| The Bark Of The Dogwood: A Tour Of Southern Homes And Gardens | 
 enlarge | Author: Jackson Tippett Mccrae
Publisher: Enolam Group Inc
Category: Book
List Price: £13.97
Buy New: £9.59
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Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 70974
Media: Paperback
Pages: 450
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 1.2
ISBN: 0971553629
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780971553620
ASIN: 0971553629
Publication Date: February 2005
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: New book. WE USE PRIORITY AIRMAIL ONLY for books from the USA. UK & European delivery is 7-10 days. Over 2,000,000 books sold to Amazon customers
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 7 | | NEXT » |
Reluctant reader of fiction 2008 June 4, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Having all my life been a reader of non fiction I decided to spread my sights into the world of fiction. If I had not read the excellent reviews by other amazon readers it is possible that this wonderful book would have passed me by. I had absolutely no idea of the books content but I was quite riveted by it. It is very well written. The characters live on the pages and the writer has the wonderful ability to convey the humour, madness, bewilderment and beauty of life in the deep south at various times. I was sad in parts and laughed out loud many times. It is quite unputdownable. I loved it and would highly recommend it. It would I believe make a terrific movie.
Great first novel October 17, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I scooped up this hefty and brilliant book after I heard the author had decided not to allow anything published until after his death. How could someone who was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize think this? At any rate, I bought the book and have not been disappointed. Brilliant writer with some new and edgy material that will keep you riveted to the page. Just wonderful!
Here's what you do . . . October 11, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Extensive analysis of this book has led me to come to the conclusion that there is more than meets the eye here. And this on top of the extensive readers' guide I found online for it. Even so, the subject of Asperberger's Syndrome and Autism (almost) is not mentioned as extensively as I would like. This novel is often coupled with Haddon's 'Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time' though the similarities are not that obvious. Haddon's piece was light and somewhat one-deminisional for me, whereas this book was as intricate as any DeLillo or Phychon. The humor is Woody Allen/David Sedaris-like, and the style is smoothe and fast. I read this book in two days, and it is not short. But it does go quickly, mostly because you want to see the outcome and what the horrific family secret is. And it is quite the secret. So shocking is this 'secret' that I had to wonder how this got printed. I know freedom of speech and all, but this is beyond anything you can comphrend. Still, this book is a must for those interested in a great story, great literature, and a great time.
Not like anything else you'll ever read September 7, 2007
33 out of 34 found this review helpful
The main character of Jackson McCrae's novel is a smart-mouthed Southerner who evidently suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder, Asperger's Syndrome, or multiple personality. This is never made clear, and we don't have to know exactly what possess six-year-old Strekfus to do the things he does, but whatever he had in childhood, it's clear he still suffers from it as a grown man. The book vacillates between present day New York and 1960s, 70s, and 80s South, and we get to see exactly how the main character has changed, or, in this case, hasn't. With Southern short stories being the vehicle for his most current venting, Strekfus sets up a major power struggle with his boss ( an almost duplicate of his father). It's clear from the onset that Strekfus is acting out, but even he is not prepared for the revelations that await him at the end of his short stories and debilitating experience that corporate New York has to offer. His mind gets tweaked by memory, office abuse, friendships, and everything he happens upon, and it only takes him deeper into his own imagination. If this all sounds dark and disturbing, it is, but it's also laugh-out-loud funny with scenes that will have you embarrassing yourself in public if that's where you're reading this book. Never before has such an interesting combination of humor, memory, child abuse, and redemption in a novel.
A tour de force of brilliance and moving family dysfunction August 21, 2007
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
It's been said that the definition of a classic is that it changes everything that comes after it, and the way we look at everything that came before. If that's the case, McCrae's "Dogwood" will surely do that. It not only takes form to an entirely new level, but brings new meaning to the phrase "book of ideas" and the term "psychological."
The immense volume of ribald frosted festoonery is staggering in this tale of intoxicatingly exotic travels, and the main character of Strekfus Beltzenschmidt is by far the most interesting yet created in the past three hundred years. McCrae is shameless in his use of drama, but it works, with twists and turns so new and fresh that they're only outdone by the author's impeccable sense of timing and insight into the human condition.
And who would have thought that a book that ultimately deals with child abuse and psychosis could also be funny? Hysterical, in fact. The narrator of the work (again, Strekfus) has so many handicaps that they're too abundant to name. One, however is Dissociative Identity Disorder. It would seem that he's also blessed with ADD and a host of other ailments, making him the target for mistreatment by not only his parents, but teachers and fellow classmates as well. And this in turn is the reason for his ability to relate so strongly to other figures in the book: Helen Keller, the oppressed maid, minorities. Anyone interested in multiple personalities and the antics that illness can create must read this book. While it's certainly no self-help variety, it does offer an amazing portrait of how one individual deals with abuse, dysfunction, and mental illness, all carefully and for the most part couched in sometimes seemingly innocuous incidents that later explode with the subtlety of an atomic bomb. It's an excellent study in where humor comes from as well, for while were given some of the funniest incidents ever to grace the written page, we're also shown what "really" happened-what caused the "wrong and funny" remembering, a few chapters later.
One word of warning: It's also been said that there's nothing new under the sun. One chapter toward the end of the book will change your opinion on that-you'll need to put the novel down at that point just to catch your breath as the author has written a scene like no other. How he ever came up with it is a mystery probably better left unsolved.
Excellent dialogue, witty observations, clever premise, and remarkable execution of the ideas make this one of the best reads out there. The people are real, but with enough eccentricities to keep them interesting, and the form of the book is totally new. This is a book within a book, really, with a group of short stories making up twelve of the chapters. Around that is another book, set in New York. Each of these chapters comments on the other and while the "southern" chapters are verbose and sometimes a little purple, the New York ones are clipped and to the point. The juxtaposition of styles is remarkably different and yet it somehow works, again, adding to the DID or multiple personality theme. Toward the end of the book there is also a mention of anagrams and this is a clue about the sometimes complicated names in the book (Beltzenschmidt, Castratis, Straussgirdle, etc). Then there are the Latin names for some of the plants. Most of these are also anagrams. Fascinating. And to the author's credit, he doesn't explain all of them. It's not "right up front" as he probably figures you're smart enough to want to go back and figure them out. All in all a great read with laugh-out-loud moments and a "secret" that will keep you up at night. The tumbling exuberance of this brilliant novel, with its laugh-out-loud scenes and delving into the human heart is like no other.
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