John Vernon, Author . Houghton Mifflin $24 (352p) ISBN 978-0-618-17454-6
When historical novels are produced by writers whose expertise in the field is matched by vivid storytelling skills, the results—as in this novel—are generally outstanding. With this 10th book (after A Book of Reasons), veteran...
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John Vernon, Author . Houghton Mifflin $24 (294p) ISBN 978-0-547-07423-8
Billy the Kid rides again in this literary retelling of his legendary and bloody career. The story begins with his bold escape from the Lincoln, N.Mex., jail in April 1881, then flashes back to his capture by former friend Sheriff Pat Garrett. The...
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John Vernon, Author Viking Books $17.95 (279p) ISBN 978-0-670-81553-1
The great opening spoof of this unsolved mysterythat the narrator, Charles Cooper (possibly Lyndhurst), is merely a disembodied brain marinating in a jaris a bizarre detail that the reader disregards as events unfold. Coop, as he is called by his...
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John Vernon, Author Simon & Schuster $22.5 (0p) ISBN 978-0-684-80371-5
Literate and raunchy, wildly colorful and meticulously researched, Vernon's third self-described ``historical fiction'' recreates the real-life saga of Baby Doe Tabor (nee Elizabeth McCourt), a gold digger from Oshkosh, Wis., who married wealthy...
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John Vernon, Author Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) $23 (256p) ISBN 978-0-395-94477-6
As a novelist (La Salle, etc.), Vernon brings structure and meaning to his art. As an observant man, however, he sees more than enough chaos and apparent meaninglessness in real life. In this erudite memoir of how he tried to understand the life and
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John Vernon, Author, Rebecca Saletan, Editor Random House (NY) $22 (417p) ISBN 978-0-394-58249-8
Vernon ( Lindbergh's Son ), a literature professor at SUNY Binghamton, uses his third novel as the occasion for an elaborate send-up of phallocentric culture. The corpse of Napoleon, awaiting autopsy, suffers the indignity of having its right thumb...
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