Items related to The Floodmakers
With his family in turmoil and his own life in a shambles, Harry Buelle agrees to join his parents, his sister, and her husband at their Southern beach house retreat, only to find that having the whole family together under one roof gives rise to old tensions, battles, disappointments, hurt, and bitter secrets. By the author of The Deadwood Beetle.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author:
Mylene Dressler is the author of The Deadwood Beetle and The Medusa Tree.
From Publishers Weekly:
Midway through Dressler's third novel (after The Medusa Tree and The Deadwood Beetle), narrator Harry Buelle, the frustrated gay son of Dee Buelle, a famous Southern playwright, recalls his own first production, a one-act play in graduate school: the actors rely on improvisation and "a current should be palpable between them," but is not. His father derides Harry's efforts as "a waste." This flashback is a snapshot of the Buelle family dynamicsâ€"and unfortunately, it also mirrors the lack of current between the novel's key players. Harry is summoned from his home in Houston by his stepmother, Jean, to make an appearance at his father's home on the Gulf Coast, where Dee is old and ailing. Harry's younger sister, Sarah (an epileptic filmmaker), is also arriving with her husband to finish her documentary on her illustrious father. The usual tensions arise: Dee expounds upon the "life of the artist" and criticizes his children; warm and competent Jean, a former golf champion, tends uncomplainingly to his needs; and both siblings harbor long-simmering resentments. Deep family secrets are revealed (often in flashback, diluting much of their effect), and sister Sarah has one big revenge fantasy to play outâ€"but somehow, this tightly wound group never quite comes to life. The narrative moves slowly, despite the brief chapters, and the spare style makes the blowups and revelations, when they come, seem implausible. Harry is a tortured soul trying to grapple with an odd family legacy, but Dressler's fans will find little here to grapple with themselves.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherPutnam Adult
- Publication date2004
- ISBN 10 039915163X
- ISBN 13 9780399151637
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages192
- Rating
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The Floodmakers
Published by
G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York
(2004)
ISBN 10: 039915163X
ISBN 13: 9780399151637
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Signed
Quantity: 1
Seller:
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. text clean and unmarked. binding tight. boards have light wear. edges of pages have very light wear and light toning. dust jacket has very light wear. Inscribed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 5039079
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The Floodmakers
Published by
G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York
(2004)
ISBN 10: 039915163X
ISBN 13: 9780399151637
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Signed
Quantity: 1
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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. BS2 - A first edition (complete numberline) hardcover book SIGNED and inscribed by Mylene Dressler to previous owner on the title page in very good condition in very good dust jacket. Dust jacket has wrinkling and chipping on the top edges, light discoloration and shelf wear. Book has some chipping on the top cover edges, some bumped corners, light discoloration and shelf wear. 8.5"x5.75", 176 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. If every family has its drama, then the Buelles are enjoying a good, long run. Harry Buelle - the son of a famous, and famously demanding, southern playwright - awakes confused one morning in his bathtub. His stepmother phones him, complaining that his father has stopped taking his heart medicine. Harry has never heard her sound so tired, and with his own life in shambles he agrees to join his parents - and his sister Sarah and her ambitious, much younger husband - at their southern beach house retreat. At first the plan for the weekend is simply to finish the documentary Sarah has been making of their father's brilliant life and career - but their father is instead preoccupied with a wounded bird that has flown inexplicable into the house. The young filmmakers have brough a hefty supply of emotional ammunition along with their blank tape, and soon all the good-natured familial ribbing leads to uncomfortable sparring, goading, and manipulation - rubbing raw old wounds and tearing away at long-held, secret compromises. Mylène Dressler's previous novel, The Deadwood Beetle, was heralded as "haunting, demanding, and perfect," by The Christina Science Monitor, and as "splendid" by The New York Times. Now, with that same sense of poetry and precision, The Floodmakers delivers a unique, almost theatrical narrative - yet never once sacrifices the humor or humanity of its characters. Reminiscent of the plays of Tennessee Williams, The Floodmakers is the penetrating observation of a family struggling for survival in close quarters and of the dizzying tensions that boil beneath the surface. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Signed by Author. Seller Inventory # SW704BB
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The Floodmakers
Published by
G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York
(2004)
ISBN 10: 039915163X
ISBN 13: 9780399151637
Used
Hardcover
First Edition
Signed
Quantity: 1
Seller:
Rating
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. CV6 - A first edition (complete numberline) hardcover book SIGNED by Mylene Dressler on the title page in very good condition in very good dust jacket that is mylar protected. Dust jacket and book have some bumped corners, light discoloration and shelf wear. 8.5"x5.75", 176 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. If every family has its drama, then the Buelles are enjoying a good, long run. Harry Buelle - the son of a famous, and famously demanding, southern playwright - awakes confused one morning in his bathtub. His stepmother phones him, complaining that his father has stopped taking his heart medicine. Harry has never heard her sound so tired, and with his own life in shambles he agrees to join his parents - and his sister Sarah and her ambitious, much younger husband - at their southern beach house retreat. At first the plan for the weekend is simply to finish the documentary Sarah has been making of their father's brilliant life and career - but their father is instead preoccupied with a wounded bird that has flown inexplicable into the house. The young filmmakers have brough a hefty supply of emotional ammunition along with their blank tape, and soon all the good-natured familial ribbing leads to uncomfortable sparring, goading, and manipulation - rubbing raw old wounds and tearing away at long-held, secret compromises. Mylène Dressler's previous novel, The Deadwood Beetle, was heralded as "haunting, demanding, and perfect," by The Christina Science Monitor, and as "splendid" by The New York Times. Now, with that same sense of poetry and precision, The Floodmakers delivers a unique, almost theatrical narrative - yet never once sacrifices the humor or humanity of its characters. Reminiscent of the plays of Tennessee Williams, The Floodmakers is the penetrating observation of a family struggling for survival in close quarters and of the dizzying tensions that boil beneath the surface. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Signed by Author. Seller Inventory # EC32097BB
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The Floodmakers
Published by
G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York
(2004)
ISBN 10: 039915163X
ISBN 13: 9780399151637
Used
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Signed
Quantity: 1
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. CI3 - An uncorrected proof paperback book SIGNED by Mylene Dressler on the title page in very good condition that has some bumped corners, some scattered light stains, light discoloration and shelf wear. 8.25"x5.25", 176 pages. Satisfaction Guaranteed. If every family has its drama, then the Buelles are enjoying a good, long run. Harry Buelle - the son of a famous, and famously demanding, southern playwright - awakes confused one morning in his bathtub. His stepmother phones him, complaining that his father has stopped taking his heart medicine. Harry has never heard her sound so tired, and with his own life in shambles he agrees to join his parents - and his sister Sarah and her ambitious, much younger husband - at their southern beach house retreat. At first the plan for the weekend is simply to finish the documentary Sarah has been making of their father's brilliant life and career - but their father is instead preoccupied with a wounded bird that has flown inexplicable into the house. The young filmmakers have brough a hefty supply of emotional ammunition along with their blank tape, and soon all the good-natured familial ribbing leads to uncomfortable sparring, goading, and manipulation - rubbing raw old wounds and tearing away at long-held, secret compromises. Mylène Dressler's previous novel, The Deadwood Beetle, was heralded as "haunting, demanding, and perfect," by The Christina Science Monitor, and as "splendid" by The New York Times. Now, with that same sense of poetry and precision, The Floodmakers delivers a unique, almost theatrical narrative - yet never once sacrifices the humor or humanity of its characters. Reminiscent of the plays of Tennessee Williams, The Floodmakers is the penetrating observation of a family struggling for survival in close quarters and of the dizzying tensions that boil beneath the surface. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Signed by Author. Advance Reading Copy (ARC). Seller Inventory # EC41400BB
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The Floodmakers
Published by
Putnam Adult
(2004)
ISBN 10: 039915163X
ISBN 13: 9780399151637
Used
Hardcover
Quantity: 1
Seller:
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Book Description Hard cover wit. Condition: Used: Acceptable. Prompt shipment, with tracking. we ship in CLEAN SECURE BOXES NEW BOXES Contemporary Fiction; acceptable hardcover with dustjacket; remainder mark bottom edge; slight bend front board; dustjacket creases, tips/edges bumped, slight signs of wear; clean pages; prompt shipping with tracking. Seller Inventory # Ware926NP029
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