| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details
|
More About the Author
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Proulx's genius is her amazing ability to transport you into the landscapes of the places she writes about and the lives of those who live there.
Having been sucked into the geography and people of Newfoundland I picked up That Old Ace In The Hole for obvious reasons. And it lived up to my expectations.
Not that I expected another Shipping News because I do not believe that could ever be equalled. However, That Old Ace In The Hole is excellently written with rich characters and stunning attention to detail.
The crux of the story is that of a young man - Bob Dollar - moving to the Texas panhandle with a new job. Through encounters with the locals and some morally questionable situations, Bob begins to look at himself and his own desires in life.
That Old Ace In The Hole is a heart-warming story that will whisk you off to the Texas panhandle and engage you in its people and landscape.
Don't expect The Shipping News, but do expect to want to move to a small backwater town in Texas.
Having been sucked into the geography and people of Newfoundland I picked up That Old Ace In The Hole for obvious reasons. And it lived up to my expectations.
Not that I expected another Shipping News because I do not believe that could ever be equalled. However, That Old Ace In The Hole is excellently written with rich characters and stunning attention to detail.
The crux of the story is that of a young man - Bob Dollar - moving to the Texas panhandle with a new job. Through encounters with the locals and some morally questionable situations, Bob begins to look at himself and his own desires in life.
That Old Ace In The Hole is a heart-warming story that will whisk you off to the Texas panhandle and engage you in its people and landscape.
Don't expect The Shipping News, but do expect to want to move to a small backwater town in Texas.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Annie Proulx's latest novel offers a fascinating blend of stunningdescriptions of place and superb construction of characters as she offersa compelling insight into life for an outsider in rural Texas.
Whether the Texas that Proulx describes is 'the' Texas or not isinconsequential: as the book's protagonist, Bob Dollar, sets about findingsuitable ranching land to be converted into a much-hated factory hog-farm,the rugged and unique characters merge with the rugged and unique imageryto create a superb read.
For those who have read Proulx's earlier novel, The Shipping News, thisnovel lives up to expectation: she does to Texas in That Old Ace in theHole, through her wonderful observation of physical and human quirks, whatshe does to the wind-beaten North-East coast in The Shipping News.
Some reviews have suggested that perhaps this novel is over-researched andindiscriminately edited, and certainly in terms of sheer length, this is along book. But if you are likely to be irked by lengthy characterizationand scene creation, then this is not a book that I would recommend youread anyway.
Normally a book with a distinctly average, and often non-existent, plot isbest avoided. But when the characterization and descriptions are soincredibly vivid and so powerful, as they are here, the book should not bemissed.
Whether the Texas that Proulx describes is 'the' Texas or not isinconsequential: as the book's protagonist, Bob Dollar, sets about findingsuitable ranching land to be converted into a much-hated factory hog-farm,the rugged and unique characters merge with the rugged and unique imageryto create a superb read.
For those who have read Proulx's earlier novel, The Shipping News, thisnovel lives up to expectation: she does to Texas in That Old Ace in theHole, through her wonderful observation of physical and human quirks, whatshe does to the wind-beaten North-East coast in The Shipping News.
Some reviews have suggested that perhaps this novel is over-researched andindiscriminately edited, and certainly in terms of sheer length, this is along book. But if you are likely to be irked by lengthy characterizationand scene creation, then this is not a book that I would recommend youread anyway.
Normally a book with a distinctly average, and often non-existent, plot isbest avoided. But when the characterization and descriptions are soincredibly vivid and so powerful, as they are here, the book should not bemissed.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm a huge fan of Annie Proulx - the style, the stories, the ability to put the weirdest things together and you just think, wow, I never knew that could happen - funny names and extravagant deaths, the harshness of life, nature will kill you and if it doesn't, we all have enough hangups to kill ourselves with - and yet the human spirit shines through. This is life. It makes me want to live. I get incoherent when I rave about this writer, clearly!
So this one is good, engaging, with a strong sense of place and character, but is let down but some very odd aspects of structure. It seems to be slightly out of order, slightly repetitive, slightly lumpy, and less masterful. I 've decided that it needed a good deal more editing. That said, it's a bit of an insight into how her books go together - the random bits pieced together to produce a world that's strange but seamless (except in this case).
Get it anyway, though. Even substandard Proulx is better than anything else.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Detailed and beautiful.
If you have read any of Annie Proulx's other novels and enjoyed them, then you'll love this one! If you haven't read any Proulx before, then this book is a superb place begin. Read more
Published 7 days ago by Mark
entertaining and evocative
This book is too long, I think, and cries out here and there for some decent editing, but otherwise it's a great success: the panhandle life seems convincing (though it's not... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Amy J.
Making a silk purse from a sow's ear
You can't describe why this book's enjoyable. A lonely hero in a forgotten part of America doing a job everyone hates him for...where's the fun in that? Read more
Published on 23 July 2004 by "doctor_vison"
Less a plot than a way of life.
The plot, a man sent to do a dirty job but inclined to go native, is thin, in no way original but promising. Read more
Published on 17 May 2004 by Cole Davis
Probably her worst novel.
I had been looking forward to reading Annie Proulx's latest novel for a while now, and picked it up in my local library recently. Read more
Published on 19 Jan 2004 by Gautama
"To live here it sure helps if you are half cow..."
Stating that "nothing of the original prairie remain[s]," Proulx presents the Texas Panhandle through the eyes of 25-year-old Bob Dollar, a newcomer, who sees railroad tracks,... Read more
Published on 12 Jun 2003 by Mary Whipple
loved it
I loved this book - its a vivid portrait of a small area and its characters, written with heart and joy without being cloyingly sentimental. Read more
Published on 30 April 2003
A rich portrait of life in the Texas Panhandle
In this wonderful new novel Proulx's style is even more confident, sparkling, rich and detailed than ever. Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2002 by c westwood
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
