A Place Without a Postcard (Paperback)

~ James Brush (Author)
Key Phrases: Place Without, The Stranger, Red Beard (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...descriptively written, gritty, and raw. You can almost feel what experiencing blindness must be like..." -- The Taylor Tribune, February 20, 2003

Product Description

Paul Reynolds, a photographer who creates fake photos for tabloid magazines, wakes up with no idea where he is or how he got there. He canÂ’t even recall his name. A strange man lurks nearby, breathing heavily and slowly flipping through a book. Paul hears the manÂ’s breath, but he cannot see him. He realizes with mounting panic that his eyes no longer function.

He remembers racing down a desolate West Texas highway. He remembers a cop who pulled him over for speeding. He remembers a shotgun-brandishing cook chasing him out of a diner. And he remembers a life abandoned, but he cannot put together the jigsaw puzzle that brought him where he is: blind, wanted by the law, and in the company of this invisible stranger.

In the backcountry town of Armbister, Texas, where temperatures hover around a hellish 110 degrees, PaulÂ’s memory, intangible as a heat mirage, lies just beyond his reach, and God may be a coyote.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: IUniverse (January 13, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595263127
• ISBN-13: 978-0595263127
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,550,343 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars not bad, i'm impressed, June 13, 2003

By	mark brigama (manhattan) - See all my reviews

it's a pretty good book. it definitely keeps your attention. i'm not going to spoil it like the other two reviewers who are obviously family members or best friends, but as an unbiased reader i give it a thumbs up.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How does it feel to be blind... then question your beliefs?, April 9, 2003

By	Janet Bray (Nederland, TX United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Paul Reynolds wakes up blinded, listening to a stranger sitting nearby sipping beer and slowly flipping through a book. He doesn't know where he is, how he got here, and worse, who he is.

We follow Paul's spotty memory as he begins to piece together what happened. Well-executed flashbacks tie the present effectively to the past as we discover what happened to put him in this benevolent (or not so benevolent?) man's care.

But what is most impressive is how James Brush illustrates, powerfully and perfectly, what it is like to suddenly go blind. Brush's use of imagery creatively puts the reader in the story, making it easy to imagine what it would be like to lose one's sight.

As Paul begins to wonder about his caretaker's intentions, he is also forced to examine his beliefs about extraterrestrial life and the supernatural. Born a cynic, he must decide if he believes his memories or his logical mind.

The book moves swiftly, but leaves mysteries that may -- or may not -- be tied up in the ending. Several twists in the plot keep this book interesting, and the character development is done well. While most of the mysteries in the story are tied up neatly at the end, Brush leaves a few dangling, providing an opportunity for the reader to make up his own mind.

Do you believe in UFOs and supernatural happenings? This book will cause you, too, to reevaluate what you think.

Overall, this book is definitely a page-turner. I look forward uo more of Brush's work.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUY this BOOK!, March 13, 2003

By	Vicki Rowe (Austin, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

"Still water runs deep" and in James Brush's first novel, A Place Without a Postcard, irony of the situation is the rushing deluge that pushes the reader to keep turning the pages. When Paul Reynolds chooses to leave his West Coast life and head east on his motorcycle, he stumbles upon Armbister, Texas, where town loyalty, scandal, and strangers don't mix. Everything about Paul says that he "ain't from around Armbister" and it might be wise for him to get out of town. However, as the stars would have it, he discovers while in the local greasy spoon, Ernie's Joint, that he is wanted for the murder of the Johnny Law who had just issued him a ticket for speeding. Author James Brush pays meticulous attention to detail and cleverly mixes pop culture and classical analogies throughout the novel. Haven't we all seen this typical tactic for hunting down America's Most Wanted? "A blowup of the California driver's license that had been pulled out of some database" appears on the television screen. "Everyone from Ernie's Joint, staring the outside world in its eye, knew that the focus of its attention was sitting at Ernie's bar with a half-eaten burger." Paul senses trouble. "He felt the eyes of all four men shift with an audible Batman-swish pan from the TV set to him." As the owner sizes him up "like a hunk of ground beef", Paul realizes the need to get out of Dodge, or in this case, Armbister, as quickly as he can.
What happens to Paul comes back to him in a series of flashbacks after he wakes up and discovers he is in incredible pain, blind and not in a hospital. Instead he has been rescued by The Stranger, aka Sergio, a recluse who lives in a shack without electricity and subsists on a diet of warm beer and canned beef stew. Sergio's only companion is his half dog/half coyote named Mercury. Ironically, Paul, a photographer who creates photos of UFOs for tabloid magazines, wants to see as much as Sergio does not want to be seen.
A Place Without a Postcard weaves mystery with philosophy. The plot, so seemingly simple, is unveiled in a way that would normally be confusing, but it is not. I caught myself marveling at the impeccable imagery, laughing at the dry as desert wit, and wondering if James Brush is the John Milton of contemporary fiction. He has to be blind to empathize with his protagonist's agony, both physically and mentally.
This is an absolute MUST READ. I became so absorbed in Brush's narrative that I hated to stop reading to make dinner for my husband. However, the next day, I had to rip the novel out of my husband's hands so that he would eat the dinner that I had finally cooked. So, James Brush, just like Naomi Judd on Star Search, I give you FIVE STARS! If I were you, I would get that screenplay ready.