Log of the S.S. the Mrs Unguentine [Paperback]

Stanley Crawford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 10, 2008

"Forty years ago I first linked up with Unguentine and we made love on twin-hulled catamarans, sails a-billow, bless the seas . . ."

So begins the courtship of a certain Unguentine to the woman we know only as "Mrs. Unguentine," the chronicler of their sad, fantastical tale. For forty years, they sail the seas together, alone on a giant land-covered barge of their own devising. They tend their gardens, raise a child, invent an artificial forest—all the while steering clear of civilization.

Log of the S.S. The Mrs Unguentine is a masterpiece of modern domestic life, a comic novel of closeness and difficulty, miscommunication and stubborn resolve. Rarely has a book so perfectly registered the secret solitude of marriage, how shared loneliness can result in a powerful bond.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Log of the S.S. The Mrs. Unguentine is a captivating short work almost beyond description." --Verlyn Klinkenborg, The New Yorker

"No one captures the mind of a control freak like Stanley Crawford." --Ed Park, The Village Voice

"I'll tell you a book I want to teach. Log of the S.S. The Mrs. Unguentine by Stanley Crawford. It's out of print. How can a book like that be out of print? If I wrote that book and it went out of print, I just don't know what I would do. I'd have to call the police, I think. --Deb Olin Unferth

About the Author

Stanley Crawford was born in 1937 and was educated at the University of Chicago and at the Sorbonne. He is the author of three novels: Log of the S.S. The Mrs Unguentine, Travel Notes, Gascoyne. He is also the author of two memoirs: A Garlic Testament: Seasons on a Small Farm in New Mexico and Mayordomo: Chronicle of an Acequia in Northern New Mexico. He has written numerous articles in publications such as The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Double Take, and Country Living. Crawford is co-proprietor with his wife, Rose Mary Crawford, of El Bosque Farm in Dixon, New Mexico.

Product Details

• Paperback: 107 pages
• Publisher: Dalkey Archive Pr; First Dalkey edition (September 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564785122
• ISBN-13: 978-1564785121
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #760,539 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gordon Lish's second favorite novel, after Motorman, January 18, 2007

By 

A Reader (Lawrence, KS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Log of the S.S. the Mrs. Unguentine (Paperback)

This neglected masterpiece needs to be returned to print immediately. It is one of the greatest novels of the past half century. Prose this exquisite and sad and funny deserves a wide, ecstatic readership. This is a sea-tale about the deep loneliness between intimates and how that very loneliness can result in an even more powerful bond.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars people: you should read this, September 8, 2008

By 

M. Kalbach "lord of the dance" (philadelphia, pa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Log of the S.S. the Mrs Unguentine (Paperback)

if you like to read books that are interesting and strange and funny and sad you will like to read this book. this book is much better than this review. the book is well written, this review is not. everything this review lacks, the novel contains. if you like boats you must read this book. this review is failing to do this book justice. it is very good, you will be happy, it will make you smile.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely bargeful, July 31, 2009

By 

Exordia N. (Iowa City, Iowa USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Log of the S.S. the Mrs Unguentine (Paperback)

I wrote a review of this during lunch and lost it completely. So here goes it. Again. David insisted that I read this book before sending it to him. So last night, I babysat an insomnia and read the book like a slow lightning bolt. This book deserves my nod.

To barge on a barge, the story begins with the sardonic, melodious voice of Mrs Unguentine, whose abusive, inebriated husband invents lavished nautical things such as a colossal dome on a barge and a fake, really fake, Amazon to pass their 40 years voyage at sea staying quite clear of land and civilization. Poor (sweet) potentially obese Ungentine endures forty years of the tendered, reticent, violent blows of her brilliant, mildly deranged marriage.

An eccentric meditation on the perverse connubial life of a modern Adam and Eve. The narrative flows intensely and fluidly. An extraordinary invention. Too bad the book got submerged or blanched out by the political upheavals (Vietnam war, the Munich Massacre) of the 70s and I haven't been exposed to it until now.