Customer Reviews

A Russell Hoban Omnibus

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If you are at all in any way a fan of Russell Hoban, there is no question that you need to purchase this volume. Contained are a good helping of his adult novels (one never published in America), as well as several of the short stories that appeared in his book 'The Moment Under the Moment' (also never published domestically), a sampling of his poetry (same fate as the former), and some amazing entries from his children's work, notably The Marzipan Pig (out of print), and the incomplete 'Manny Rat' (formerly unpublished.) All in all, for $30 this is the prize you've been waiting for. With every entry in this volume either out of print or unpublished, the Hoban Omnibus is probably one of the easiest way to beef up your Hoban library while avoiding the cost of importing the books. On the other hand, omissions must be mentioned because they are rather glaring. Although Indiana University has been good enough to include Hoban's first adult novel, the exclusion of 'The Mouse and his Child' (Hoban's first novel of any kind, and no less brilliant than any of his other efforts) is perhaps the greatest fault I can attribute to this volume. Likewise, Medusa Frequency, Kleinzeit and Fremder are all absent and one tends to wonder why they were not included. Fremder most of all could use a US release, while Medusa and Kleinzeit don't seem to have done anything to have deserved the oversight. Medusa in particular is perhaps among Hoban's most brilliant pieces, and at a length of not much more than 100 pages, its inclusion would have been a simple thing. Still, who is to say why certain things made it, and others got the axe? That's Indiana University's business, still, this is one reader who hopes they'll consider a second volume.

Following is a list of contents, since Amazon has not included it: (stolen directly from the unofficial Russell Hoban page)

NOVELS:

The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz, Turtle Diary, Pilgermann, Mr Rinyo-Clacton's Offer (This, of course, marks the first U.S. publication for Mr Rinyo-Clacton!)

SHORT STORIES [these were all originally included in The Moment Under the Moment]: The Man with the Dagger, My Night with Léonie, The Raven, Dream Woman, Dark Oliver, The Ghost Horse of Genghis Khan

ESSAYS [both from The Moment Under the Moment]: 'I, that was a child, my tongue's use sleeping...', With a Choked Cry

POEMS [these were all originally included in The Last of the Wallendas]: 03:00 Abroad,

Crystal Maze, The Owl-Woman, Turtle Prince?, Fred to Samantha, Dragon into Dressing-Gown, The Hippogriff, What the Fairy Said to the Bibliophile, The Dragon underneath the Mat,

LITERATURE FOR CHILDREN (AND DISCERNING ADULTS): The Marzipan Pig, The Adventures of Manny Rat [incomplete, abandoned sequel to The Mouse and His Child]

There is not much to add to Mr. Moon's excellent summary. This is an excellent price for a collection of this variety and many of these works are unavailable at any price unless special ordered from Europe or purchased via Out Of Print book searches. Amazon incorrectly states 752 pages whereas it is actually 822. This is obviously even more value for $ and any further works would have made for a pretty unwieldly volume. We can only hope that a future Omnibus Volume Two will collect the balance.

In the meantime, be sure to seek out the Indiana University 1998 deluxe edition of "Riddley Walker". I would pay to read the phone book as copied out by Mr. Hoban. The writer of "Riddley" deserves more exposure. Do not hesitate, Hoban will astound you with his love and use of language and his sensitivity to life and its nuances and foibles and special moments. You will smile, laugh and cry.

It's short and thick, would have preferred a larger binding. But, the content is great. I'm almost done with the first novel (also Hoban's first). If you are already a Hoban fan, you can't go wrong with this, as it collects several of his novels into one package. If you're looking to get introduced to him, you also can't go wrong with this, although I would add that I think Mouse and His Child, Riddley Walker, and Kleinzeit are must-haves. For my money, there's very few writers who capture these themes as well as Hoban does. He is a master who deserves a lot more credit/publicity.