- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Perennial (HarperCollins); Reprint edition (Mar 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060959185
- ISBN-13: 978-0060959180
- Product Dimensions: 41.7 x 13 x 1.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,528,081 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
Michael Blaine's The Desperate Season would disturb any reader at any time, but in post-Columbine America, its story of a disturbed young man with firearms unsettles even more. The richness of the book, however, lies not only in the story, but in how it is told. In addition to creating the point of view of this disturbed young man (Maurice Coleman), Blaine makes us privy to the first-person views of the half-dozen or so characters made up of family and friends who have touched Maurice's life in one way or another, and who will pay a heavy price.
By alternating these points of view in different time frames via flashbacks, ranging from minutes to years, the book builds an almost unbearable tension within the reader. If conflict is the stuff of drama, then this book has it in spades; the intricate variety of conflicts we witness in the characters is underscored by a conflict created within ourselves as readers! By deftly exploiting these shifts in time and points of view, the author pits two over-riding narrative desires against each other: the reader's desire to know what happened with the reader's desire to know why it happened. The book is something of the literary equivalent of the Cyclone roller coaster. Hang on for a wild ride.
The Desperate Season is at once both timely in its details of character and place, and timeless in its portrayal of a large and colorful palette of human frailty. Although not without humor, this book breaks your heart, as you cry out, "Oh, No!" in response to the inexorable path its characters must take to tragedy.
Neat, clean, beautifully sculpted prose, richly drawn characters revealing their deepest secrets, desires and fears, and a narrative that moves you to a gripping climax, make The Desperate Season that rarest thing: a new novel that will be around for a long time. A classic.
Format:Hardcover
This is an incredibly powerful, nuanced work. It's a rare combination of a compelling, page-turning plot and layered, literary writing. I'm always looking for the next book that will surprise me and keep me awake late into the night when I really should be fast asleep--this one definitely filled the bill!
Format:Hardcover
The DESPERATE SEASON is an absorbing, original, extremely well-written novel which holds the reader's interest. The characters come alive, making one care about each of them and the story's outcome.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The story will stay with you for the rest of your life.
I can't stop thinking about the characters in this book. It is a great read. This is one of those books you will never forget. Read more
Published on 23 Aug 1999
A compelling, scary page turner.
Most Americans have some experience with a family member who displays the symptoms of the seriously mentally ill. Read more
Published on 22 Aug 1999
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