Shadow Country
Aug 2008 · Modern Library
4.4star
13 reviewsreport
eBook
912
Pages
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About this eBook
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • “Altogether gripping, shocking, and brilliantly told, not just a tour de force in its stylistic range, but a great American novel, as powerful a reading experience as nearly any in our literature.”—Michael Dirda, The New York Review of Books
Killing Mister Watson, Lost Man’s River, and Bone by Bone—Peter Matthiessen’s great American epic about Everglades sugar planter and notorious outlaw E. J. Watson on the wild Florida frontier at the turn of the twentieth century—were originally conceived as one vast, mysterious novel. Now, in this bold new rendering, Matthiessen has marvelously distilled a monumental work while deepening the insights and motivations of his characters with brilliant rewriting throughout.
Praise for Shadow Country
“Magnificent . . . breathtaking . . . Finally now we have [this three-part saga] welded like a bell, and with Watson’s song the last sound, all the elements fuse and resonate.”—Los Angeles Times
“Peter Matthiessen has done great things with the Watson trilogy. It’s the story of our continent, both land and people, and his writing does every justice to the blood fury of his themes.”—Don DeLillo
“The fiction of Peter Matthiessen is the reason a lot of people in my generation decided to be writers. No doubt about it. Shadow Country lives up to anyone’s highest expectations for great writing.” —Richard Ford
“Shadow Country, Matthiessen’s distillation of the earlier Watson saga, represents his original vision. It is the quintessence of his lifelong concerns, and a great legacy.”—W. S. Merwin
“[An] epic masterpiece . . . a great American novel.”—The Miami Herald
Killing Mister Watson, Lost Man’s River, and Bone by Bone—Peter Matthiessen’s great American epic about Everglades sugar planter and notorious outlaw E. J. Watson on the wild Florida frontier at the turn of the twentieth century—were originally conceived as one vast, mysterious novel. Now, in this bold new rendering, Matthiessen has marvelously distilled a monumental work while deepening the insights and motivations of his characters with brilliant rewriting throughout.
Praise for Shadow Country
“Magnificent . . . breathtaking . . . Finally now we have [this three-part saga] welded like a bell, and with Watson’s song the last sound, all the elements fuse and resonate.”—Los Angeles Times
“Peter Matthiessen has done great things with the Watson trilogy. It’s the story of our continent, both land and people, and his writing does every justice to the blood fury of his themes.”—Don DeLillo
“The fiction of Peter Matthiessen is the reason a lot of people in my generation decided to be writers. No doubt about it. Shadow Country lives up to anyone’s highest expectations for great writing.” —Richard Ford
“Shadow Country, Matthiessen’s distillation of the earlier Watson saga, represents his original vision. It is the quintessence of his lifelong concerns, and a great legacy.”—W. S. Merwin
“[An] epic masterpiece . . . a great American novel.”—The Miami Herald
Ratings and reviews
4.4
13 reviews
A Google user
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13 November 2011
A bit of Faulkner, a bit of Twain. In the [first part of the] story told by multiple narrators - each gives their own take on the life of E.J. Watson. The second part on how Watson's history comes to be written [by a son], and the third part told by Watson himself. You know from the beginning that he's going to be killed, but it's only when you finish that you find out why. The number of relatives and other characters in the story is a bit daunting, but stick with it. If you're like I was, when you finish, you'll want to start again at the beginning.
Christine Parlato
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6 March 2015
I absolutely could not put this book down. And I was sad, once I did. The writing style was so stimulating; a most effective device to completely submerge the reader in this thrilling historical fiction. Along with my beloved Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Kafka...this work will rank highly on my list to re-read. Please do not miss it...you will be positively changed for simply reading this book.
1 person found this review helpful
Jody Callahan
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11 October 2015
This has been my favorite novel for years now! Matthiessen is a master.
About the author
Peter Matthiessen has written eight novels, including At Play in the Fields of the Lord (nominated for the National Book Award) and Far Tortuga, and also a book of short stories, On the River Styx. His parallel career as a naturalist and environmental activist has produced numerous acclaimed works of nonfiction, most of them serialized in The New Yorker; these include The Tree Where Man Was Born (another National Book Award nominee) and The Snow Leopard (a National Book Award winner). He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1974.
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