Items related to Meteors in August: A Novel
Synopsis
Novel depicting a small-town American community during one strange summer.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Bullied wives, maimed men, haters of Indians, exhibitionists, petty preachers and rebel congregations are among the northern Montana townspeople who grope for individual deliverance in the background of this exceptionally promising debut novel. Misfit Lizzie, its adolescent narrator, escapes her older sister's predicament--a teenage pregnancy that caused her to run away when Lizzie was still a child--and concludes: "I figured a girl wasn't going to get too many breaks in her life and that I'd better find a way to show God I was grateful." She is guided by the local Holy Roller ("Jesus might be kind, but God and Mrs. Graves were only merciful"), but observes that fire-and-brimstone goodness does not stave off catastrophe. Rather, she learns not to reject sin but to forgive it. These themes might seem syrupy in less able hands, but Thon's steely-eyed, sharpshooting prose brings both urgency and spontaneity to her characters and their conflicts. Lizzie's feelings of rejection, her determination and her perceptions of the stultifying rural squalor are wrenchingly palpable, and Thon is clearly a writer to watch.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This is a tough yet elegantly written novel about a girl growing up in a small town in Montana. For Lizzie Macon, life is difficult, both physically and emotionally; she receives little kindness from her parents, community, or classmates. Somehow the days pass, and the ebb and flow doesn't much affect the town, until one August, when a fiery and horrific trio of events occur: the local saloon burns to the ground, a mildly retarded and much misunderstood neighborhood boy hangs himself, and a small plane falls out of the sky and sinks to the bottom of the local lake, drowning the young girl trapped inside. The turmoil of these events has an odd, disquieting effect on the townspeople, as well as on Lizzie herself, but ultimately it serves to wake her up and make her realize that she's in control of her own life. Written with a refreshing and unique directness, this novel is a pleasure to read.
- Jessica Grim, Univ. of California at Berkeley Lib.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherFaber & Faber
- Publication date1992
- ISBN 10 0571129188
- ISBN 13 9780571129188
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages275
- Rating
Other Popular Editions of the Same Title
Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace
Stock Image
Meteors in August: A Novel
Seller: Books End Bookshop, Syracuse, NY, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Trade Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: None. 0.75 x 8.25 x 5.5 Inches; 275 pages. Seller Inventory # 190056
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Meteors in August
Seller: ThriftBooks-Dallas, Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. No Jacket. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less 0.74. Seller Inventory # G0571129188I3N00
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Meteors in August: A Novel
Published by
Faber & Faber August 1992, 1992
ISBN 10: 0571129188
ISBN 13: 9780571129188
Used
Trade Paperback
Seller: Montclair Book Center, Montclair, NJ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Trade Paperback. Condition: USED Good. Seller Inventory # 189874
Quantity: 2 available
Stock Image
Meteors in August
Seller: medimops, Berlin, Germany
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: good. Befriedigend/Good: Durchschnittlich erhaltenes Buch bzw. Schutzumschlag mit Gebrauchsspuren, aber vollständigen Seiten. / Describes the average WORN book or dust jacket that has all the pages present. Seller Inventory # M00571129188-G
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Meteors in August: A Novel
Seller: Irish Booksellers, Portland, ME, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Good. SHIPS FROM USA. Used books have different signs of use and do not include supplemental materials such as CDs, Dvds, Access Codes, charts or any other extra material. All used books might have various degrees of writing, highliting and wear and tear and possibly be an ex-library with the usual stickers and stamps. Dust Jackets are not guaranteed and when still present, they will have various degrees of tear and damage. All images are Stock Photos, not of the actual item. book. Seller Inventory # 50-0571129188-G
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
Meteors in August Thon, Melanie Rae
Seller: Hay-on-Wye Booksellers, Hay-on-Wye, HEREF, United Kingdom
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Condition: Very Good. Light shelfwear to extremities of book, otherwise fine. Seller Inventory # 17165-13
Quantity: 1 available
Seller Image
Meteors In August
Published by
Faber & Faber, Boston/London, 1992
ISBN 10: 0571129188
ISBN 13: 9780571129188
Used
Soft cover
First Edition
Signed
Seller: Mike Murray - Bookseller LLC, East Windsor, NJ, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Soft cover. Condition: Fine. First Trade Edition/First Printing. This copy of the First Trade Paperback edition has been SIGNED by Melanie Rae Thon on the title page! Daniel Halpern dustjacket praise stating "Every now and then a writer debuts fully equipped, writing as if he or she had been writing forever. Although this is a first novel, there is nothing here to suggest promise: Ms. Thon's 'Meteors In August' arrives fully realized-yes, like a meteor.". Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 6844
Quantity: 1 available