Death and the Language of Happiness - Hardcover

Straley, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0553096796 ISBN 13: 9780553096798

Publisher: Bantam Dell Pub Group, 1997

Synopsis

In plumbing the connection between the murder of a young woman found in a motel bathtub and the death of a man eighty years before, the eccentric Alaskan native, Cecil Younger, must confront the ghosts of the past. By the author of The Music of What Happens.

About this title

Review:

What makes this latest Alaskan mystery a must is--as always--the sheer beauty and energy of John Straley's writing. "His right hand engulfed mine in a leathery grip and I held onto it for longer than might have been called for," says detective Cecil Younger of a meeting with an ancient bearer of secrets about old and new murders. "It wasn't until after my grip tightened on his that I felt the quaver of his body his left hand betrayed. I saw in his blue eyes the distant haze of ice, the toehold of confusion and uncertainty. William Flynn was a very old man in a durable body. His soul was a weary traveler. Looking at him I began to feel uncomfortable, as if I were walking over a canyon on a narrow railroad bridge hearing a train whistle far down the line." Available in paperback are Straley's other wonderful books about Younger, The Curious Eat Themselves, The Music of What Happens, and The Woman Who Married a Bear.

Review:

Praise for Death and the Language of Happiness
"Straley flawlessly expresses both his and our own underlying anxiety about the world around us in this superb series."
--San Francisco Chronicle

"Mr. Straley writes with such brio."
--The New York Times

"The guy can write. Straley has a loose-limbed, lyrical prose style, and there is a sweet gracefulness to the way he portrays his fiercely independent, often slightly dingy, characters."
--Seattle Times

"What makes this latest Alaskan mystery a must is--as always--the sheer beauty and energy of Straley's writing."
--Chicago Tribune

"The best Cecil Younger adventure so far."
--Anchorage Daily News

"[A] superb series of Alaska mysteries . . . An entirely original whodunit, composed in a language guaranteed to open your eyes and ears to a strange new world . . . What Straley offers is excitement, high comedy and a mega work out for the senses."
--Literary Review

Praise for the Cecil Younger investigations
"A fascinating Alaskan setting, great characters, a highly unusual plot and remarkably good writing. It's a winner."
--Tony Hillerman, New York Times bestselling author of the Leaphorn and Chee novels

"Like the Coen brothers on literary speed, John Straley is among the very best stylists of his generation."
--Ken Bruen, Shamus Award winning author of The Guard

"Superior thriller writing, once again by Straley--an excellent plot against Alaska's gigantic and bizarre backdrop."
--Janwillem van de Wetering, author of Outsider in Amsterdam

"Now and then a writer dares to flout the rules and in so doing, carves out a niche that belongs to him alone. John Straley's novels are like no others."
--San Diego Tribune

"Absorbing and convincing . . . Straley's a real writer."
--The Washington Post Book World

"Thoroughly enjoyable and slightly wacko . . . Ironic humor reminiscent of the Coen brothers and violence worthy of Quentin Tarantino."
--The Boston Globe

About this edition

• Publisher: Bantam Dell Pub Group
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0553096796
• ISBN 13: 9780553096798
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 210