Random Walk - Softcover

Block, Lawrence

3.56

205 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1583483810 ISBN 13: 9781583483817

Publisher: Backinprint.Com, 1999

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"Every now and then someone comes up to me at a speech or signing and says one of two things. 'I've liked all your books,' I'll be told, 'but there was one I couldn't make heads or tails out of.' Or just the opposite: 'I've read most of your books, but there was one that really knocked me for a loop, and I've read it seventeen times now, and it's completely changed my life.' "It's always the same book. Random Walk." I wrote the book in the spring of 1987, and never was a book more eager to be written. Paradoxically, never was a book less eager to be read--the advance sale was light, the reviews were venomous, and most readers never even knew the book existed. Now it's getting a new lease on life, and I'm delighted. I don't know that it's time has come--it's just as possible it's time has come and gone. But I do know Random Walk has enormous impact on some of the people who read it, and I hope that now they'll have a chance to find it." -Lawrence Block

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About the Author:

Lawrence Block's crime fiction ranges from the urban noir of Matthew Scudder to the urbane effervescence of Bernie Rhodenbarr. A Mystery Writers of America Grand Master, he is a multiple winner of the Edgar, Shamus, and Maltese Falcon awards. His published works include 50 novels, three short story collections, and four books on writing.

From Publishers Weekly:

Block's latest novel is for New Age disciples or for readers interested in learning the tenets of the philosophy. Otherwise a "random walk" can be a tiresome journey. Guthrie Wagner, a bartender in Roseburg, Ore., hears a voice urging him to take a walk. The idea is so appealing that he quits his job, sells his car, and begins a trek toward the East though he has no specific destination. Along the way, Guthrie realizes he is almost starting life anew. He discovers that he has lost the urge to smoke, can walk miles effortlessly and is never cold when he sleeps outdoors. Guthrie's walk begins to appeal to others like Jody Ledbetter, a trucker who finds he has healing powers, and psychologist Sara Duskin, a blind visionary, and her son, Thom. Block ( When the Sacred Ginmill Closes ) intersperses the narrative with vignettes focusing on real estate investor Mark Adlon's obsessonkilling women. Of course Adlon is destined to join the walk. While Sara eventually explains to Guthrie the reason for their journey, the book contains no surprises. One wishes the author had channeled his positive energy elsewhere.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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