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Slippy McGee
Slippy McGee
Sometimes Known as the Butterfly Man
The story of a safecracker, a priest, and a small town in South Carolina.
Book Excerpt
to cut me off yet more completely from all ties, as if to render my decision irrevocable, it was permitted of Providence that the wheel of my fortune should take one last revolution. Henri Dupuis of the banking house which bore his name shot himself through the head one fine morning, and as he had been my guardian and was still the executor of my father's estate, the whole De Rancé fortune went down with him. All of it. Even the old house went, the old house which had sheltered so many of the name these two hundred years. If I could have grieved for anything it would have been that. Nothing was left except the modest private fortune long since secured to my mother by my father's affection. It had been a bridal gift, intended to cover her personal expenses, her charities, and her pretty whims. Now it was to stand between her and want.
Stripped all but bare, and with one servant left of all our staff, we turned our backs upon our old life, our old home, and faced the world anew, in a strange plac
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A "modern" redemption story about a New York safe cracker who finds love, himself, and a worthy profession in the small town of Appleboro, South Carolina.
As usual, Oemler's literary skills are absolutely superb. The writing and descriptions are ingenuous. However, there are times when the books seems a little drawn out; especially when it delves into descriptions of botany and lepidopterology.
Nevertheless, it's a good book; particularly for those who have an appreciation for this kind of literary genre.
A recommended read.
As usual, Oemler's literary skills are absolutely superb. The writing and descriptions are ingenuous. However, there are times when the books seems a little drawn out; especially when it delves into descriptions of botany and lepidopterology.
Nevertheless, it's a good book; particularly for those who have an appreciation for this kind of literary genre.
A recommended read.
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A compelling novel about the redemption of a man, full of color likable characters. Slippy McGee, New York cracksman, falls off a train in a small Southern town, losing his leg. As the local priest nurses him back to health, he becomes immersed in the father's hobby of butterfly collecting.
Despite some long, dull, ruminating passages and rather too much religious fervor, the transformation of crook into naturalist proves as fascinating as that of caterpillar to butterfly.
Despite some long, dull, ruminating passages and rather too much religious fervor, the transformation of crook into naturalist proves as fascinating as that of caterpillar to butterfly.
05/15/2010
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