Essays about the author's life in writing and music, and working as a respiratory therapist. James Sallis is the author of the widely reviewed and highly regarded Lew Griffin detective series, as well as books of jazz criticism and a new biography of Chester Himes. Gently into the Land. gives the reader an intimate view of the author's concerns-drawing meaning from tragedy, providing solace to the weak and vulnerable, gathering truth from love-and their sources. This volume will appeal to all Sallis fans. In this clear and poetic collection of personal essays, Sallis (Bluebottle, 1999, etc.) recounts the beauty and pain he has experienced as a writer and as a human being. Best known for his Lew Griffin detective novels, Sallis has a talent for conveying sadness and humor simultaneously. In a piece entitled ``Literary Life,'' he claims, ``I distinctly remember being happy for almost 5 minutes in the winter of 1976.'' Striking the same ambivalence, he continues, ``Every day I receive letters that say, You write so well, so beautifully. And every day I send letters that say, Where is my money?'' Whether describing the beans he savored directly from the can as a starving writer or remembering a few words shared with a woman in the Laundromat, Sallis is unfailingly honest, intelligent, and without pretense in his recollections. As for the human characters he describes, their brief dialogues are reminiscent of Raymond Carver's workas is Sallis's provocative minimalist style. Each piece is carefully crafted and understated, and the author roots his ideas in philosophy and an appreciation of nature. Rain, tall trees, and poetry play recurrent roles. Many of the essays are elegiac and cathartic, dedicated to individuals who have touched his lifehis first wife, his father, a young friend who suffered from cystic fibrosis, and a high school music teacher. He communes intimately with memory, with those he loves and has loved, and with his own writing, revisiting buried emotions, unresolved relationships, and unpublished works. In ``Temporary Life,'' for example, Sallis reworks painful material from a manuscript written after his wife attempted suicide: the story is a touching mix of old and new work, as a writer calls upon old feelings and the words he uses to express them. From literary and emotional standpoints, the essays are charming and memorable.-- Copyright © 2000 Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. His work indicates a mind and a talent of uncommon dimensions...He may well be one of the significant ones. -- Harlan Ellison James Sallis is one of the best writers in the United States. -- Sue Walker, editor, Negative Capability Sallis is unfailingly honest, intelligent and without pretense. From literary and emotional standpoints, the essays are charming and memorable. -- Kirkis Reviews Jim Sallis has published sixteen novels including the Lew Griffin series, The Killer Is Dying and Drive, from which the Cannes-winning film derived, plus multiple collections of stories, poems and essays, the standard biography of African-American writer Chester Himes, three books of musicology, and a translation of Raymond Queneau's novel Saint Glinglin. Jim has received a lifetime achievement award from Bouchercon, the Hammett Award for literary excellence in crime writing, and the Grand Prix de Littérature policière. Recent books include the novel Others of My Kind and Black Night's Gonna Catch Me Here: New and Selected Poems. A new novel, Willnot, is due shortly from Bloomsbury. Used Book in Good Condition
