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Divine Magnetic Lands: A Journey in America
 
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Divine Magnetic Lands: A Journey in America (Hardcover)

by Timothy E. O'Grady (Author)
3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
RRP: £18.99
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Customers buy this book with I Could Read the Sky by Timothy E. O'Grady

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  • This item: Divine Magnetic Lands: A Journey in America by Timothy E. O'Grady

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 544 pages
  • Publisher: Secker & Warburg; First Edition, First Printing edition (3 Jul 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0436205130
  • ISBN-13: 978-0436205132
  • Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.6 x 4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 281,659 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Independent, Clive Sinclair
'a noteworthy addition to the tradition [Max] Sebald pioneered, a tradition that mixes travel, history, fiction and introspection'

Sunday Times, Ed King
'...fascinating... it is [the] double perspective of estrangement and familiarity that makes his inquiry so interesting...'

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Divine Magnetic Lands: A Journey in America
95% buy the item featured on this page:
Divine Magnetic Lands: A Journey in America 3.7 out of 5 stars (3)
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I Could Read the Sky
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I Could Read the Sky 5.0 out of 5 stars (6)
£6.99
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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Not So Divine, Totally Unmagnetic., 23 Oct 2008
Timothy O'Grady is an American born novelist who has spent most of his adult life outside his homeland. For Divine Magnetic Lands he revisited the country of his birth for a road tour and to report on the state of the nation. Sounds like a great idea. It has appealed to many novelists in the past including, notably, Henry Miller, John Steinbeck and (in fictional form) Jack Kerouac. However O'Grady doesn't really deliver the goods. The book lacks momentum. As a novelist he must appreciate the importance of identifiable goals and obstacles in building up a story but it's not clear what O'Grady was actually searching for and there are certainly no pitfalls in the book as he cruises from one town or another. It ends up making the book very put-downable. Part of the problem is that he doesn't seem to have decided what sort of book he wanted to write. Was it to be a travelogue? An encyclopedia of interesting facts about America? An analysis of the health of the union? A series of encounters with interesting Americans? He's unsure which to plump for and so he makes it a bit of each of these and in doing so satisfies no-one. He never left me feeling that I was with him on the journey and this is partly because he tries to jam in so much information about each town he visits that it ends up reading like a 'Believe it or Not' entry. When he hits Tutwiler, for example, he manages to mention Elvis Prtesley's father, Son House, Bukka White, Mose Allison and federal judge William C. Keady all in one paragraph and then at the start of the next paragraph he's 'pulling back onto Highway 61' and we're into a description of bluesman Robert Johnson. There were times when I wondered why he bothered even visiting these places. He could have written most of this book by Google. The other thing that bugged me about Divine Magnetic Lands was the interviews. The language of each of his respondents sounds remarkably like the language of Timothy O'Grady. All character has been rinsed out of their speech. It doesn't matter whether it's a high flying lawyer or a redneck barman talking they all speak in colourless words with no idiosyncrasies. I suspect he used a notebook rather than a tape recorder and possibly even relied on his memory to reconstruct conversations. If O'Grady had been reporting Martin Luther King's great 1963 speech at the Washingtom Memorial it would come out something like: "It would be marvelous if everyone could live together regardless of race or religion," said Dr King. "I dream of this sometimes. I hope I live to see it become a reality." Divine Magnetic Lands was a great idea and provided O'Grady with a great all-expenses paid trip. It just the readers who have to suffer the normal discomforts of travel - prolonged periods of boredom, a craving for a pit stop and the ever present question "Are we there yet?"
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Read, 24 Nov 2008
By P. Murphy - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This was a great read from Start to finish. The most interesting part for me was seeing how the author felt in his own country having lived outside it for so long. What changes he saw and whether they were for the better or for worse. His descriptions of the landscape around him were so descriptive and evocative that you could find yourself forming the most detailed mental pictures of each place he visits, be it a national park or a dingy biker bar. As for the people he meets on his journey, every one of them has some story to tell, all of them interesting. The reformed gang member in California and the ex soldier who has a penchant for paint-ball being two highlights. Because there is so many travelogues about the USA, a book needs that something extra to stand out, and with this book Timothy O'Grady delivers. Highly recommended.

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4.0 out of 5 stars In the Spirit of Kerouac, 20 May 2009
This review is from: Divine Magnetic Lands: A Journey in America (Paperback)
Having lived in Europe for thirty years Timothy O Grady has the distance and objectivity of an outsider looking in - but at the same time has the concern of a child witnessing the terminal decline of a parent. Traversing the vast continent from coast to coast twice - he sees the land of his birth crumbling before his eyes - an obesity epidemic - a badly run economy - suppression of voter rights - the Hi-jacking of Washington by Southern Style politics(Pro big business - Low corporate taxation - against public spending).
Along the way he encounters Musicians - Actors and writers as well as ordinary Americans variously jaded and disappointed at what The United States has become under George Bush's presidency. The exploration of such a vast subject area encompassing (culture - politics - religion - history and social study) is accomplished with keen perception and erudition making the book a compelling read - and a must for anyone with an interest in the United States.
On the Road
History of the American People
America in PassingMade in America
The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power
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