Another Chance to Get It Right (2nd Edition) (Bk. 1) [Paperback]

Geof Darrow (Author)

Book Description

Series: Another Chance to Get It Right | Publication Date: March 1, 1995

A collection of 12 short stories in graphic-novel form. The underlying theme is that biology doesn't make a man a father, or a woman a mother; that we are what we do.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Some of the book's most powerful thoughts are conveyed with words of quiet simplicity, beauty, and grace ... -- The Clarion-Ledger

This book is a collection of some of the most beautiful prose I've ever read. -- Joe R. Lansdale [The Bottoms]

[Another Chance to Get It Right is] filled with a spirit of redemption ... another on-target hit... -- People magazine

From the Publisher

Andrew Vachss is the author of the Burke series of novels, the 14th of which, Only Child, will be released Fall 2002 by Alfred A. Knopf. His books have been translated into twenty languages and have won The Gran Prix de Litterature Policiere (France), The Falcon Award (Japan), The Deutschen Krimi Preis (Germany), and The Raymond Chandler Award (Italy). His work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, The New York Times, Playboy, and numerous other forums. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse Comics; 2nd edition (March 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569711151
• ISBN-13: 978-1569711156
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.3 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,636,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Content Presented Beautifully, November 18, 1999

By 

Rose Dawn Scott (So-Cal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Another Chance to Get It Right (2nd Edition) (Bk. 1) (Paperback)

Read anything by Andrew Vachss--novels, short stories, comics--and you get the picture: Vachss is the antithesis of the Sensitive New Age Guy. It's a sure bet the latest book review will contain some variation of 'Vachss makes [fill in favorite 'noir' or 'hardboiled' author here] look like [Emily Post...a sewing circle...the minutes of a Cub Scout meeting...etc. etc. etc.].'

Another Chance to Get it Right--a 'children's book for adults'--is an altogether different literary critter.

In a series of vignettes (with illustrations by noted graphic artists including Paul Chadwick, Geof Darrow, Gary Gianni and others), Vachss presents truths both blunt and bright about the common experiences--and the great diversity--of children and childhood.

If you think Vachss is 'too dark,' this is the perfect starter book to blast your preconceptions. The text is concise and eloquent, and shows a tenderness perhaps unexpected to fans of the Burke novels, while the accompanying art provides an occasionally whimsical, always powerful complement.

If you have the chance to get this book...DO IT.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical and moving, April 1, 2000

By 

Carrie D. (Mendocino, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Another Chance to Get It Right (2nd Edition) (Bk. 1) (Paperback)

This book is a beautiful set of stories and essays about how to protect children from abuse. Given the subject matter, it would be easy to pass this book by. It's easy to hold the preconception that there is nothing more that can be said about child abuse, or that there is nothing we can do to stand against it.

Nothing can be further from the truth, and Mr. Vachss proves it with prose so clean and direct that it reads like the sparest poetry. I've read this book with my own children, and it has given them an understanding and sympathy that will serve them well all their days. DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS BOOK!

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every parent should read..., July 17, 2000

By 

Dan Boice "Ryval5150" (Highlands Ranch, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Another Chance to Get It Right (2nd Edition) (Bk. 1) (Paperback)

Every person who ever wants to have children of their own by blood, or the more saintly act of adopting those children who need the love of someone who cares... needs to read this book. I have given a copy to everyone I know who has ever had children, including my Mother.

Having met Mr. Vachss and told him my acts of spreading his insights, wisdom, and warnings, he was delightfully pleased at my efforts.

Every word in this book is placed perfectly. Not a phrase can be misconstrued. In its execution of prose, there is none in literature refined more to an essence of purpose than in these 64 pages. Each vignette is more poignant than the last.

The artwork is extremely appropriate and offers enough to attract you, draw you in , and keep you connected to each story or lesson. Each artistic compliment has a specific merit to the story they accompany. Pay special attention to the "artistic focus effects" from Geof Darrow (Pgs 26-43). They are a masterpiece than should be studied.

My personal favorites in thew collection of prose and pencil/pen are pgs 8-10, and 48-51. One speaks on the philospohical scale of children as a future and past; and the other is far more personal to the author and reader. Both will leave the interested reader with a great deal of introspection. But the lessons learned within will affect how the reader thinks and acts around children. Those they know and love, and those they will never know, and never suspect, are hurting.