Michael Malone (1)Critiques

I read this book years ago but I remember loving it. It's a bit of a slow start but as the mystery unravels it definitely wrapped me in.

Novels set at Christmas are often sweet, the equivalent of Hallmark movies. This isn't always a bad thing (a much loved member of my own family adores these movies) but sometimes you crave a little more substance in your stories. Michael Malone's The Last Noel has that substance mixed with some lovely heartwarming moments and some tear jerking moments as well.

Noni Tilden, the wealthy, white daughter of a banking family in a small Southern town was born on Christmas Eve. Kaye King, the poor, black grandson of the Tilden's long-time maid, Aunt Ma, was born early the next morning on Christmas Day. In 1963, the Christmas when Noni and Kaye are seven, Kaye climbs through her window in the middle of the night and urges her to come outside to play in the snow with him on the sled that's waiting for her under the Christmas tree. And so begins a life-long relationship which sees Noni and Kaye's lives intertwine in ways both expected and unexpected.

The story of Noni and Kaye spans forty years, twelve Christmases, and an immeasurable distance of the heart. Despite their clear differences, their initial bonding over the snow and the sled binds them together no matter all of the changes in their lives and in the world as a whole. Once close, their lives will diverge as Noni marries and sacrifices her earlier dreams and as Kaye joins the Black Power Movement before going on to become a respected doctor. The story is both epic, touching national, historical, and political events of note, and personal, showing the effect of those events on individual people and families, in its scope. Checking in on the dramas, joys, and tragedies of family life on occasional Christmases over the years, the story of Noni and Kaye's interconnectedness and their deep abiding love for each other, by turns innocent, troubled, remote, supportive, heartbreaking, and heart warming all, is a fitting tale for the holidays. The South of the story is a mild evocation, a fairly genteel South, and its ills are acknowledged and confronted but mostly easily addressed. But the framework of reality is there nonetheless. Not your usual holiday read, this is a good one for readers interested in a seasonally appropriate story that isn't sentimental and over the top twee. Well written and epic in scope, this is Noni and Kaye's story but also a tale of the US writ small.

The very touching story between a boy and a girl that span's about 35 years. They meet when the grandson of the maid of the girl's family climbs up to the bedroom window of the girl and gets the girl to come outside to play because it is snowing outside.½

A crazy journey with crazy characters disrupts our orderly protagonist's lot. A favorite.

Reading his Justin & Cuddy novels is like eating buttered popcorn.

Michael Malone, Heroes of Eros : Male Sexuality in the Movies, New York, Dutton, 1979, First Printing. Paper covers with sepia portraits on the front and color portrait of Robert Redford on the back, 4to (27 cm), x, 182 pp, bw photos throughout. "Malone shows how the masculine erotic image has changed through the years—from such 'good guy' romantic heroes as Douglas Fairbanks, to the tough sweetness of Bogart and Gable, to rebels like James Dean and Elvis Presley, to such brooding contemporary heroes as Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. ... a true feast for movie lovers —and for lovers of men."

Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone made up for BNs less than stellar freebies by being the free book of the week last week. It was the story of Annie, the daughter of a con man and her life from when he left her at her Aunt Sam’s at the age of 7 to when he summons her back into his life when she’s 26. The story wasn’t very fast paced and there were quite a few flashbacks and alternating points of view, but it never got confusing or slow. The book was well paced and the story was very well told. All in all a very good and pleasant read.

Other than the tease in the title, this is a great mystery. One is tempted to forgive the slowness with which the brain trust finally turned the investigation on to the right course because of he very many twists, often red herring types, that arouse interest and then dry up. The moral resurrection of the principle character is a little too pat but one that brings satisfaction to the reader. I'm going to read more of Mr. Malone's works.

Meet Theo Ryan, the product of the union between a famous actor and a famous singer. Despite his parents's lime lights, all Ryan wants to do is quietly teach Renaissance drama at a North Carolina university and write in his spare time. All that goes out the window when he agrees to write the authorized biography for Joshua "Ford" Rexford, an insanely popular playwright, womanizer and drunk. Nothing about Theo Ryan's life will ever be the same after Rexford infiltrates his quiet existence. Suddenly, Theo is an actor, a singer, and he's about to unleash his own work of art on the world, a fantastic play he's kept private for years...

Among the very best books I've ever read. Genuinely funny and genuinely touching, with plenty of depth but very little pretension. I simply can't oversell it.

just ok. Not a fan of short stories anyway, but reminds me of the old Earl Gardiner books. Not my cup of tea.

Plain and simple, -Time’s Witness- is a romance. Not a bodice ripper romance, more of a politico-smalltown ripper. A liberal southern (cast against type) police chief plays more than footsie with the soon-to-be governor’s wife; his head detective has reeled in an ex-firebrand red, helping her become a comfortable middle class state legislator (but fighting for leftie causes); one cop courts another and they do the baby first marriage; and the next door neighbor has the woohoos for the police chief whenever possible. That’s a romance, even though the book’s first half plays with being a police procedural and the second, a courtroom drama
The supporting cast: racism, Klan, militias, the power elite, politics, and blacks in North Carolina. The stereotypes: the Jewish smart lawyer, the ambitious prosecutor, the black pimp, the killer on death row trying for a last minute reprieve, the schoolboy-looking priest. But even with all this, the book moves along smartly through its 500 plus pages. You can see why Malone was such a hit writing soap operas. This could be one hot miniseries.

A well-written description of tensions between the upper-class North Carolinians (horses, Latin classics, civility, UNC, top-dog sanatoriums for alcoholics, politics, money) and the working stiffs (and stiffettes) who slugged thru their lives in the textile mills that made the green stuff. Black workers are given a nod, but stay in the Southern background (not as bad as in Mayberry which was right down the hiway.)
One detective from each class. One kiss-butt Chief of Police hindering the investigation (as always). One old-school mill owner, one new MBA off-shoring exec. A bit of hokey pokey (upper class), love interest (mixed class) and skanky goings on (lowest class). (If this sounds like a romance-remember Malone was a Soap Opera writer for many years.) Some hocus pocus too with a vision-seeing family castoff throwing things off track. And some murders.
Nice read.

I liked the characters, and the directions the plot took were always interesting and unexpected. However, the book as a whole was one of those predictable books that have a female main character who has been unlucky in love and embarks on an "adventure" and through the adventure meets the love of her life.

I much admire genuinely humorous writing--those books that make you laugh out loud with a clear-eyed yet affectionate look at "the way we are." This book has that. I think it suffers a little toward the end when it becomes plot-driven rather than character-driven (and some of the characters become less believable because of that), but there is some fine writing here, expertly drawn characters, and even some profound musings. My recommendation for a summer vacation: ahead and visit Dingley Falls.

Bittersweet. I cried through the last two chapters.

The book would be what I call a cozy mystery. It had interesting characters with intricate relationships. The premise of the mystery was a good one.

I think the book was well written but a bit slow for my taste.

This is a terrific book. The characters are real people. With the story spanning such a long period of time, you really get to know them. The story is very well written. Its not overly dramatic or sappy. You just want to keep reading.

Being about the same age as the main characters, I really enjoyed the references to social changes going on around them.

Four Corners of BORING!!

Took me forever to read. I am normally a voracious reader and this book was plain torture to get through. I considered placing it aside but I am one that has to finish something I've started, afraid I would miss something great. Well, I can tell you THIS; I missed nothing and I can't believe I wasted so much time with this story, one that should've been told in a short novella because it lacked interest for anything over 120 pages. The whole time, all I could think was GET ON WITH IT ALREADY!!! And, don't even get me started on the goofy cliches.
Lieutenant Annie P. Goode is a top gun pilot in the U.S. Navy. She drives a Porsche. She breaks records (and the hometown band honors her with a little diddy to the tune of "Johnny Be Good"). When she takes flight, air-traffic control tower clears her for takeoff with, "And you're Goode to go!!" Somebody shoot me!!! And then, to insult women everywhere, the author thought up a fat sidekick friend for Annie. Annie, of course, had men tripping all over her but the overweight, RICH, doctor friend, who was apparently unworthy of a love life because of her weight, must constantly be a goofy joke. Poor, unloved Georgette!! Really? Yes! Was a tedious read for me. The plot line is ridiculous and I rather hate myself for reading this. So many wasted nights when I could've been reading, Oh! I don't know, ANYTHING ELSE!!! Sorry, this was just Four Corners to many for me!

I tried this book but it seemed pretentious and uninteresting, and I could not make myself go past the first 50 pages. It's a novel about a contentious English faculty in a small private college, but I can't tell you much more than that.

The murder of his uncle’s wife, in what seems at first to be a random robbery, prompts police lieutenant Justin Savile to dredge up long-buried secrets that threaten his very old family and the monied elite that rule the small town where he lives.

I am proud of my Southern heritage, and I usually enjoy Southern fiction, in small doses. Too much, and I find it cloying, like overly sweetened tea. At first, I was afraid that was what Uncivil Seasons would be, as the Southern accents are so thick they almost drip from the page. Justin Savile lives in a small North Carolina town called Hillston, modeled no doubt on the town where both I and Michael Malone live. The town is peopled with all the types of Southern fiction, the old, wealthy families who rule the town, and the poor white trash raise hell on the wrong sides of the tracks. There are also a few eccentric characters: the homeless woman who spouts religious prophecies in the streets and the black music store owner with a great sense of style and a side business fencing stolen goods. And Justin’s partner Cuddy Mangum, who cannot shut up and comes off at first like a younger, wittier Barney Fife.

But there is an unexpected depth to this story and a surprising humanness to these characters. As Justin digs deeper into the case, and as we learn more about him and the people around him, the novel becomes elevated above a mere cozy Southern mystery. Through the investigation, Justin comments on small-town life and politics, his failure to live up to what his family expected of him, and his struggles to figure out the kind of life he really wants to build. At the same time, the people in his life reveal themselves not as stereotypes, but as full-fledged, interesting human beings. Malone invites us to embrace the caricatures, and then to look beyond them for the truth.

I was surprised to realize this book was published in the 1980s (although I should have realized it from the characters’ references to the Vietnam War). The story feels fresh and current. It was a pleasant discovery for me, and I will probably look for more of Michael Malone’s books.

This is a fantastic read. It combines a slow, unhurried southern style with passages of pure lyrical poetry that make me pause and re-read, pause again and contemplate how Malone came up with the imagery and why I can’t ever think of such cool metaphors. And all this superb writing in a whodunit murder mystery with two police detectives as the main characters. Justin and Cuddy are the high points of the book, each sharply drawn and given equal time, but the ancillary characters are also well developed, with quirks and eccentricities that keep the story moving. The book is overly long, but that is a minor quibble when I am immersed in Malone’s world. Read this book.

Very interesting if a little long and at times repetitive. I like the way he used the sky metaphor throughout, and the characters were compelling.

When I started Handling Sin, I was afraid I wouldn't make it through. But it grew on me, the absurdity that chafed at first becoming endearing by the end.

Engrossing read if you're interested in flying. Intriguing plot twist around a Cuban religious relic but it could have been shorter.