The White Man In The Tree - Softcover

Kurlansky, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0099286742 ISBN 13: 9780099286745

Publisher: Vintage, 2001

Synopsis

The White Man in the Tree: And Other Stories

About this title

Review

The White Man in the Tree is Mark Kurlansky's very fine first work of fiction, a collection of intriguing, accomplished and often funny short stories. Previously best known for his excellent books Cod (a scholarly but eminently readable history of a fish that turns into a limpid assessment of our environmental vandalism) and The Basque History of the World (an anecdotal, intelligently researched and wonderfully presented history of a marginalised and fascinating people) Kurlansky shows here the same enviable ability to tell as impressive a tale as he does in his non-fiction work. "The White Man in the Tree", the opening novella length story, concerns a cultured Danish filmmaker, his Haitian girlfriend, her family in New York, and their collective misunderstandings, miscommunications and misdirected expectations. Our multicultural world and its continuing parochial misinterpretations feature as themes throughout the other stories, all of which are better than this decent opening gambit for having more sympathetic characters and situations and more compact narratives than the overambitious opener. Particularly good are "The Unclean", the story of a rabbi come to the Caribbean island community of Curaçao off the northwest coast of Venezuela and his mostly fruitless search for kosher food and "Beautiful Mayaguez Women", a story that brilliantly combines Kurlansky's interests in community, identity and the environment. This is a promising first collection from Kurlansky and indicates that his fiction could well become as highly sought after as his compelling history books. --Mark Thwaite

Review

Chicago Tribune Funny, touching, and thought-provoking. Publishers Weekly A sunny collection, lithely written and full of Caribbean sunshine. The New York Times Book Review Rich, complex, and delicious as the islands themselves, boiling with humanity. The Boston Globe Mark Kurlansky writes with a quirky verve that makes his books as entertaining as they are enlightening. "The New York Times Book Review"Rich, complex, and delicious as the islands themselves, boiling with humanity. "Publishers Weekly"A sunny collection, lithely written and full of Caribbean sunshine. "Chicago Tribune"Funny, touching, and thought-provoking. "The Boston Globe"Mark Kurlansky writes with a quirky verve that makes his books as entertaining as they are enlightening.

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0099286742
• ISBN 13: 9780099286745
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320