Customer Reviews

Bonneville Stories

5 star:		(7)
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Mark Doyon's Bonneville Stories is a compendium of ten short stories set in the fictional town of Bonneville, Virginia and introducing a variety of memorable characters caught up in circumstances all to familiar to American small towns everywhere -- the decline of commerce, the encroachment of developers, the exodus of young people. These wonderfully crafted and compelling tales of fate and the freedom to choose include: Going Underground; A Shortness of Breath; Sooner or Later; Early Out in Ohio; Chemical Sky; Lightning Strikes; Green Grow the Azaleas; Deliver Me; An Act of God?; and The Blue Flame. Mark Doyon is a consummately skilled writer and Bonneville Stories clearly documents him as an author to watch for in the future!

At the end of each short story I didn't want them to end. They really keep you interested. The characters are so unique. You really get to know them. I can't wait to read the next book.

Somewhat redolent of the short stories of Salinger in the way that character and location reappear in various tangential or directly connected ways, this collection of tales -- all set in Bonneville a (fictious?) town in rural Virginia -- introduces a fresh new literary voice.

Doyon weaves a beautifully realised fabric of smalltown lives intersecting and careening off one another, each decision made affecting the path of many other characters. And he has a wicked turn of phrase.

I'd say if you are a fan of Salinger, Vonnegut or the earlier work of Pynchon, you won't be disappointed. Heady company, but Doyon holds his own.

Yeah, the title of my review sounds corny, but, I read his book, all in "typeset" lettering -- and it was great. Couldn't put it down except to say, "damn I'm supposed to put it down" because I have to do this or that. But the book, not some stupid self help book -- helped me. Helped me relax, helped me think about new stuff, which helped me relax, and then WHAM when I read the book it reminded me of how I first felt when I heard the album this guy made. I honestly don't know which came first. I'm on a budget, and books and music are a luxury, so i'm picky.

Anyhow, the book blew me away. The subtle non "x-files" but yet life is amazing and each moment is a new moment -- i got that. I guess that's why when i heard he had an album, I figured, loud rock and roll and sell to 14 year olds (hey, i was 14 once, too) but when i heard the album, it was like -- this dude sings and plays like he writes! You can't leave! Can't get enough!

I dunno. Maybe this sounds like an infatuation, but, well, it is and was, and maybe I can go for an awesome infatuation now and then. Especially with a book to go with it!

Gotta go to work ... hope my review counts.

Malary

Well, Dr. Doyon is now on my top 5 list. This book like a journey with a friend-person that I only hoped thought the same way about stuff that I did! Yeah, a little Twin Peaks, but that was never a book. This is like the Twin Peaks but different and original that you don't have to run home on time for. Put it in your glove compartment! Read it while you wait! And I found out this town is a REAL town! How do they feel now? So human and exposed? I know it's fiction, but this book put one idea in my mind, and I don't know if it even meant to BUT ... There is no such THING AS FICTION!!! What a treat!!! Thanks Mr. Bonneville Man. I wonder if you've been there, or it they are waiting for you -:)

It's hard to explain. How often do you come across a book that you can't wait to finish, and then when you finish it, you are like jonesing for more. I hope this author has a book#2 in mind!I didn't like Catcher in the Rye, and this was nothing like that, but it should be read in schools -- make people WANT to read, instead of not. It had a personal effect on me that, well, not only is nothing really a cooincidence, but perhaps cooincidences are somehow spiritual puns for us to learn and grow from? I'm still digesting it, just finished the last chapter, and well, until the next book, I think I'll give it a re-read. Like Harry Potter (and sorry, because I know a lot of people don't like Harry Potter -- but I loved the books!) and like them, I only hope the author can keep the stamina to give us a few more volumes ... please? :-) And thanks to Amazon, I see he is a musician, and I am going to order the "other people who liked this ordered" CD which is amazingly, a compilation of music by an artist who once HAD the magic the author speaks about in this book, and in hearing his music through new voices, I hope to remember him and hope he is inspired to have that MAGIC FEELING again. Cooincidence that this author worked toward a compilation of random cool people performing one of my once favorite artists pieces? I think not! Another Spiritual Pun. Thank you for this book.

Close a deal and open a speakeasy. Deliver a pizza and receive karma. Wash windows and wax pyschedelic. See Magnolia and read Bonneville Stories.