Customer Reviews

The Woman Lit by Fireflies

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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I loved all of the stories. I became a fan and introduced many people to his work. They also loved it and we've looked for more and more. The stories are funny, the characters are interesting, and he writes with great style. I couldn't put it down. He made me laugh and he made me think. Perfect.

i came on my copy of this book a few days ago. i was unpacking after a move and there was a lot to do. i had fond memories so i started reading. two hours later i was still sitting on a box reading. the title story remains one of the most engaging stories written by a man about a woman.

HARRISON! HARRISON! HARRISON! Immortal I agree, this work is to me the same as sitting a spell to listen to the tales of the elders in town, to learn of the lives and times that you know nothing of, you couldn't know, without the memory of those who were there, or those who've heard the legends before. Descriptive, yes. Insightful, yes. Each character of the three novellas will hold a place inside of you long after the duration of the read. Clare will speak to your soul and carry you away on the wings of introspection. Sunset Limited will be like opening a photo album from years past and reminiscing the adventures and feelings of your bosom buddies. Brown Dog, the scoundrel, will take you on an exciting roller coaster ride of intuition, passion,wit and wiles to prove once and for all that the underdog will prevail!( hence his continuation in the Seven Ounce Man ) As an avid reader of non-fiction I am proud to say that I have restored my faith in the realm of fiction through the works of my fellow Michigander the honorable, the mighty, the great, mister Jim Harrison. Hello from Grand Marais!!!

I was first introduced to Jim Harrison when I took an Intro to Fiction class taught by Harrison biographer/critic Edward Reilly. The book that I read was The Woman Lit by Fireflies. "Brown Dog" is, by far, my favorite novella in the collection. He is an underdog that simply wants to live off the land and be left the hell alone. Admirable qualities in my opinion. "Sunset Limited" and the "Woman Lit by Fireflies" are also excellent, but "Brown Dog" makes me hurt from laughter.

Not the most insightful review, I'm sure. However, how can a person be critical about something he or she enjoys?

That B.D. in "Brown Dog" and Clare in "The Woman Lit By Fireflies" exist in the same volume is something, truly, of a miracle. B.D. tells a wild tale and bawdy, spews his irreverent attitudes and recounts his narrow escapes and brass-knuckles view of the world. Clare probes deeply into her own soul, mucking around in the deep interior of self-analysis, using imagined conversations to uproot ideas. B.D., well, has no problem swearing. During the course of "Woman Lit..." Clare utters her first profanity out loud, though nobody is there to hear it.

If B.D. and Clare ever ran into each other, I wonder what they would have to say to each other. Probably nothing. The tone, style, substance and point of view are so drastically different in these two stories that it's hard to understand they are the same author's work. That's the strength of Jim Harrison's writing and his mind-blowing ability to paint real characters on the page.

"Brown Dog" jumps from the first line: "Just before dark at the bottom of the sea I found the Indian." B.D. is a diver who lives on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The story is, in a word, whacky. It could be a fable. It could be real. B.D.'s world is what's in front of his face at that moment. It's all about his current mission, his current concerns. One of those issues deals with his heritage and, of course, the frozen Indian comes into play. "Brown Dog" is hilarious, touching and over-the-top.

"The Woman Lit By Fireflies" sets a more introspective tone, but the story is no less dramatic. Clare stands in for so many women stuck in a tough, demeaning relationship. She takes action. She wants to feel again. She wants to find herself and skips taking medicine with her on her journey because she prefers "pain-ridden consciousness."

The writing in "Woman" is as feminine (it seemed to this male reviewer) as the writing in "Brown Dog" is masculine. Two very different Americans. Brilliant stuff.

The middle story, "Sunset Limited" was just okay for me, though still a healthy dose of solid Jim Harrison and worth reading. My main problem with it was the heavy time spent on back-story and little time on actual in-the-moment action, particularly in the first half.

Still, an amazing volume for B.D. and Clare alone.

This book is actually a collection of three novellas. My favorite, by far, is "Brown Dog". The main character, BD, is a man not very smart, but not too dumb, not very honest but not a bad person either. Bumming his way through life, he gets into more than one bind, and is able to tell the stories in a very self-deprecating tone that immediately endears him to the reader. This is a fantastic story, and the book is worth it just because of it.

"Sunset Limited" was OK, maybe a bit too formulaic for my taste. "The Woman lit by Fireflies" i liked the least. I simply didn't have any sympathy for the woman in question.

Prolific novelist (Legends of the Fall), screenwriter, poet (The Theory and Practice of Rivers), and short story writer, Jim Harrison embeds people in landscape and weaves through torque of narrative, prose, and emotional import a web of intricate and compelling design. The Woman Lit by Fireflies, the final novella of this collection, powerfully explores ingenuity, freedom, and loyalty.

I loved all of the stories. I became a fan and introduced many people to his work. They also loved it and we've looked for more and more. The stories are funny, the characters are interesting, and he writes with great style. I couldn't put it down. He made me laugh and he made me think. Perfect.

Harrison is a master of his art. His insight into the heart of men and women, is loving but incisive. The first story "Brown Dog" is infinitely re-readable. Harrison's characters are bluntly, and hilariously honest. The main character, a drunk bumbling through the woods of Michigan's upper penninsula is someone I never would have thought I would feel interest in but Harrison brings a humanity and intelligence to this unsympathetic picture that enthralls the intellect and engages the heart.

The other stories are beautifully done as well--the portrait of a middle-age woman breaking out of a stultifying relationship by camping overnight in a cornfield is touching and inspiring. Harrison's insight and empathy enable him to convincingly portray the world through his character's eyes.

I had not read Jim Harrison before. It is such a pleasure to discover a new author that pulls one into the story and leaves one thinking after putting the book down. His prose is wonderful.