Signs and Wonders [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Philip Gulley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2003

A Year of Laughter and Grace in harmony

Master storyteller Philip Gulley returns to the winsome ways of Harmony, Indiana, in the third installment of the beloved Harmony series.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his third full-length Harmony novel, Gulley delivers another series of charming vignettes about Quaker pastor Sam Gardner and his eccentric parishioners. In fact, Gulley's underlying thesis seems to be that to live in a small Midwestern town is to be eccentric, as evidenced by such bizarre schemes as Harvey Muldock's attempt to store his beloved convertible in his garage attic, only to have it crash down on top of his wife's car. At its best, Gulley's work is comparable to Gail Godwin's fiction, Garrison Keillor's storytelling and Christopher Guest's filmmaking. When, for example, an obnoxiously pietistic member of the church releases "salvation balloons" in an attempt to save all those Democrats in Chicago, he gets an angry call from a zookeeper in Pittsburgh who reports that the first recipient of one of his balloons was a rare trumpeter swan, who choked on the balloon and died. These moments of sharp wit are interwoven with gentler, more homespun humor in a league with Jan Karon's Mitford series, exemplified in a plot revolving around the only single, attractive, well-educated woman in town and her vain attempts to find love. Sometimes Gulley indulges in hyperbole that reflects just a bit of condescension toward his smalltown characters; for example, he describes Italian night at the local cafe as "Chef Boyardee spaghetti from a can and Bea Majors on the organ." His caricatures of conservative Christians occasionally seem a bit mean-spirited as well. Still, readers who seek pleasant, witty and occasionally poignant fiction will delight in this book.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Welcome back to a place where the stories are rich and the folks are familiar.” --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 301 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Press (September 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786256397
• ISBN-13: 978-0786256396
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,048,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Philip Gulley has become the voice of small-town American life. Along with writing Front Porch Tales, Hometown Tales, and For Everything a Season, Gulley is the author of the Harmony series of novels, as well as If Grace Is True and If God Is Love, which are coauthored with James Mulholland.

He hosts "Porch Talk with Phil Gulley" on the Indiana PBS affiliate WFYI television's flagship show Across Indiana.

Gulley lives in Indiana with his wife, Joan, and their sons, Spencer and Sam--in a rambling old house with Gulley's eclectic chair collection (64 at last count) and a welcoming back porch.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Signs and Wonders in Harmony, April 23, 2003

By 

Sarah W "Sarah W" (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Signs and Wonders: A Harmony Novel (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed Signs and Wonders. I discovered Philip Gulley about a year ago, and have been hooked ever since. His Harmony series is a wonderful collection of small town ancedotes and home spun tales. The characters are true to life: you'll find a Dale Hinshaw or Sam Gardner in every town across America. His true to life stories are filled with sentiment for the easier days, and a love of God.

The only thing that really turned me off this book was Dale Hinshaw. In the previous Harmony novels, he was a likable dolt. Now, to me anyway, he seemed like a bigot. He was preaching and yelling and just not accepting anyone opinions but his own. It was annoying and by the end of the novel he really started to grate on my nerves. In Home To Harmony and Just Shy of Harmony, he was a person who always seemed to learn a lesson by the end of the novel, finally coming to understand something regarding religion and life. In Signs and Wonders, he seemed ignorant and rude and generally annoying.

Other than that it was wonderful to meet up with the characters again. I really want to see Deena meet a guy, almost as bad as the Friendly Women's Circle, and seeing Harvey accept his son's lifestyle and love him for it was nice. Gulley didn't try to press the issue of homosexuality, never saying whether it was wrong or right, but he did stress that love was important, and that was what I enjoyed. He really had a bigger lesson in this novel.

There were plenty of funny moments in the novel too: the pumpkin toss and the Furnace Committee and other moments. Overall, another great book by Gulley. I look forward to hearing more stories from the simple, welcoming town of Harmony, Indiana.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of Harmony!, December 26, 2003

By 

Nancy Kaye "reader_in_wi" (Sussex, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Signs and Wonders: A Harmony Novel (Hardcover)

This had to be my favorite "Harmony" book by Phillip Gulley! I laughed out loud in several places. This is a book of FICTION and it pokes fun at various aspects of a typical congregation, from the well-meaning but misguided people who judge others more harshly than themselves to those who truly do have Jesus in their hearts, but are overpowered by the strong voices of other church members. Poor Deena Morrison is still single, and everyone is trying to marry her off! Dale Hinshaw now has his "scripture balloons" sailing off to convert the heathens in Chicago, and Sam's wife wants the vacation she's never had. Oh, and then there's the replacement of the "memorial oven" in the kitchen where the annual Chicken Noodle Dinner is made! I hope Phillip Gulley continues to write about Harmony and it's inhabitants!

24 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat disappointing, May 3, 2003

By 

Colorado Cupcake (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Signs and Wonders: A Harmony Novel (Hardcover)

I have loved all of the previous Gulley books, but this one was not as good as the others, due mostly to the preaching on so-called "bad theology" by Phillip Gulley. He seems to be determined to "put down" fundamentalist Christians, but in a sort of cutesy, condescending manner, which is grating. He used a translation of a very well known scripture on the last page of the book (that I have been unable to find in any of the several translations of the Bible to which I have access) which waters down the message considerably. I am sensing a smugness in the writing which was not so evident in the last books, which is unfortunate, because what has made the other books so wonderful was the honesty and openness and non-judgementalism towards Christians.