Robert Hellenga





Robert Hellenga

Author profile


born
in The United States
August 05, 1941

gender
male

website

About this author


Average rating: 3.50 · 3,176 ratings · 544 reviews · 7 distinct works · Similar authors
The Sixteen Pleasures
3.55 of 5 stars 3.55 avg rating — 1,681 ratings — published 1999 — 10 editions
The Fall of a Sparrow
3.66 of 5 stars 3.66 avg rating — 518 ratings — published 1998 — 9 editions
Philosophy Made Simple
3.36 of 5 stars 3.36 avg rating — 357 ratings — published 2006 — 7 editions
Snakewoman of Little Egypt
3.39 of 5 stars 3.39 avg rating — 305 ratings — published 2010 — 10 editions
The Italian Lover
3.21 of 5 stars 3.21 avg rating — 192 ratings — published 2007 — 9 editions
Blues Lessons: A Novel
3.46 of 5 stars 3.46 avg rating — 116 ratings — published 2001 — 7 editions
Bologna Blues
3.0 of 5 stars 3.00 avg rating — 4 ratings — published 1998 — 2 editions
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“He doesn't believe in talking too much about art, especially while you're looking at it. The pressure to appreciate is the great enemy of actual enjoyment. Most people don't know what they like because they feel obligated to like so many different things. They feel they're supposed to be overwhelmed, so instead of looking, they spend their time thinking up something to say, something intelligent, or at least clever.”
Robert Hellenga, The Sixteen Pleasures

“It took him half an hour to reach the little mission chapel. From his position on his back in the river he could see just the tip of the steeple, but for the most part he gazed upward at the constellations. Rudy knew his constellations, because each one of his daughters had done a science project on them and they'd spent hours lying on their backs in the middle of the Edgar Lee Masters campus looking up at the sky. As the river bent to the south, he could see Virgo and Centaurus coming into view. At first they reminded him of true beauty, and he was overwhelmed. He knew that this heart-piercing ache, however painful, was the central experience of his life and that he would have to come to terms with it. No one - not Aristotle, not Epicurus, not Siva Singh - would ever convince him otherwise. But then it occurred to him that Virgo and Centaurus were just as arbitrary as the rudimentary classification system he'd used for his books - Helen's books. There were a lot of stars left out of the constellations, and nothing to stop you from drawing the lines in different ways to create different pictures. He wanted to lift his wings and fly, but he didn't have the power. He could only let the river carry him along.”
Robert Hellenga, Philosophy Made Simple

“There was a time I didn't know your name
Why should I worry, cry in vain
but now she's gone, and I don't worry
cause I'm sittin' on top of the world.”
Robert Hellenga, Blues Lessons: A Novel

Topics Mentioning This Author

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Book Nook Cafe: What I read in October 2010 71 53 Jan 06, 2011 01:41pm  
readers advisory ...: books like "people of the book" by geraldine brooks 26 66 Feb 27, 2012 11:41am  
Around the World ...: Illinois 10 85 Mar 02, 2013 05:15pm  
Around the World ...: Italy 20 158 May 04, 2013 06:57pm  


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