Saint Mary Blue [Hardcover]

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1988

"A barrel of laughs with a kick in the groin for a punch line...The laughs were good and the tears were better. If there's anyone out there whose life isn't affected by a drunk or junkie, he should still read Saint Mary Blue, just because it's good."Steven Brust, author of The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Hugo, Nebula and Campbell Award winner, Barry Longyear is author of the acclaimed Enemy Mine, made into a motion picture by Fox. Recent works include The Enemy Papers and Yesterday's Tomorrow. Having completed training as a PI, his current work is a mystery titled The Hangman's Son. He lives with his wife Jean in New Sharon, Maine. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 344 pages
• Publisher: Steeldragon Pr (June 1988)
• ISBN-10: 0916595056
• ISBN-13: 978-0916595050
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,222,556 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hugo & Nebula winning author of Enemy Mine (made into a major motion picture by Fox)

BARRY B. LONGYEAR is the first writer to win the Hugo, Nebula, and John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer all in the same year. In addition to his acclaimed Enemy Mine Series, his works include the classic Sea of Glass and Infinity Hold series, SF & fantasy novels, recovery and writing instruction works, and numerous short stories.


Nominations and Awards*:

1979 (Nomination) John W. Campbell Award for best new writer.
1979 John W. Campbell Award for best new writer.
1979 Hugo Award, best novella, "Enemy Mine."
1979 Nebula Award, best novella, "Enemy Mine."
1979 Locus Award, best novella, "Enemy Mine."

1979 (Nomination) Hugo Award, best novelette, "Homecoming."
1980 (Nomination), Hugo Award, best novelette, "Savage Planet."
1980 (Nomination), Locus Award, best novelette, "Savage Planet."
1980 (Nomination), AnLab Award, best novelette, "Savage Planet."
1981 (Nomination) Locus Award, Single Author Collection, Manifest Destiny.

1981 Distinguished Achievement Award, University of Maine at Farmington.

1982 (Nomination), AnLab Award, best short story, "Collector's Item."
1984 (Nomination) Prometheus Award, best novel, The Tomorrow Testament.

1990 (Finalist) Philip K. Dick Award, best novel, Infinity Hold.

1990 (Nomination) Prometheus Award, best novel, Infinity Hold.
1991 (Nomination) Prometheus Hall of Fame, Circus World.

1993 (Nomination), Locus Award, best novelette, "Chimaera."
1994 (Nomination), Locus Award, best novelette, "The Death Addict."

1999 (Nomination) Prometheus Hall of Fame, Circus World.

2002 (Nomination), Locus Award, best novella, "Silent Her."

2006 AnLab Award, best novella, "The Good Kill."
2007 AnLab Award, best novella, "Murder in Parliament Street."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When you can't call for help., June 21, 2000

By 

Anthony Hinde (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saint Mary Blue (Hardcover)

I'm not sure what prompted me to read this book. Take a look at that cover art, not very inspirational. But it is written by Longyear and his work is usually good. It's not that this book is full of adventure or has a rich plot line. It doesn't even have exotic locations or lots of sex. What it does have, in truck loads, is empathy for the human condition. The main character is Jacob Randecker. He is a thinly veiled version of the author himself. They say that autobiographies are usually crap but then they also say write what you know. Whatever the case this book is undeniably excellent.

Jacob is an addict. He is addicted to alcohol and prescription medications. But then that's the most common kind. He doesn't think that he needs help but his wife and his friends, (the ones he has left), are adamant that he does. They use all of the pressure that they can, to get him to go to a rehab center called Saint Mary's. This is an actual hospital in the U.S.

The novel takes us through the program with Jacob and his group. We come to love Jake and each of his group. We also fall for the members of the hospital staff that we meet. It is that sort of book. I hope writing this book was cathartic for Longyear because reading it sure was for me.

I want to leave you with a small section from the dust jacket that I think may have helped my decision to read this book:
- One third will make it the first time around.
- One third will have to try again.
- One third are already dead. It just takes them a while to lie down.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One author's journey from denial to health., September 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Saint Mary Blue (Hardcover)

This is Barry B.'s journey through drug and alcohol detox, thinly disguised as fiction. For anyone who has ever wondered about this process, the personal stories, justifications, and revelations may be more than you bargained for; for those of us who have had some experience with rehab it will probably cause painful memories to resurface. Longyear is a dab hand at breathing life into characters and making situations ring true. You will want to stay with this book to find out who survives, who "re-tread", and who just can't make it without their addictions. It's worth trying to find!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reality Bites, December 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Saint Mary Blue (Paperback)

This book is a chronicle of Barry Longyear's experience in a drug and alchohol rehab, written as a fictional work. It is a gutsy, no-holds-barred account of the roller coaster ride that is detox and recovery. Longyear, a die-hard atheist, writes beautifully of the struggle to find "a power greater than yourself" to make the program work. The characters are hilariously funny and poignant, witty and emotionally wretching at the same time. The plot draws you into their lives so that you root for the ones who make it and cry for the ones who do not. Longyear stresses addiction as a disease, not an easy or popular concept for "normal" people, but a true one nevertheless. This is as real and honest a book about addiction as they come, and I love it. Barry Longyear is a superb science fiction writer (see The God Box and Sea of Glass as examples) but here he shines as his own biographer. Humor and pathos were never so expertly combined.