or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
More Buying Choices
26 used & new from £0.01
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
Modern Ranch Living
 
See larger image 
Share your own customer images
Publisher: learn how customers can search inside this book.

Modern Ranch Living (Paperback)

by Mark Poirier (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
Price: £9.99 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In stock.
Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.

Only 1 left in stock--order soon (more on the way).

Want guaranteed delivery by Wednesday, November 11? Choose Express delivery at checkout. See Details
16 new from £1.11 10 used from £0.01
Other Editions: RRP: Our Price: Other Offers:
Hardcover 19 used & new from £0.65
Paperback £7.99 £7.99 59 used & new from £0.01

Frequently Bought Together

Modern Ranch Living + Goats + Naked Pueblo
Price For All Three: £22.47

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: Modern Ranch Living by Mark Poirier

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Goats by Mark Poirier

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

  • Naked Pueblo by Mark Poirier

    In stock.
    Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
    This item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Goats

Goats

by Mark Poirier
4.7 out of 5 stars (7)  £5.49
Naked Pueblo

Naked Pueblo

by Mark Poirier
5.0 out of 5 stars (6)  £6.99
The Worst Years of Your Life: Stories for the Geeked-Out, Angst-Ridden, Lust-Addled, and Deeply Misunderstood Adolescent in All of Us

The Worst Years of Your Life: Stories for the Geeked-Out, Angst-Ridden, Lust-Addled, and Deeply Misunderstood Adolescent in All of Us

by Mark Jude Poirier
5.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £14.25
Unsung Heroes of American Industry

Unsung Heroes of American Industry

by Mark Poirier
4.0 out of 5 stars (1)  £6.99
The Hazards of Love

The Hazards of Love

~ The Decemberists
4.6 out of 5 stars (32)  £7.88
› Explore similar items

Product details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (3 Jan 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0747571708
  • ISBN-13: 978-0747571704
  • Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.4 x 2.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 708,432 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    •  Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Product Description

Review

'Like David Sedaris, Poirier is a sharp, funny writer who has plenty to say about the lurid, tabloid side of modern American life.' Publishers Weekly 'Poirier writes about malcontents, fringe dwellers, and stoners - and it is the rawness of the plots and characters, the lack of writerly affectation in general and condescension in particular, that makes them evocative and real.' New York Times 'Mark Poirier gets funnier book by book, and, also, book by book, darker. In MODERN RANCH LIVING he's Gogol let loose in the desert.' Larry McMurtry 'Zings right along: wild, weird and woolly. Poirier takes me to places I've never been before, with characters I've never met before, and with adventures I haven't experienced in fiction before. He's also one of the funniest writers going today, though I take him very seriously.' Stephen Dixon


Independent

‘Charming ... Poirier’s achievement is to lay out a fresh take on the grit and inertia of American small-town life’ --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
See all Product Description

Tag this product

 (What's this?)
Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.
Your tags: Add your first tag
 
See most popular tags

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Modern Ranch Living
60% buy the item featured on this page:
Modern Ranch Living 4.3 out of 5 stars (3)
£9.99
Naked Pueblo
15% buy
Naked Pueblo 5.0 out of 5 stars (6)
£6.99
The Motel Life
14% buy
The Motel Life 4.9 out of 5 stars (16)
£5.20
Goats
11% buy
Goats 4.7 out of 5 stars (7)
£5.49
Explore similar items
 

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews
5 star:
 (2)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Modern Ranch Classic!, 9 Sep 2005
By M. J. Pucci "Big Riff" (Milton Keynes, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
I read this book last summer, and a more delightful novel to while away those lazy, hazy days you'd be hard pushed to find.

The action centres on a small community in Tucson, Arizona, with the disappearance of a local teenager triggering the plot. However, it's the book's principal characters that keep the reader turning the page - notably 16 year-old Kendra, the muscle-bound young girl with a bizarre grammatical habit (her favourite phrase: "plussing as which") and Merv, the 30 year-old pool attendant that still lives with his mom. These characters are immediately engaging, and for all their oddities and imperfections, it is easy for the reader to empathise with them.

The story itself moves at a measured pace, reflecting the nature of a long, drawn-out summer, while the twists in the plot are wholly believable without being too predictable. If you read his previous novel, Goats, then you'll be impressed by the way Poirier has developed as a great story-teller, with an ability to create some of the most fascinating literary characters around in a setting he has made entirely his own. If you're new to the author, then this is a great place to discover a rare talent.

In short, Modern Ranch Living is a well-written, easy-going novel and yet it manages to grip the reader from start to finish. Highly recommended.

Matt Pucci
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Hotel Arizona, 22 Mar 2006
By Is (Tokyo) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Modern Ranch Living (Paperback)
This book is set in Arizona, year 2001 – and this setting and time seems to be the most important thing about it. The blurb hints at mysteries unravelling through the course of the hot, suburban summer – and I suppose they do, in a way. Sixteen-year old gym freak Kendra tries to ignore the disappearance of her junkie ex-boyfriend, while college drop-out Merv works at the local water park and finds out a thing or two about his dead father… all good, narrative stuff.

But somehow that doesn’t feel like the point of the book. Merv’s and Kendra’s stories are almost parallel and meet only briefly by the end of the book. No real, page-turning tension ever builds over the poor disappeared wee junkie. Merv’s father remains a lifeless figure.

Something that DOES come to life, though, is a sense of disjointed, modern desert Americana. Just like Douglas Coupland, Poirer describes an ex-urbia world of mall rats, imported fruit, air-conditioning with unexpected tenderness, although he imbues it with less grace than Coupland does. I don’t think he is as good a writer, but he is still adept at giving readers a sense of realness, of being there.

I think you can live without reading this book, but I also don’t think you’ll regret it if you do.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars true southwest grit!, 18 Mar 2006
This review is from: Modern Ranch Living (Paperback)
Honestly, bought this book cos i really liked the cover but found it to be a true gem! I found his story telling very humble, honest and extremely humourous. His characters are unique but with an underlying familiarity. I find his writing very witty without being patronising and you are drawn thru the book with pleasant ease. having travelled the south west myself, I found it stirred up happy memories. I would defo recommend this book to anyone who likes fresh young writing, and wants to read something new! I am hooked, have already started on his first novel 'goats'!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Only search this product's reviews


Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
   
Related forums

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject








i.e., each product must be in subject 1 AND subject 2 AND ...

Feedback

Ad

Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.