Customer Reviews

Free Bird

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Reading Greg Garrett's novel FREE BIRD is like taking a journey with an old friend. He brings you into his life, and asks nothing of you but to listen to his story. A story so full of universal appeal that it can speak to every reader regardless of age or gender. It is ultimately a story of redemption; of how men can get lost when life, when love, fails them. Yet it also speaks to women -- how we fight for the men we love, for our children, for the life that feels right. FREE BIRD reminds us that we can have a second (or third or fourth) chance at the life we so desperately want if only we're willing to allow the past to remain just that -- the past. FREE BIRD is one of those rare books that will remain with you for a long, long time.

Mr. Garrett has given us a wonderful gift of a first book. The effortless, relaxed writing style is a pleasure to read on its own merits, let alone for the excellent story and characters. It's been a long time since I've come across a character as sympathetic and likeable as Clay Forester. His journey -- both across the country and through his wounded heart -- is a compelling, deeply moving one. I can't remember the last time I read a book that made me laugh and then want to cry all on the same page as Free Bird did on more than one occasion. Read this book and then pass it on to your friends. Better yet, buy it for them. Mr. Garrett deserves all the rewards he gets!

There is an excellent mix of character/personality types in this novel, and they all bring something new to the story. Garrett definitely feels for all his characters, and you can tell in this book that he really poured his heart out into all of them, in the search for their humanity.

What Garrett is best at is creating the world and the story-- all of which come across as entirely realistic-- What Garrett has always helped me with, was knowing what to cut, and knowing what to keep, and this intrinsic understanding of Garrett makes for a clean, well thought-out prose which moves along nicely, and delivers the story in such a way that you are left with a good understanding as to what has just occurred, and where to go with your own life from there.

As a musician myself, I couldn't help but laugh at the numerous musical references in this novel, and the ways he tells some of the more well-known "Spinal-Tap-esque" jokes in new ways.

And one definitely gets the feel of being an on-the-road musician with Clay, the 1974-Les Paul player who refuses to play Skynard...

This is a fabulous read! All the characters are vivid and memorable, especially the main character Clay. As an avid reader of fiction, I would have to say this is one of my favorite novels. You'll laugh and cry, and wonder why it's not in Oprah's book club. This is one that stays with you.

Free Bird is the dark road trip of a broken man, a musician named Clay Forester. On a quest to find himself by attending the funeral of his lost father, Clay meets and helps people along the way. It's a spiritual journey, funny at times, harrowing, and uplifting. Wonderful settings, believable characters.

If you have not read Free Bird yet, make the time, take the time, and read it. You will not be sorry. Greg Garrett is a wonderful storyteller. I was drawn into the story from page one and couldn't quit until I finished it. This is a story of love, forgiveness, finding oneself, forgiving oneself, redemption and salvation all wrapped into one. Do yourself a favor and read this book.

I'm a sucker for a great 'road trip' novel, and Free Bird delivers. Greg Garrett gives us the story of ex-lawyer Clay Forester and his search for answers, answers to his pathetic existence as a bar band musician, answers to his relationship--or lack thereof--with his absentee father, answers to the tragic loss of his wife & son in a fatal car accident. But Garrett provides these answers without heavy-handed prose or pulpit-style preaching. His memorable tale unfolds like a real trip across country, with plenty of twists, turns and unexpected stops along the way. The result is a story that leaves readers wanting more from this talented author and a 'road trip' that shouldn't be missed. Salmon Run

if an author can make me care about one character i feel like he's done a good job. greg garrett made me care about all the characters here, even the minor ones, which is a rare occurrence indeed. my criteria for a great book is when i don't want it to end but i can't stop reading, and this book meets that standard. looking forward to hearing more from this author.

I was in Dr. Garrett's film class when he had to leave to take the call from his agent informing him that his book was to be published. So, not only does this book represent a fine piece of literature to me, it also illustrated how something good can happen to someone as humble and caring as Greg Garrett. Although I wasn't one of the students that knew Dr. Garrett especially well, it was an exciting thing.
On to the actual review: Garrett has created a character in Clay, which I felt closer to than most of my relatives. The self-imposed hero's trial that Clay embarks on is one that, in one form or another, everyone has to face. Not the actual events, but the self-deprecation and self-delusion that Clay is suffering from are very common things. Needless to say, self-delusion is a powerful thing, and Clay is definitely deluded.
One other thing that was really powerful about the book is just how southern it is. I was in Europe when I read this book, and it really helped to quell the homesickness that I was feeling. If the Bar-B-Que joint that Clay eats at in the opening of the novel isn't Jaspers in Waco, Texas, then I'm Stephen King. Read the book. You'll like it. I did.

Free Bird by Greg Garrett reads easy and free. While the subject matter is heavy and at times seems it will drag the narrator, and the reader with him, into a deep pit of hopelessness, the story's resolution soars above the despair. If you want a fun read that will make you laugh, make you think and make you smile, here it is. Garrett's ability to create mental images and emotional stirrings with conversational dialogue and simple language is his strength as a writer and his gift to his readers.