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Read Eye Of The Cricket (2000)

Eye of the Cricket (2000)

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Author
Series
Rating
3.98 of 5 Votes: 5
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ISBN
0802775810 (ISBN13: 9780802775818)
Language
English
Publisher
walker books

Eye Of The Cricket (2000) - Plot & Excerpts

James Sallis's books are usually pretty short so you'd think I would be blazing through them. But they're so densely written and realized that it forces you to take your time while reading. This one is probably the densest of the existential Lew Griffin detective series so far. In this, the 4th book, we return back to the 90's section of Lew's life (so essentially a sequel to book 2, Moth), where Lew is not only searching for the missing brother of one of his students, but also is struggling with the sudden appearance of his doppelganger, a homeless man claiming to be him, and what it could mean in the search for his own long lost son.I had the hardest time reading this book out of the other Griffin novels, as it felt more uneven and unfocused than the others, and it was difficult to get a grasp at what was going on and what it all meant. I did like how this installment found Lew really trying to atone for many things that he regrets in his past, trying to make things right in so many ways. But don't start with this one. You shouldn't start with this anyway because it is absolutely necessary that this series be read in order, as it demands full attention of the reader across books to recall characters and situations, and the enjoyment of the novels are based on a frame of reference created by the previous ones. The series itself is a rich experience but this volume is the most maddening...

I've seen some people compare James Sallis to Walter Moseley, but that's a travesty based on the fact that they're the only two black detective writers most of us can name. (That reflects our ignorance. See http://www.wakefieldlibrary.org/lists... for a dozen others.)Moseley is a shrewd observer of the landscape and the people in it. He's a master of the genre with a political consciousness behind his words. Sallis's writing is pure soul. His Lew Griffin is a deeply wounded man trying to live in a world that tears at the scars. He finds missing people and saves lives, and the real suspense of the series is whether he is ever going to find and save himself.The Lew Griffin books are not a series of mysteries. They're a biography. Spend a little time getting to know Lew Griffin and decide whether you can welcome him into your life. Because once you do, here's there to stay.

What do You think about Eye Of The Cricket (2000)?

Eyes out of focusSlim title that is touted on the back-cover blurps as a mystery and its author as a "renowned novelist, poet, critic, essayist, editor, translator, and musicologist." Despite the tout, the story isn't taut enough to be a mystery, but the author--engaging in too many asides, elipitical changes of pace, location, direction, time, and narrative--does live up to his billing; someone with so many job titles certainly couldn't be expected to focus sufficiently to tell a mystery.The writing style isn't bad, there are some nice turns of phrase, especiallly in the drawling and sketchy New Orleans dialogue, and Lew Griffin, Sallis's signature professor and erstwhile detective, is a deep and likable character.Maybe if I hadn't thought it was a mysetery I'd have approached it differently. Also, the cover illustration of a guitar is a canard; while Sallis may be a renowned musicologist, there are just a few scant references to musicians,, and the story has nothing to do, either primarily or tangentially, with a guitar or music.
—Todd Stockslager

The jacket saidReaders who have the persistence to untangle a twisted time line and go with the peculiar flow of Sallis's unique prose will find many rewards. Griffin, a New Orleans-based, 50-ish African American novelist, teacher, and occasional detective, dots his twisting tale with dozens of references to the act of writing, plus verbal samplings of everyone from James Joyce to Emily Dickinson. "i wish i could have sid that, but I couldn't.... if I could, I would have....but I can tell you that what he wrote about the cat BAT, i related to and feel that Thris says that to me:“Bat met me at the door, complaining emphatically. Obviously I was a great disappointment. He’d put so much time into training me. And here I couldn’t get the simplest, basic things right.I opened a can of food and put it on the floor."I've never read a series book that has depth and complications.
—Steve

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