Customer Reviews

The Old Adelphi Rolling Grist Mill: A Memoir in Story Form

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

 

 

I must confess an interest: Doug is a good friend of mine.

Reading a friend's book is always nervous-making. What if it, well, sucks? (I am not diplomatic by nature.) Fortunately, the question's irrelevant to this latest volume. Composed partly of earlier stories and partly of new recollections, this book is strikingly executed.

Hornig is a fan of Mailer's The Executioner's Song, and it shows clearly here. The story--stories, really--cover a five year period from '64 to '69, in the life of a young man, Adrian, with a strong family resemblance to Doug himself. The story is occasionally funny, but overall the tone is one of anger. This is the work of a subtle intelligence, and while he does not spare his own character, neither does he spare the strange sad world around him.

Whether you lived through the period or not, you'll find yourself sucked in to a rich multi-threaded story, and ultimately, you will be disturbed, rendered off-balance, and yes, angry and sad as the author himself is.

Five stars: Hornig's best work, risky and personal, funny and troubling, tense and true to life.

I have to balance out the previous review. I think this is the worst book that I have read by Hornig. He should have stuck to the Swift PI series.
You could not possibly see the DC fires from the Adelphi Mill. You have to read over 100 pages to get to the The story about the DC riots. And the setting of the DC riots story is NOWHERE NEAR the Adelphi Mill. (In fact the "Wisconsin Avenue Waltz" setting is in Montgomery County and the Mill is in Prince Georges County.) What Hornig did is take a collection of previously published Short stories (mainly unrelated) and put them in book and misleading the Public to think these stories are all about the DC Riots. And this is supposed to be a memoir, right? Well, pray tell where is Capitol University. There is a Capital University near Columbus, OH. The colleges in DC are Georgetown, Anerican, George Washington and Catholic. The girl who is injured in "The Wisconsin Avenue Waltz" is taken to a Hospital. Which Hospital? GW, Sibley? If this is a memoir why not name the Hopital who allowed Shock Therapy to be administered,
The book starts out with a "20 years Later" story and ends with a "20 Years Later " story. And the stories are UNCONNECTED. How and why did the girl from the first story die? We are never told.
If you are interested in reading previously published, basically unconnected stories about EXTREMELY unattractive people be sure to buy thsi book.