Customer Reviews

The Long Night of Winchell Dear

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

 

 

Fans of Madison County will be surprised and a little shocked by this book, but fans of all of Waller's books should appreciate it. After his first three romance books took off, Waller changed directions and started doing something few writers do... he started writing what he wanted to write and didn't hold to any one genre. While I like his love stories best, even the one contained in High Plains Tango (his most developed to date) I did enjoy "The Long Night of Winchell Dear."

Borrowing lyrics from his song "Blue Suspenders" from his excellent and underrated album "Ballads of Madison County," Waller creates Winchell Dear, a professional gambler with a checkered past and a few regrets. Dear lives on a ranch he won in a poker match. On this property also lives his maid, an American Indian, and a rattlesnake that is mentioned several times to foreshadow it is going to play some part in the story. Staying with the maid in her adobe is an aging Mexican drug runner. On the way to the ranch, for reasons left unexplained until the very end, are two comical stereotypical mob hitmen who banter back and forth and use language the average "Madison County" romance reader will likely find inappropriate. Waller builds up all of these characters, makes us care about them, and brings them all together in the end. He also introduces a few others along the way and tosses in a pinch of romance (but not quite enough to satisfy.)

As always, it takes a chapter or two to get used to Waller's style of writing. He skips from one character's point of view to the next without using section breaks. Some of the narrative and a little of the dialogue is clunky. It is kind of hard for a man who lived in Iowa all his life to move to Texas for a couple of years and pick up on the rough Texan vernacular, but Waller gives it his best shot. Some of it is kind of forced, as if lifted from old west movies from the forties, but once you get into the story you overlook things like that. And he misuses the term "ya'll." Northerners take note: "Ya'll" is PLURAL. No Texan is going to tell one person, "Ya'll want to go to the store?" The term means "You all," much like, "You guys" or "You's twos."

Aside from those minor complaints, the story is fast paced... I can see it being made into a pretty good movie. Waller's prose, as always, captures the winds and mystery of the rugged Texas night. He holds a great respect for the reclusive ways of life and the dreams that surround them. He captures the essence of his characters and doesn't disappoint. I look forward, as always, to his next one. And hopefully next time it will be another love story, as that is the kind of book he writes best.

This book reads like a classic. The literary quality flows. It's unfortunate that a lot of people might not read the book because of the title. I'm a librarian so I get a chance to look beyond titles and summaries before I choose to read a book. I give books a chance to interest me. I'm very glad I did with this one. However, still I say, Winchell with the last name of Dear would of kept me off balance while reading the book because the last name (one word!) unknowingly sends a mixed message regarding the content. Everytime I read the word "Dear" my mind kept wanting to revert to light romance reads. There is a meaningful story inside this book and well worth the time it takes to read it. I hope the book doesn't become a "albatross" for the author.

The review by Charles was pretty accurate, however, I'd like to add my two cents. The plot was good, but I didn't like the way it was put together. I had a hard time with the setting; the story had a feel of the old west, but there were items mentioned that told you it took place in the here and now. There was a lot of attention paid to Dear's education in gambling. In fact, most of the book was about it. There were complete paragraphs and sections of pages I just skipped through because there was just too much detail. I thought the story was a bit slow. And what are the odds, even in a piece of fiction, that half of the players who came together (finally) in the end, not only had run into each other previously, but one was actually related? And what's the deal with 'the driver'? Why didn't he have a name? And was all the cursing really necessary? Something every once in a while when something went wrong I could handle, but every other word? So, if you like to gamble and know something about it and the terminology, and you like stories about drug runners and dumb thugs, this is the book for you.

I've read several of Waller's books, beginning with Bridges several years ago. The Long Night of Winchell Dear was a good, fast-paced read - except when it got bogged down with too much detail & time spent about poker-playing strategy & techniques. I enjoyed Marty & the Driver characters - they reminded me somewhat of Steinbeck's George & Lenny. They provided suspense, tension and a touch of humor, and I enjoyed their dialogue.

I take it, after reading the reviews, that Robert Waller isn't a native-born Texan. You could have fooled this native-born Texan. For my money, he did a great job with this novel. Winchell Dear's long night kept me turning pages as the old gambler had an idy something was up even if he didn't know what. "Idy," by the way is an old Texas word from back when. And "y'all," contrary to what some fellow from Iowa believes, has sure enough been used a time or two when some of us ignorant Texans were speaking to no more than one other human being, or even on occasion to a horse or a hound.

Loved the book. Really enjoyed all the gambling stuff even though there is no chance I'm likely to take up the life myself. Snakes give me the heebie-jeebies but it was good to see Winchell and the old Indian get a little help from Luther where that sorry excuse for the guy called Marty was concerned.

I'll be checking now and again to see if this author has another west Texas book in him.

The Long Night of Winchell Dear is an emotional and romantic book in the true Robert James Waller fashion.
The book holds a place of pride on my bookshelves along with all the others RJW has written!

A lot things all come together on a cold,windy night in southwest Texas,at the ranch of an old weathered gambler. Winchell Dear's ,ranch The Two Pair,is just off Route 90,in Slater's Draw a few miles from Martha or Clear Signal.
A lot of living on the part of some very interesting characters goes into life in this hardscrabble region of Texas on the Mexican border.Nothing is handed to anyone and you get out of life no more than you put in,and at times, not even that.Each of the characters in this story live in their own worlds,some of that because of choice and much because of circumstnces.
Things have a funny way of coming together in completely unexpected ways,with their backgrounds influencing everything that happens.It's impossible to choose which of these people you think you get to know,but that is just the way it is.
It is a great read,and every page is filled with things that make it impossible to put down.It is not a long novel,and I for one, like a story like this.It leaves one wondering where things went after this weird night.There is certainly lots going on with these people and the events of that fateful night ,that would make one wonder and even wish for the author to give us a sequel.

I had long ago written James Waller off as an author who wrote a story about a woman who cheated on her husband while he took his kids to the state fair. I never cracked that book, because frankly, the movie annoyed me to no end. Sorry if I'm not a romantic, but that just seems like a raw deal.

I picked up "Long Night..." at the library mostly because the cover had a cowboy boot in a stirrup on the front, and it had been a long, long time since I had read a western. I was initially disappointed when I found it wasn't, but quickly cast aside those disappointments as I was drawn into an interesting tale of the reminiscing of a gambler who is unaware of big trouble heading his way, but for the gnawing instinct that made him a poker legend in the first place.

"Long Night..." reaffirmed my belief that a great novel does not have to be believable, or even plausibly realistic, if it contains characters who are interesting; characters you wouldn't mind spending some time with. Throw in some poetic prose, and Waller has a real winner here!

Winchell Dear opened a door for me, and before I could shut it, "Texas" Jack Carmine barged in, followed (more politely) by Carlisle McMillan. Those two gentlemen (term loosely used in Carmine's case) were enjoyable enough that maybe, maybe, I'll give Robert Kincade a chance to prove his merit.

The Long Night of Wincell Dear - - - though it took me few tries to locate this online as I kept confusing the title raced through your latest offering with much anticipation and pleasure.
Your Texas settings enforce your residence there now. Couldn't wait to know the role of that big Diamondback to your plot.The poker tips were a surprise, but one who actually knew you UNI days, told me may be first- hand knowledge(?)
Well done.
Keep writing them,Prof. Waller. We IA natives like sharing in your relocation.

I loved the book, because as a rancher, I could relate to the
story--and I love Robert James Waller. He had me hooked with
The Bridges of Madison County, and I have been loyal ever since.