Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
Vernon, John
by A Book of Reasons
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- See description
- ISBN 10
- 0395944775
- ISBN 13
- 9780395944776
- Seller
-
San Francisco, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Boston. 1999. September 1999. Houghton Mifflin. 1st Edition. Very Good in Dustjacket. 0395944775. 272 pages. hardcover. Jacket design by Michaela Sullivan. keywords: Literature America Autobiography. FROM THE PUBLISHER - Every family has its odd character, the one member who never seems right with the world. In his pairing of family history with the history of civilization, John Vernon discovers the extraordinary sources of ordinary things in the life of his reclusive brother, Paul. When Paul died and John was charged with settling his affairs, he came face to face with a life he had never suspected. His brother's house in southern New Hampshire was in a state of squalid disrepair: piled high with a lifetime of trash, unheated and decrepit, pitifully unlivable. An assembly worker and an amateur inventor, Paul had managed to keep his sad and strange world hidden from his family and acquaintances. Why does a childhood full of promise turn wrong? Why do we clutter our lives with things? How do we make and understand our world? Vernon seeks answers in the most unexpected places. Buying a hammer at Wal-Mart inspires a short history of tools, Paul's wake occasions an investigation of embalming, and cleaning out his house gives rise to a history of central heating and of domesticating environments - all in an attempt to comprehend a life that left behind not splendid monuments but ordinary wreckage.' The result is a book of reasons: reasons for his brother's way of life, reasons for his own response to Paul's death. In the process, he discovers how reasons enable all of us not only to better understand the world and its mysteries but also to accept what can never be explained. inventory #26998 ISBN: 0395944775.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Zeno's (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 26998
- Title
- Vernon, John
- Author
- A Book of Reasons
- Book Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 0395944775
- ISBN 13
- 9780395944776
- Publisher
- Houghton Mifflin
- Place of Publication
- Boston
- This edition first published
- 1999
Terms of Sale
Zeno's
All items subject to prior sale. Payment in U.S. dollars must accompany order. Payment methods accepted- Paypal or check. Any item may be returned for whatever reason within 10 days of receipt. California residents add 9.5 % sales tax. California dealers please include resale card and number in lieu of tax.
About the Seller
Zeno's
Biblio member since 2004
San Francisco, California
About Zeno's
Zenosbooks.com is a secondhand and out-of-print Internet bookstore. While our stock is general, we specialize in Literature, Mysteries, Latin American Literature, African-American interest, and Translated Literature.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes: