What do you think?
Rate this book
Stay More #2
Some Other Place. The Right Place.
Diana Stoving sits in a showroom waiting for her car to be fixed. Leafing through the paper she reads the news item that will change her life. Eighteen-year-old Day Whittacker has been "age regressed" by his teacher, and claims to be the reincarnation of a hell-raiser named Daniel Lyam Montross, who died twenty years earlier. Montross was Diana's grandfather. Together, Day and Diana set out to explore the life and investigate the death of Montross. They journey through ghost towns, becoming amateur archaeologists, naturalists, sleuths, historians and, inevitably, lovers. Always, the presence of Daniel Lyam Montross is with the pair, leading them in their quest. Dead, he is fated to die again. Is one or both of them also fated to die?
- GenresFictionLiterature
500 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
20 people are currently reading
355 people want to read
About the author
Donald Harington
37 books114 followersDonald Douglas Harington was an American author. All but the first of his novels either take place in or have an important connection to "Stay More," a fictional Ozark Mountains town based somewhat on Drakes Creek, Arkansas, where Harington spent summers as a child.
Harington was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He lost nearly all of his hearing at age 12 due to meningitis. This did not prevent him from picking up and remembering the vocabulary and modes of expression among the Ozark denizens, nor in conducting his teaching career as an adult.
Though he intended to be a novelist from a very early age, his course of study and his teaching career were in art and art history. He taught art history in New York, New England, and South Dakota before returning to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, his alma mater, where he taught for 22 years before his retirement on 1 May 2008.
Harington is acclaimed as one of America's greatest writers of fiction, if not one of its best known. Entertainment Weekly called him "America's greatest unknown writer." The novelist and critic Fred Chappell said of him "Donald Harington isn't an unknown writer. He's an undiscovered continent." Novelist James Sallis, writing in the Boston Globe: "Harington's books are of a piece -- the quirkiest, most original body of work in contemporary U.S. letters."
Harington died of pneumonia, after a long illness, in Springdale on 7 November 2009.
Harington's novels are available from The Toby Press in a uniform edition, with cover illustrations by Wendell Minor. Since his death, The Toby Press has made available the entire set of Harington novels as The Complete Novels of Donald Harington.
Harington was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas. He lost nearly all of his hearing at age 12 due to meningitis. This did not prevent him from picking up and remembering the vocabulary and modes of expression among the Ozark denizens, nor in conducting his teaching career as an adult.
Though he intended to be a novelist from a very early age, his course of study and his teaching career were in art and art history. He taught art history in New York, New England, and South Dakota before returning to the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, his alma mater, where he taught for 22 years before his retirement on 1 May 2008.
Harington is acclaimed as one of America's greatest writers of fiction, if not one of its best known. Entertainment Weekly called him "America's greatest unknown writer." The novelist and critic Fred Chappell said of him "Donald Harington isn't an unknown writer. He's an undiscovered continent." Novelist James Sallis, writing in the Boston Globe: "Harington's books are of a piece -- the quirkiest, most original body of work in contemporary U.S. letters."
Harington died of pneumonia, after a long illness, in Springdale on 7 November 2009.
Harington's novels are available from The Toby Press in a uniform edition, with cover illustrations by Wendell Minor. Since his death, The Toby Press has made available the entire set of Harington novels as The Complete Novels of Donald Harington.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
June 11, 2020
long live donald harington (12/22/35 - 11/07/09) yeah, i just found out. that's two of my favorites in as many years. why can't i fall in love with robots?? donald harington was by far the most under-appreciated author i have ever championed. and his relative obscurity is both puzzling and offensive to me. what are people reading, if not this? and why? what's the point? harington was the most effortless storyteller i have ever read. he created an entire town and filled it up with characters that were interesting and astonishing and full of life and depth and reality and magic. his writing never had any vanity to it - it seemed he was writing for the sheer joy of creating these people and directing their lives and presenting them the way kids do when they play with dolls. i have never been bored reading a harington book. i have never glossed over a descriptive passage, i have never wished he would wrap it up. his writing is enchanting - it is pulsating with vitality and novelty and specialness- and everything builds and reflects and echoes and even when he would take risks to amplify the magic or the postmodern flourishes, i never felt jarred or impatient. and everything i am saying is coming across as clichéd and that is the last thing a man like this deserves. but you understand, i am not mourning one man; i am mourning an entire town. i am mourning characters i have fallen in love with over the course of fifteen books - all of stay more has fallen into a hole in the ground, and because he once made me an honorary citizen, i'm in there as well. and i'm sitting here bawling and listening to warren zevon and janis ian and this leonard cohen song i haven't been able to listen to in ten years because it made me cry too hard, because i'm already sad, right?? and i'm just a nightmare mess over this. maybe i will actually review the book-part tomorrow. for now - this is just a sorrowful eulogy.
on second thought - no - you can read the books yourselves - you don't need me to potentially ruin it. go - enjoy.
come to my blog!
on second thought - no - you can read the books yourselves - you don't need me to potentially ruin it. go - enjoy.
come to my blog!
July 18, 2011
This is a long-a** book. It could go on this list: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/86...
Diana Stoving and Day Whitaker team up to trace the life of Daniel Lyam Montross through the 4 different places he lived. The narrator surprised me, looping back to an earlier book, but just genius.
How to describe this? My heart felt heavy as I read. Often funny. It's like walking in the forest on an upslope that's a vertical crest curve so that you can't see what's coming.
I love how Harington slipped into the book, naming himself as one of Diana Stoving's favorite authors and seeming to allude to himself when writing about an author who travels about to write of disappeared towns.
Lord, the incest. So gee-dee much incest. Well, I guess not that much overall but even a little is too much, like the presence of coliform bacteria in drinking water. All right, an effort to understand: When living in subsistence poverty and perhaps not nurturing children or the mind due to the need for constant hard labor, the bodies become a playground. Do the thoughts move when the muscles are tired? Not always, but sex is easy. And the nearest bodies are family. Yuck. The examples given in this book are out of compassion, torture, and the last is a mystery (I hope the subject of a future book (future read, for me, since Harington (RIP) has written all he will ever write)).
The subject of place, like in the title, I'm not sure if Harington is arguing that location is the ultimate goal. The heroes of the story do end up in Stay More, but I feel that people are what makes home and "the right place," and that "home" and "love" are synonymous.
Diana Stoving and Day Whitaker team up to trace the life of Daniel Lyam Montross through the 4 different places he lived. The narrator surprised me, looping back to an earlier book, but just genius.
How to describe this? My heart felt heavy as I read. Often funny. It's like walking in the forest on an upslope that's a vertical crest curve so that you can't see what's coming.
I love how Harington slipped into the book, naming himself as one of Diana Stoving's favorite authors and seeming to allude to himself when writing about an author who travels about to write of disappeared towns.
Lord, the incest. So gee-dee much incest. Well, I guess not that much overall but even a little is too much, like the presence of coliform bacteria in drinking water. All right, an effort to understand: When living in subsistence poverty and perhaps not nurturing children or the mind due to the need for constant hard labor, the bodies become a playground. Do the thoughts move when the muscles are tired? Not always, but sex is easy. And the nearest bodies are family. Yuck. The examples given in this book are out of compassion, torture, and the last is a mystery (I hope the subject of a future book (future read, for me, since Harington (RIP) has written all he will ever write)).
The subject of place, like in the title, I'm not sure if Harington is arguing that location is the ultimate goal. The heroes of the story do end up in Stay More, but I feel that people are what makes home and "the right place," and that "home" and "love" are synonymous.
April 29, 2010
I must admit I had never heard of donald harington until karen badgered me repeatedly until i finally gave in and bought all 15 of his books (just kidding, karen).this is the third one i have read and it is by far the best yet.it's a magical book with wonderfully memorable characters and is told from multiple points of view.i wanted the book to go on forever (and it's almost 600 pages as it is).i'm actually at a loss for words to describe how great it is.so just buy it and read it.it's a masterpiece.thanks again, karen!
February 25, 2013
This 1973 book by American Original Donald Harington is the most thrilling novel I read in 2012. It is weird and romantic in equal measures,gripping, graphically sexual in the way only a recently liberated country's brightest minds could produce. (Remember, until 1966 it was illegal to print, distribute or own Lady Chatterly's Lover or Terry Southern's Candy in the USA.)
The plot deals with reincarnation, finding yourself, suppressed memories, hidden family secrets and sex. The themes involve ghost towns, fallen men, forgotten lives and the search for belonging.
When I say graphically sexual, I mean...this book is divided into four sections for four types of sexual expression; Oral -kissing through to genital contact, coitus, anal penetration (both as reproductive control and personal preference) and what is "hidden".
Did I mention that the third section is written in sonnet form with poetry expressed in the archaic language of a long dead culture?
Intriguing. I am haunted by this book, by it's structural follies, but it's ambition, by it's surprising successes and it's sly asides.
I would love to know what you think of it.
I have never read another book like it.
The plot deals with reincarnation, finding yourself, suppressed memories, hidden family secrets and sex. The themes involve ghost towns, fallen men, forgotten lives and the search for belonging.
When I say graphically sexual, I mean...this book is divided into four sections for four types of sexual expression; Oral -kissing through to genital contact, coitus, anal penetration (both as reproductive control and personal preference) and what is "hidden".
Did I mention that the third section is written in sonnet form with poetry expressed in the archaic language of a long dead culture?
Intriguing. I am haunted by this book, by it's structural follies, but it's ambition, by it's surprising successes and it's sly asides.
I would love to know what you think of it.
I have never read another book like it.
December 24, 2007
I waded through this book for weeks, and it was gorgeous. Perhaps the most interesting novel I've ever read about relationships - expectations, disappointments, satisfaction and understanding . . two holes in the outhouse is the way to go.
February 1, 2015
Thank you Karen for the recommendation on Donald Harington.
This is the second I have read, and loved it. Everything, with the exception of one section which is written in verse - and I hate poetry, but struggled through it, but it kept me from 5 stars - just makes you feel good all over.
There are social issues to think about, relationships, goals, responsibilities, family, the environment and a host of other thoughts scattered throughout. There will be some who don't like 'all' the 'sex', but don't we as people think about and have sex all our lives. It isn't particularly graphic but it is a major theme in both this and the first book.
I immediately liked the people in this story - not a requirement, but it works here. You care about them and root for them and feel happy and sad over what occurs to them.
There is a bit of mysticism, and there will be those who just don't buy into the premise of age regression through hypnosis, but trust me, real or not, it works in this story.
Amazon currently has most of Mr. Harington's books at $3.99 - and some collections, 1-5, 6-10... for about the same price.
I do recommend you start with #1, Lightning Bug, although there is little to do with it and this story line, just think it will make more sense.
So, People, read this man's books.
And you will understand why outhouses have two holes rather than one....
This is the second I have read, and loved it. Everything, with the exception of one section which is written in verse - and I hate poetry, but struggled through it, but it kept me from 5 stars - just makes you feel good all over.
There are social issues to think about, relationships, goals, responsibilities, family, the environment and a host of other thoughts scattered throughout. There will be some who don't like 'all' the 'sex', but don't we as people think about and have sex all our lives. It isn't particularly graphic but it is a major theme in both this and the first book.
I immediately liked the people in this story - not a requirement, but it works here. You care about them and root for them and feel happy and sad over what occurs to them.
There is a bit of mysticism, and there will be those who just don't buy into the premise of age regression through hypnosis, but trust me, real or not, it works in this story.
Amazon currently has most of Mr. Harington's books at $3.99 - and some collections, 1-5, 6-10... for about the same price.
I do recommend you start with #1, Lightning Bug, although there is little to do with it and this story line, just think it will make more sense.
So, People, read this man's books.
And you will understand why outhouses have two holes rather than one....
September 23, 2015
A strange read, although enjoyable.
Like the first book in the series, there is a modernist, almost post modern approach. So the first section has passages seemingly narrated by the three main protagonists in turn, although one is within another, but there is another narrator occasionally appearing. The second section is more directly narrated from a journal. The third is a sequence of poems, possibly written by a ghost. In the final section, the narrator from the first section becomes a leading character and isn't too far removed from the author, but the reality of some, if not all, of the other characters is brought into question.
There are interesting reflections on the nature of love and the ability to subsume your own identity - literally for two to become one. The is a lot of sex, particularly in the first section which is explicit but not at all erotic.
I do have one major qualm about the book, as I had with the first.
Like the first book in the series, there is a modernist, almost post modern approach. So the first section has passages seemingly narrated by the three main protagonists in turn, although one is within another, but there is another narrator occasionally appearing. The second section is more directly narrated from a journal. The third is a sequence of poems, possibly written by a ghost. In the final section, the narrator from the first section becomes a leading character and isn't too far removed from the author, but the reality of some, if not all, of the other characters is brought into question.
There are interesting reflections on the nature of love and the ability to subsume your own identity - literally for two to become one. The is a lot of sex, particularly in the first section which is explicit but not at all erotic.
I do have one major qualm about the book, as I had with the first.
June 17, 2023
A friend in the publishing business gave me a hardcover copy of this novel in 1973, and I still proudly cherish my first edition copy. The book was a formative read when I was first discovering and building my literary interests. I never really found other of Harington's works in print locally. (just joking, there must still be some around in South Africa) Now, since the digital publication of his nearly complete works by Lake Union Publishing, I can continue my education in Donald Harington's universe.
Re-reading 'Some Other Place' 40+ years down the line, in such a different era, I am delighted to find that the work is still as fresh, surprising and delightful as it was when I was a young and fresh reader. Initially, I half sceptically expected to be a bit disappointed at times, half fearing that I might find aspects of the book too superficial, too slow for the tempo of movies and novels that we have become used to.
Of course some of the aspects of the Seventies now looks a bit dated, not many would write poetry by hand on scraps of paper today. But Donald Harington never makes you doubt the soundness of the experience of his characters, not even in some other time, this time. His easy power of invention and skill in storytelling charmed me even more than it did before.
Re-reading 'Some Other Place' 40+ years down the line, in such a different era, I am delighted to find that the work is still as fresh, surprising and delightful as it was when I was a young and fresh reader. Initially, I half sceptically expected to be a bit disappointed at times, half fearing that I might find aspects of the book too superficial, too slow for the tempo of movies and novels that we have become used to.
Of course some of the aspects of the Seventies now looks a bit dated, not many would write poetry by hand on scraps of paper today. But Donald Harington never makes you doubt the soundness of the experience of his characters, not even in some other time, this time. His easy power of invention and skill in storytelling charmed me even more than it did before.
July 8, 2013
Disappointing follow up to Lightning Bug. The first two-thirds of the book were entertaining and an interesting read and would have been satsifying and earned 4 stars, but unfortunately an interlude of 50 pages of tedious poetry interupted the flow of the book and irritated me. I understand that the author wanted to develop some pseudo-religious themes and continue his theme of sexuality from the original book, but it was beleagured to the point of absurdity and could have been condensed and left to the reader to interpret without the unnecessary final 200 pages or so. In this book - the author, to my mind, "over-egged the pudding" and ceased to be engaging by attempting to define an unnecessarily complicated theology losing the essence of simple, naturalistic beauty which formed the appeal of his first novel.
February 19, 2016
This book was well written. Broken into four movements each of which was written in a unique narrator style that were executed with percision few writers are able to do well. That said I wanted to stop reading it after the second movement. I'm glad I persisted as the third and fourth movement really shine and tie together into the Stay More series. If you pick it up, don't get discouraged as the ending is amazing.
December 13, 2007
After reading Thirteen Albatross I really wanted to read Day and Diana's story. I LOVED this book in the beginning, especially the section where they are camping in the ghost town, so I'm giving it five stars even though I'll admit I had some trouble towards the end.
December 7, 2011
I'm impressed by this author, this is the second book I've read of his and his style is very fresh and original. Challenges you to question your assumptions about the novel and has a way of involving you and your thoughts in the concept and development of the story. I'll be reading more of him.
November 27, 2011
This is one of the strangest, most beautiful and mysterious books I've ever read. The story weaves and dances around on itself and yet never fails to mesmerize. It is a book I know I will read again before writing a more thoughtful review.
February 16, 2014
It's really difficult to select shelves for this wonderful novel. It's like nothing I'd read before of since. I read it years ago but it clings in my mind and I just might re-read it to see if I like it now as much as I did then.
June 18, 2014
In my opinion, this is the best introduction to Stay More, Arkansas.
March 21, 2015
"Let's write creepy sex scenes, throw them in between bits of amazing writing and then blame Freud!
December 23, 2020
This is quite an ambitious work by Harington. Perhaps a bit too ambitious. I don't think anyone can reasonably deny Harington's storytelling skills. He can definitely weave a fine tale. At times, this story begins to look more like a mythical allegory in the tradition of writers like C. S. Lewis, but not Christian. And then there's the poetry. So Harington is a poet -- fine. Write a book of poetry, or even interweave it with the storyline, which in some places he does effectively. However, when he decides to make the entire middle section of the book a collection of poems that is designed to advance the storyline, I draw a line. It doesn't work for me.
There are a few other weaknesses in my estimation. Day Whittaker, one of the two protagonists, is an 18-year-old Eagle Scout from Jersey in the early 1970s who listens to classical music on the radio and is particularly fond of Mozart and Beethoven. "All in all, he considers himself a reasonably average and normal young man." Is that to say that all his friends have forsaken The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for classical music? Or is he delusional? In any case, this personality trait is not very believable to me, especially having been a teenager in the 1970s myself.
Harington also tends to be somewhat self-absorbed in this novel, which could be a turn-off to some readers. The character only identified as "G" is clearly an autobiographical element, but Harington even drops the names of one of his previous novels, Lightning Bug (1970), and also one that he apparently was working on that was published a few years later, The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks (1975). This maneuver seems to be just too self-serving to me.
Is there some underlying, profound theme in this novel? Perhaps so. The other protagonist, Diana Stoving, at one point near the end of the book says to G, "And you're just like I was, G, you don't believe in anything. That's your spiritual deadness. You need something to believe in. And I'm offering it to you. Wouldn't you like to have something to believe in?" One could argue that the rejection of nihilism and the search for the meaning of life or the significance of existence is a strong undercurrent of the story. Multiple characters are confronted with fantastic circumstances and challenged to suspend disbelief for the sake of happiness, fulfillment, or resolution.
As was true with the previous novel by Harington I read, Lightning Bug, sexuality is a key component. His attention to detail and "variety," his exploration of deviant behavior, and the frequency of sexual encounters make me jokingly label him the Anais Nin of the Ozarks. Again, he is riding (and writing) on the wave of the sexual revolution of the late 1960s. It adds some serious spice, but there will be readers who no doubt find some of it unnecessary or even repulsive.
There are a few other weaknesses in my estimation. Day Whittaker, one of the two protagonists, is an 18-year-old Eagle Scout from Jersey in the early 1970s who listens to classical music on the radio and is particularly fond of Mozart and Beethoven. "All in all, he considers himself a reasonably average and normal young man." Is that to say that all his friends have forsaken The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for classical music? Or is he delusional? In any case, this personality trait is not very believable to me, especially having been a teenager in the 1970s myself.
Harington also tends to be somewhat self-absorbed in this novel, which could be a turn-off to some readers. The character only identified as "G" is clearly an autobiographical element, but Harington even drops the names of one of his previous novels, Lightning Bug (1970), and also one that he apparently was working on that was published a few years later, The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks (1975). This maneuver seems to be just too self-serving to me.
Is there some underlying, profound theme in this novel? Perhaps so. The other protagonist, Diana Stoving, at one point near the end of the book says to G, "And you're just like I was, G, you don't believe in anything. That's your spiritual deadness. You need something to believe in. And I'm offering it to you. Wouldn't you like to have something to believe in?" One could argue that the rejection of nihilism and the search for the meaning of life or the significance of existence is a strong undercurrent of the story. Multiple characters are confronted with fantastic circumstances and challenged to suspend disbelief for the sake of happiness, fulfillment, or resolution.
As was true with the previous novel by Harington I read, Lightning Bug, sexuality is a key component. His attention to detail and "variety," his exploration of deviant behavior, and the frequency of sexual encounters make me jokingly label him the Anais Nin of the Ozarks. Again, he is riding (and writing) on the wave of the sexual revolution of the late 1960s. It adds some serious spice, but there will be readers who no doubt find some of it unnecessary or even repulsive.
June 24, 2023
Book was 5 stars when I read it 50 years ago but I can’t remember why. Diana reads an article in a newspaper about Day being hypnotized and recalling a past life which was her grandfather. She hooks up with him and go on a journey trying to verify his belief. Well written bouncing from current time to grandfather time, wee bit sexual. But happily I can now make space on my book case this is no longer a keeper.
March 16, 2023
Harington is the south's Kurt Vonnegut. His stories are just weird enough and wild enough, but southern fried through and through. People that aren't from here, however, may have a hard time truly understanding them. Maybe that's why he was only regionally famous. A shame - I would much rather read a Harington than most current fiction.
January 8, 2025
Read this for the first time more than 50 years ago. Have read it many, many times as it is my all time favorite book. Corresponded with Mr. Harington for a period. He was so kind and generous. Was sad to read he had died. All his books are excellent but SOP Trip (as he called it) was the best.
January 29, 2022
“Only the lordly are imperative. So I can't and
won't command you. So this isn't my supreme
commandment but my supreme and only prescription: embrace: cling: touch: hug: enfold:
adle: squeeze: hold! Hold!”
won't command you. So this isn't my supreme
commandment but my supreme and only prescription: embrace: cling: touch: hug: enfold:
adle: squeeze: hold! Hold!”
October 11, 2017
wow. This was so seriously GOOD. like Haruki Marukami only warmly Arkansas and 70s. This deserves way more recognition and fame. I don't understand the obscurity.
December 19, 2017
Sprawling good read.
dnf
August 31, 2020Although this author is a great writer, I'm done. This is way too rapey and incesty.
October 11, 2020
I wanted to like this because I loved Let Us Build Us A City so much but I couldn’t even finish it. Too, too much to ruin a good premise with excessive ... everything. Can’t recommend
December 21, 2021
Full of twists that I really couldn't have predicted, and tied in beautifully with Lightning Bug.
July 19, 2023
Remembered it for months after I read it the first time and liked it- 50 years later not so much! Didn’t even finish it!
April 20, 2016
It is so refreshing to read something unlike anything else you have ever read. It is so rare to read something unlike anything you have ever read.
No description of plot or character can adequately encourage you to read this book. Hell, I wasn't enthused about reading it based on the cover and the presumed story line.
Now I am literally jealous of you folks out there who get to read this for the first time because I will never have that experience again. How can I read this knowing the story should not be interesting, the characters even less so, the locales boring, and the writing droll...and yet I loved every minute of it.
No details forthcoming from me! Just go in blind and start reading ASAP!
No description of plot or character can adequately encourage you to read this book. Hell, I wasn't enthused about reading it based on the cover and the presumed story line.
Now I am literally jealous of you folks out there who get to read this for the first time because I will never have that experience again. How can I read this knowing the story should not be interesting, the characters even less so, the locales boring, and the writing droll...and yet I loved every minute of it.
No details forthcoming from me! Just go in blind and start reading ASAP!
Want to read
August 28, 2012Started this the other day but it is slow going for me. I'm going to stick with it because it has gotten so many good reviews but so far I'm not loving it.
Still not grabbing me. Putting it aside for awhile.
Still not grabbing me. Putting it aside for awhile.
April 13, 2007
An underappreciated author. I will read more of his books. This one had a few dumb moments but was also touching and creative at the same time.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews