Random Walk

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Cover art for the first edition, which Block has described as "lame" and "science-fictiony".(sic) Random Walk (Lawrence Block novel - cover art).jpg
Cover art for the first edition, which Block has described as "lame" and "science-fictiony".(sic)

Random Walk is a 1988 novel by Lawrence Block. It was first published by Tor Books.

Lawrence Block is an American crime writer best known for two long-running New York–set series about the recovering alcoholic P.I. Matthew Scudder and the gentleman burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr. Block was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America in 1994.

Tor Books book publisher of the United States

Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and publishes the online science fiction magazine Tor.com.

Contents

Synopsis

One day, Guthrie Wagner hears a voice telling him to abandon his life and go for a walk. He does so, and is soon joined by other similarly-inspired "walkers", who all begin to develop superpowers and experience miracles.

Reception

Critical reception of Random Walk was poor. Publishers Weekly considered it a "tiresome journey" for anyone not interested in New Age philosophy, with "no surprises", and stated that Block should have "channeled his positive energy elsewhere". [2] Kirkus Reviews declared it to be "naive, preachy, and dull", and "psychospiritual babble", with the only suspense being several vignettes about a serial killer who eventually joins the walkers. [3] At the New York Times , Marilyn Stasio similarly felt that the text was improved by the serial killer, whose presence she found reminiscent of Block's earlier works, but ultimately judged the conclusion as "too elusive to sustain the narrative". [4] AudioFile , reviewing the 2003 audiobook version, was even blunter, calling the book "truly dopey", with "mawkishness (of) insufferable proportions". [5]

<i>Publishers Weekly</i> English Publishers magazine

Publishers Weekly (PW) is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of Book Publishing and Bookselling". With 51 issues a year, the emphasis today is on book reviews.

New Age spiritual or religious beliefs and practices that developed in Western nations during the 1970s

New Age is a term applied to a range of spiritual or religious beliefs and practices that developed in Western nations during the 1970s. Precise scholarly definitions of the New Age differ in their emphasis, largely as a result of its highly eclectic structure. Although analytically often considered to be religious, those involved in it typically prefer the designation of spiritual or Mind, Body, Spirit and rarely use the term "New Age" themselves. Many scholars of the subject refer to it as the New Age movement, although others contest this term and suggest that it is better seen as a milieu or zeitgeist.

<i>Kirkus Reviews</i> American semi-monthly book review magazine founded by Virginia Kirkus in 1933, independent to 1970

Kirkus Reviews is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City.

Origins

Block has described the writing of Random Walk as "the most extraordinary writing experience (he) ever had": one day in 1987, he thought of the central image of a man literally walking away from his life, and found it interesting; he then thought about it in greater detail for three days while driving from his Florida home to the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. There, he wrote the entire novel without even having made an outline, "twenty pages a day for three weeks and a day". [1]

Virginia Center for the Creative Arts

The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA) is an art colony in Amherst, Virginia, USA. Since 1971, VCCA has offered residencies of two weeks to two months for international artists, writers, and composers at its working retreat in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. VCCA is among the nation's largest artist residency programs, and since 2004, has also offered workshops and retreats at its studio center in Southwest France, Le Moulin à Nef.

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References

  1. 1 2 A Random Walk in 1987…, by Lawrence Block, at LawrenceBlock.com; published November 21, 2017; retrieved November 22, 2017
  2. Random Walk: A Novel for a New Age, reviewed at Publishers Weekly ; published October 1, 1988; retrieved November 22, 2017
  3. Random Walk, by Lawrence Block, reviewed at Kirkus Reviews ; published September 15, 1988; archived online March 20, 2012; retrieved November 22, 2017
  4. CRIME, by Marilyn Stasio, in the New York Times ; published October 30, 1988; retrieved November 22, 2017
  5. Random Walk, by Lawrence Block, read by Norman Dietz, reviewed at AudioFile ; April/May 2003 issue; retrieved November 22, 2017