louisiana Power & Light" should be a most enjoyable read for all of you that still believe in literature and its inherent love of life.