false 42143 15 Thomas Abbey is a man stuck in a rut. An English teacher in a small Connecticut prep school, Abbey is in a crisis. His career is unfulfilling, he has no social or love life to speak of, and he cannot break out of the shadow of his famous father, the actor Stephen Abbey. To kick-start his life, he takes a sabbatical to work on a biography of his favorite writer, Marshall France. France's books were the only thing that kept Abbey sane during his childhood, and though he was renowned for his lyrical and imaginative children's books, nearly nothing was known about the writer's life.<p> Although Abbey has been warned that France's daughter Anna has blocked all previous attempts at her father's biography, he and Saxony Garder--an intense woman also obsessed with France's life--head to Galen, Missouri, with high hopes of breaking down Anna's resistance. They are surprised to find Anna the soul of small-town hospitality and quite excited about Abbey's proposal--even eager to get the project finished as soon as possible. Even stranger than Anna's behavior is the town of Galen itself. On the surface, all is as a small midwestern town should be. But the people of the town seem to know what their future holds--freak accidents and all--down to the hour and are as eager for Abbey to finish the biography as Anna is.<p> As far as plot goes, <I>The Land of Laughs</I> doesn't break any new ground--it is a riff on a very old literary theme--and the more interesting issues the story raises--fate, free will, and the creative power of the written word--receive only a glancing blow as the story careens to its somewhat unsatisfying Gothic ending. That said, Carroll does show a good ear for dialogue and a deft hand at creating complex characters and quietly ominous moods. And the story--hoary plot line and all--immediately grabs you and doesn't let go. If you already know Jonathan Carroll from his other novels, you will want to add this reissue of his first novel to your library. And if you haven't yet been introduced to this inventive author, <I>The Land of Laughs</I> is the perfect place to begin. <I>--Perry M. Atterberry</I> 495086 1980 The Land of Laughs total:666|5:224|4:237|3:168|2:29|1:8| 666 2638 892 53 2 2 false false Wed Jan 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 17 13:15:43 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 21 14:30:34 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Fri Dec 19 09:22:03 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 09:30:44 -0800 2008 1 www.jonathancarroll.com . Neil Gaiman, who admires Carroll greatly, wrote an introduction for the website which says:

"Jonathan Carroll's a chang...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Mar 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 28 19:16:06 -0700 2007 Sun Apr 05 18:25:36 -0700 2009 The Land of Laughs is the subtle sort of slipstream novel where something just itches at your brain; you know things aren't on the level but it's impossible to place precisely what until quite a ways in. Carroll imbues his characters with quirks and humanity. The ending was not one that I would have...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon May 25 09:03:45 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 09:04:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Jun 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 07:00:47 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 07:04:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 10 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 15:18:33 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 10 10:54:02 -0800 2009
For most of the book, I had no idea what I was reading. Mystery? Fantasy? Story telling? I did know that I was hooked. I started this book over breakfast Friday morning and had to stop so as not to miss my train. Read it on the train to work, and the train home. Read i...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Sun Oct 12 11:45:35 -0700 2008 Sun Oct 12 18:21:31 -0700 2008
The story's protagonist is named Thomas Abbey, who is an English teacher. Thom...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Mar 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 09:51:30 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 18 09:52:27 -0700 2009 ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 31 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Apr 12 21:54:06 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 12 22:04:08 -0700 2009 3
The real world and unreal looks like a busy cross road in Shanghai. The real 20-tons truck goes straight, the unreal school bus turns right, laughing. Someone had died for over ten years is standing on the sideway, waiting for the traffic light....more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Mar 22 23:35:46 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 22 23:42:48 -0700 2009 I did care about the charactors ultimately which is why I guess I sort of liked it. I can see why Neil Gaiman liked it because it's a lot like an overly serious 8...more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Sat Nov 24 16:17:21 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 26 17:01:05 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Sep 04 21:52:29 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 13:23:18 -0700 2009 5 2 false false Wed Sep 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 13:00:34 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 24 10:30:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Dec 16 13:40:12 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 16 13:41:27 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 08 10:45:37 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 08 10:45:37 -0800 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Dec 15 02:09:45 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 02:10:37 -0800 2008 2 0 false false Sun Nov 09 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Nov 07 04:49:04 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 09 15:50:41 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Mar 08 20:24:42 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 08 20:25:06 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1995 Tue May 19 21:21:21 -0700 2009 Tue May 19 21:22:13 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Apr 08 00:00:00 -0700 2003 Wed Jan 14 10:35:13 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 14 10:37:56 -0800 2009