Customer Reviews

The Revival

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

 

 

Review # 1 (Feb. 28, 2001)

THE REVIVAL is wonderful! I am only ready for Chapter 6 (I'm a slow reader), but I don't want to read it fast because it's so rich. I just love it! Don Coldsmith's comparison to Mark Twain is very apt. The writing reminds me of Twain in his younger, leaner days before he wrote tomes that went on and on. I literally had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard last night. I think this may just be the funniest book I've ever read. It's also a pleasure to read it, not a chore. Chapters 4 and 5 are superb examples of comic writing.

Review # 2 (March 12, 2001)

Well, it's a sorry day for me today. I have just finished one of the best books I've ever read - THE REVIVAL by Max Yoho (Snake Shadow). No more shall I read with pleasure of the adventures of Edwin, the hero of Epic, Kansas. I told my wife last night that it was the best book I'd read since HUCK FINN. Now, you may surmise that I'm not too well read (and I may not be), but I've been through quite a few volumes since I first read the Twain classic, but none as memorable as this slim novel. I will read it again just for the beauty of the language. It's a classic. I've already received several requests (beggings) from friends to borrow it, but I'm not sure I can let it go yet...

Review # 3 (October 2, 2001)

Joy! Rapture! Somebody finally returned my copy of Max Yoho's THE REVIVAL. I have started reading it again and am exploding with delighted laughter at the most unusual times. This time as much from nostalgia as a true need to laugh as well. I am anxiously awaiting Max's next book (due out shortly), but THE REVIVAL is just as much fun now as it was before. Don't loan it to anybody. You may never get it back!

Bill Shaffer
Topeka, Kansas
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Our book group just finished this book and we're in total agreement. It's wonderfully funny and easy to read. Several of us admitted to laughing out loud several times as we wound our way to the end.

"The Revival" is about a small boy in a small town during the week the revival preachers come to town - one Methodist and one Holy Roller, but that's just a loose outline to give his main characters a dance floor. You'll get introduced to the family, the churches, the town & all seen through the eyes of 8-year-old with a sense of humor & a sense of drama.

Yes, I admit to a certain prejudice because the author is a hometown boy, but Don Coldsmith liked it well enough to write the intro. If you like Garrison Keillor or Mark Twain, give this one a try too.

This is without a doubt, the funniest book I have ever read. I have read thousands of books in my lifetime but this one is the only one that had tears of laughter running down my face. My wife had to quit reading it on a night flight to England as she was laughing so hard it was keeping others awake. Max's humor is absolutely brilliant. It is a real classic.

Not sure if this kind of hokey Southern humor is everyone's cup of iced tea, but I laughed out loud more times reading this book than any other book I can remember.

Max Yoho is the highest point in the state of Kansas. His irreverent humor captures a time an place and raises it to immortality. From an grandmother breaking wind in church to finding a girls "breasts" in a trash can, there is nothing too sacred for Yoho to find humor in. I only give it 5 stars because I cannot give it more!