Train Dreams - Softcover

Denis Johnson

3.9

24,118 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1847086624 ISBN 13: 9781847086624

Publisher: Granta Publications Ltd, 2013

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Robert Grainier is a day labourer in the American West at the start of the twentieth century - an ordinary man in extraordinary times. Buffeted by the loss of his family, Grainier struggles to make sense of this strange new world. As his story unfolds, we witness both his shocking personal defeats and the radical changes that transform America in his lifetime., Suffused with the history and landscapes of the American West - its otherworldly flora and fauna, its rugged loggers and bridge-builders - Train Dreams captures the disappearance of a distinctly American way of life.

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Review:

'Johnson is arguably one of America's greatest living fiction writers and his work has been compared to that of Cormac McCarthy and Flannery O'Connor, although writing this good should not need comparison. Gently undulating and compelling... You can sit down and read it in one sitting - and you should' --'Paperback of the Week', The Times

'A concise yet epic slice of Americana of the unsweetened, affecting variety... Short it may be, forgettable it is not' --Absolutely Chelsea

'Prospects of yet another epic American novel romanticising the past may warrant yawns but Train Dreams is an exception. A nimble tome' -- Big Issue in the North

'This superb novella feels like a doorstopper, so huge is it in its concerns. Yet its economy of language and force of emotion give Denis Johnson's work the quick shot of intensity that a short story has' --Five star review, Independent on Sunday

'Train Dreams is beautifully written - a miniature masterpiece. It's got aspects of William Maxwell, whose writing I really like, and a bit of Cormac McCathy' --Ben Watt, Observer

'A beautifully balanced and lyrical novella in which an ordinary labourer [...] lives through some extraordinary times... An outstanding work' -- Paul Geatrix, Times Higher Education

'Amazing' --Anthony Doerr, summer books round up, Observer

About the Author:

DENIS JOHNSON is the author of six novels, three collections of poetry, and one book of reportage. His novel Tree of Smoke was the 2007 winner of the National Book Award.

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