Thursday, October 3, 2013

Book Beginnings on Friday: The Great Leader by Jim Harrison


Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I am trying to follow all Book Beginning participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

MR. LINKY



MY BOOK BEGINNING



Detective Sunderson walked backward on the beach glancing around now and then to make sure he wasn't going to trip over a piece of driftwood.

-- The Great Leader by Jim Harrison.  This is Harrison's latest novel, the story of a retired (just) Michigan State Police detective tracking a cult leader on the lam for child abuse charges.  The "mystery" plot is secondary to typical Harrison musings on age, sex, and the natural world.  

I'm a big Jim Harrison fan and always enjoy his prose -- novels, novellas, essay, and memoir.  His latest books, The Farmer's Daughter (reviewed here) and The English Major (reviewed here) didn't light me up the way his earlier books did.  I don't know if it is because I'm getting older or Harrison is.  But I still enjoy reading whatever he writes.

10 comments:

  1. I like the sound of this one....thanks!

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  2. Hi Gilion,

    This is probably one of those books where the first lines would definitely make me want to read on, but the synopsis would stop me in my tracks.

    Jim Harrison is definiely an interesting character and the author of some very original and thought provoking premises, but wouldn't be my first choice of book.

    Thanks for sharing though and I hope that you enjoy this book as much as the others.

    Thanks for hosting and have a good weekend,

    Yvonne

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  3. I'm like Yvonne - the opening would interest me enough to read on, but your description is a bit of a turn-off - I don't really want to read about cults and child abuse.

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  4. Sounds very good...thanks for sharing.

    ENJOY your day.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Book Beginnings

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  5. Interesting start. I don't know the author but it sounds like I would like his book.

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  6. Intriguing beginning...makes me wonder why he's walking backward!

    Happy Reading!

    Wendy @ Escape Into Fiction

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  7. I haven't read anything by this author. I'll have to give his novels a try.

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  8. Thinking of those very issues after watching The Today Show this morning. Meredith Viera interviewed Elizabeth Smart. The whole interview will be televised tonight.

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  9. I've never heard of this author but the opening sounds great and the series sounds intriguing.

    Happy reading! My Friday Book Memes

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  10. I'm not familiar with this author, but this sounds like a decent read. Hope you enjoy it.

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