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Blues
by John Hersey
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Knopf (1987-04-12)
ISBN: 0394559606
EAN: 9780394559605
Dewy Decimal #: 813.52
Hardcover: 205 pages
Edition: 1st trade ed
Release Date: 1987-04-12
SKU: BX025-061026010
Condition: Used: Good
Comments: DJ is clean and shiny with light edgewear. Book like new. Pgs crisp, clean, tight, unmarked. Remainder mark on bottom edge.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
Here are the authentic voices, vivid recollections and songs of 55 blues musicians.
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Customer Reviews
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A wee fishing book!
Rating  (3)
Date: 2005-03-16
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
A fisherman takes a stranger out bluefishing along the shore of Massachusetts. On his boat Spray, the fisherman explains to his guest the habits of bluefish, fishing tips, species of native flora and fuana, problems with invasion of non-native species of sea-plants, and chemical pollution. After each fishing trip, they both go back to the fisherman's house where the fisherman's wife prepares a different fish dinner (with recipes included for the reader). Each chapter of this book is followed by a fish-related poem, most of which are too dense for me to enoy.
For people who love fishing, this is a great little book. It offers new insights into a sport we love. The pace of the book is slow, though. For an action-packed adventure, this is not the book to read. However, it does contain a wealth of information. It's the perfect book to leave cozily tucked away for visitors of a beach cottage to find.
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Nicely Done, John Hersey
Rating  (5)
Date: 2004-07-04
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
When I picked up this book, I was a guest at a beach house in Edisto Island, SC. I have a habit of reading the criticism quips before reading, and I found one that fit it perfectly. It was something to the effect of "A book you expect to find in a beach house on a rainy August afternoon, binding mildewed by the ocean air, pages bent from frequent readings, and bits of sand between the pages." That described it exactly, only except it wasn't August. As I said, I picked up the book one day and couldn't put it down. At first, the psuedo-dialogue bothered me, but it really grew on me. The whole premise of the book allows for a real education on fishing, naturalism, and the ways of the world. I have not bought the book, but that is soon to change.
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Conversational Fishing Novel
Rating (5)
Date: 2003-03-12
1 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Although technically a novel, as it portrays a conversation that did not really happen, John Hersey's Blues feels more like non-fiction because it is one of the most educational books I have read in recent years. I came away from it with a new appreciation for the fisherman--and the fish. Composed almost entirely of a conversation between two characters referred to only as Fisherman and Stranger, Blues is a portrait of a fisherman passing his knowledge and love of the catching and eating of the bluefish. Hersey's prose is easily conversational and full of information. Scattered throughout are poems from the likes of John Donne and Robert Penn Warren further illustrating the current topic. Reading its bound-and-printed form, Blues is a bit stilted. I greatly preferred the Recorded Books reading by Norman Dietz, whose craggy voice perfectly suits the seasoned angler, and, when raising it an octave, portrays the excitement of the stranger during his learning experience. I found myself wanting to go fishing--and wanting to have fish for dinner--while reading about the different methods of how to cook fish in order to get out the ideal flavor--using varying degrees of simple items like butter and mayonnaise. I never thought I would like a book about fish--and I put off reading this for months--but John Hersey's Blues has once again proven that surprises lurk around every corner, if you're willing to keep an open mind and try new things. I may even seek out Izaak Walton's The Compleat Angler--the fishing classic--after reading this.
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Great Concept. Poor Execution
Rating  (2)
Date: 2002-10-28
0 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
As a fisherman and someone who lives near the setting of this book, I loved the subject and the concept (I particularly liked the recipes at the end of each chapter). But I found it very difficult to read because the voice of the Fisherman was too pedantic and preachy. The Fisherman came off as a bag of wind rather than someone to be admired. Eventhough I didn't expect the dialogue between the Fisherman and the Stranger to be a natural everyday conversation, it exceeded even my expectations in how awkward it all sounded.
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A celebration of life and nature
Rating (5)
Date: 2001-07-19
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
John Hersey's book is a treasure. It is conceived as a series of conversations between an accomplished fisherman and a stranger, who, in the beginning at least, is predisposed to dislike fishing as a brutal pastime. But Hersey, page by page, chapter by chapter, lures the stranger (and the reader) into the deep mysteries of the sea and the complex world of ocean life that so many of us take for granted. The detail about the habits of fish, particularly the bluefish, is fascinating, but this is also a celebration of life and the way that man and sea are inter-dependent. Without being sentimental, Hersey teaches us what it is to love oceans, fresh air, and even the brutal cycles of life. If that is not enough, the book is sprinkled with anecdotes, poetry and recipes. A book that cannot but help you appreciate our oceans and John Hersey's skills as a writer.
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