Dreams of Distant Lives [Hardcover]

Lee K. Abbott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 19, 1989

“This is a writer whose language explores the range of life.”—Bette Peretsky

“Large in scope and meaning and unforgettable.”—William Harrison

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Warmth lifts and fills these tales by an accomplished storyteller--they are also infused with humor, a bittersweet sorrow and deep affection for the follies and foibles of people who love. Writing about a sinning minister as in "A View of Me from Mars"; a war-crazy young soldier in Vietnam in "Why I Live in Hanoi"; or the football coach/world leader in the futuristic "The Era of Great Numbers," Abbott delivers a wry and respectful vision of human nature unsullied by sentimentality or falseness. Current in content and form--the terrain is the human spirit in the face of loss, most often divorce, with plenty of trailer homes and Piggly Wiggly stores in sight--the stories are neither grim nor discouraging, not even the saddest, "Once Upon a Time," or the nearly bleak coming-of-sexual-age, "1963." The tales are distinguished by rightness of dialogue and permeance of place, usually the dry lands of New Mexico. Abbott ( Strangers in Paradise ) displays fully rounded view of human nature, and again reveals himself as a fine exponent of the short story form.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Love is a "necessary catastrophe" says the narrator of "Here in Time and Not," sounding the note that links these stories. This intrinsic relationship between love and grief is a theme played out in the lives of both the fortyish professional men who populate stories like "The Happy Parts" and the teenager experiencing first love in the sadly tender "1963." And love wounds in other than romantic ways. Thus, in "The View of Me from Mars," a son learns to go on loving his father after discovering his moral failures, while "Revolutionaries" tests the bond between two very dissimilar college buddies. Repetition is a problem, as many of these stories involve the same type of character and situation. Yet Abbott writes with a verve that makes his stories immediately engaging, and the best of them move the reader with their poignancy and compassion.
- Lawrence Rungren, Bedford Free P.L., Mass.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 206 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; First Edition edition (April 19, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399134557
• ISBN-13: 978-0399134555
• Product Dimensions: 20 x 20 x 20 inches
• Shipping Weight: 20 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,200,338 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lee K Abbott's stories are humbling in their honesty, October 6, 1997

By 

Laurie Neubecker ([e-mail]) (Oshkosh, WI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreams of Distant Lives (Paperback)

I know of no other writer who brings readers into the story's world as quickly, as deftly, as intimately as Lee K Abbott. In Dreams of Distant Lives, Abbott, using mostly first person narratives, shows us the pain in the trials that are our everyday lives, shows us who and what we are one to another--fathers to sons, husbands to wives, us to ourselves--by taking us into the lives of his characters. We become the narrator's best buddy sitting across the table drinking his beer while he tells us his tale--a secret, it seems, for no one else's ears but our own. We're drawn in, hooked, with the first words. We become, in fact, so involved, so close to the narrator, so much a part of him and his life that it feels as if we not only wear his shoes, but his socks and his shirt--heck, we're in his underware. And Abbott does it with such apparent ease.

Abbott's is a musical style; it has rhythm, a beat--it's the sound of our own hearts, of our own lives. "The Era of Great Numbers," a story about the obsession of college football, will leave you inside out laughing, nodding at its truth and with a chill against your skin. (It took me awhile to crawl back out ot that one.) In "The View of Me From Mars" (my favorite), Abbott tells a story by first telling another story that ends "...sad somehow and wise,..." which gives away the ending to "The View..." and yet, through Abbott's keen sense of style, in his expert hand, the end throws a punch to the guts. Hard.

Dreams of Distant Lives, as with all of Lee K. Abbott's collections, is well worth the time for anyone who wishes to glimpse life honestly. His style is dense, yes, his stories not for the weak-hearted. Lee K Abbot's stories are humbling.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In Dreams Begin Responsibilities, October 28, 2001

By 

Okla Elliott (Columbus, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreams of Distant Lives (Paperback)

Like the famous short story by Delmore Schartz, In Dreams Begin Responsibilities, Lee K. Abbott's stories create a vivid dream-world where we learn alongside his characters what honestly matters in life. Abbott's style has tommy gun rapidity and unyielding intensity.

No matter what I say, I will not be able to describe the energy and weight of a Lee K. Abbott story. The unique aesthetic and content of his work makes him one of the premier short fiction craftsmen in America. In Abbott we have found another fiction writing giant to join the ranks of Sherwood Anderson, Delmore Schwartz, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and Raymond Carver.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Humor and heartbreak: don't miss this., March 12, 2006

By 

K. Graney (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dreams of Distant Lives (Paperback)

This, a favorite title by Lee K. Abbott, has been joined by later of his books, none of which disappoint -- the strength of his talent and skill comes through with each new book. "Wet Places At Noon" is also still available as I write this.
If you have not read Lee K. Abbott, don't miss these stories. Accept no imitations. He writes with a mighty voice of muscle and sinew, but is deft with subtleties of character, and a rare kind of constant, underlying, wry humor. Although his voice is strong, it is the vulnerability of his characters that is their strength -- that which draws us into them. How can we not love them, flawed as we are? It is in the most human parts of them, their pain, weakness, confusion, loss, and whimsy that we identify, and yet we are shown their souls full of life, hope, and love. How can we not love them? We are them.