Book Signing!
Shameless plug for my husband! He (and several other local authors) will be doing a
book signing at the SouthPointe Barnes & Noble (in Lincoln, NE) on Saturday, March
1st, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Copies of his new Dana book and the
earlier Slocum book will be available, so come on by and get your signed
copy, or just hang out and say hi, get a cup of coffee, maybe buy some
books or magazines. We're looking forward to seeing everyone who can make it!
Can't be there? Get your copy here. Or that OTHER
dot-com, if you must.
Early Reviews:
Stephen M. Buhler
Rod
Scher is an ideally informative and amiable companion as he follows Dana
on his exciting and exhausting voyage—he places Dana fully in his time
and place, offering historical and cultural contexts for the writer's
experiences, observations, and expressions. Scher knows how to inspire a
sense of historical imagination in his readers, without forgetting who
we are now. Scher can be proud of his own achievement in bringing such
factual detail and humane judgment to this edition.
Patricia Wood
An
enjoyable and fascinating look at a [classic]. The modern reader
navigating Dana’s story is given a global view in retrospect, which adds
much to Dana’s narrative and offers a glimpse of the views and opinions
of that time and place. Scher’s The Annotated Two Years Before the Mast
takes a classic tome and repackages it with seafaring terms defined and
historical references in place, thereby transforming it into a gripping
tale for any avid sailor, history buff, or literary aficionado to
enjoy.
E. Michael Jackson
Rod
Scher has done it again, this time with his brilliant annotation . . . .
Scher’s annotation reopened this classic for me. This is a careful and
thoughtful work, never dry and often with a subtle twist of humor, yet
always sensitive to Dana’s themes. Reading this annotation brings young
Dana’s chronicle into sharp, poignant relief in an almost new and very
exciting way.
Congratulations, Rod!
ReplyDeleteNice!
ReplyDeleteSo happy for him, and proud of him!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, friends. I'll pass your comments on to Rod.
ReplyDeleteTom's folks give us a subscription to a magazine called The Week, and in the Feb 21 edition's book section Diane Johnson, the writer, offers her 'Best books.' One is Two Years Before the Mast! Though she doesn't specifically mention the annotated edition, she does say this:
ReplyDelete"In 1834, 'after somewhat varied and troublous school days' at Harvard, the 19-year-old Dana set out for a voyage he hoped would cure a 'weakness of the eyes' he had contracted through measles. Perhaps I hoped that such an adventure would cure my nearsightedness as well. His journey takes him to exotic shores I longed to visit."
I went to the website for the magazine and saw the article by Diane Johnson. How cool, Nan! Thanks for bringing this to my attention! Time to read this great book! :)
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