The View from Down Here edition by Gary Presley Literature Fiction eBooks
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A series of creative nonfiction essays, some published individually in different forms. The underlying theme is the perception of life from a wheelchair -- "the view from down here." The essays, however, do not focus on living disabled. Rather they present a point of view of a man, a writer, shaped by the circumstances of his life.
The View from Down Here edition by Gary Presley Literature Fiction eBooks
It's almost unfair to mention that Gary Presley, noted New York Times best-selling author of "Seven Wheelchairs," has, thanks to polio when he was seventeen, spent almost the last fifty years "butt-surfing through life." Almost unfair, because as this collection of memoirs attests, life in a wheelchair does not immunize you from the foibles and funny business everybody else endures."The View From Down Here" is a literary bundle of charming, gentle, often amusing and always insightful observations on the human condition. For those of you who have guiltily wolfed down a couple of slices of cold pizza for breakfast, Presley's experiment with chili and bran cereal will leave you laughing. Does it work? Well, Presley says, the bran "lost its 'surely this isn't food consistancy'." But the chili sort of lost its chiliness, leaving an unsatisfactory combination, a "gastronomic Julia Robert-meets Lyle Lovett mismatch." Like us with the pizza, he eats it anyway.
Only one vignette,entitled "A Pot to Pee In," explores his life facing ordinary daily functions like urinating that can be daunting to a man who can't stand up to pee. But even this memoir, which I admit got me a little itchy at times, is told with great good humor.
Presley and his dry-witted and delightful wife (when he offers his achilles tendon to replace her ailing one, she says "No, I need a horse's paracardium; not a horse's ass") surf through life like the rest of us, looking for a measure of happiness, and in Presley's well-written account, finding that he can be "content with the knowledge that not every act needs a reason,not every wound a bandage, not every question an answer."
Jack Shakely
president emeritus
California Community Foundation
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The View from Down Here edition by Gary Presley Literature Fiction eBooks Reviews
Gary Presley doesn't skim along the surface. He stops and weighs the world, its sights, sounds, smells, longings. Especially its longings. How the things we love and cherish never quite stand still long enough so that we might hold them forever.
This is an essential truth about life, perhaps the most essential--constant when all else falls away. Presley's gentle words call upon us to listen more, see more, enjoy more of this ineffable miracle of what it means to be alive.
After reading this wonderful book, I've promised myself I will wear more blue, romp more with the dogs, listen to more Ella, say 'I love you' more often....
Good story/autobiography, concisely told. The author neither seeks nor dispenses sympathy for the circumstances of life, while making you question them.
Simply put, this is a collection of essays about a good man trying to be better. The language is beautiful, honest and intelligent. His legs may not works so well due to the effects of polio, but his mind is sharp and his wit sharper.
My only regret is that I was able to read the book so quickly. Good thing it's on my so I can read some of these essays again and again.
Some people string words together and produce sentences. Gary Presley strings words together and produces music.
Treat yourself to this magnificent collection of ten essays, each one moving and melodic. Like me, you will make the acquaintance of sentences that will make your jaw drop in wonderment. To illustrate, here are just two excerpts
My father and I shared hazel eyes, a sardonic wit, and a love of animals. But we shared little else. No, that's wrong. I once thought we shared a sense of my shortcomings. That was before I understood a son's inadequacies and a father's failures cannot be found when a man bends down to clean stray grass and weeds away from a headstone.
There are hundreds of stalks, thousands of trumpet-shaped blossoms. And every one red, a glorious, powerful red, the red of a rooster's comb or a tomato ready to spill juice down your chin.
Ten moving, melodic essays for under a dollar. What are you waiting for?
As a member of the Internet Writing Workshop, I've read and critiqued several of these essays previously...and am awfully glad they are now available as a collection to the greater world.
Gary is gifted. He has a way with words that is admirable, a view of humanity that is all-encompassing, a wit that gentles his honest words, a willingness to share the nitty-gritty of having "butt-surfed" his way thru the world in a wheelchair for the past 50 yrs, and the enviable ability to link seemingly disparate themes into a piece of writing that can take your breath away.
Worth a lot more than $0.99, that's all I can say.
Peggy Vincent
Author Baby Cather Chronicles of a Modern Midwife
When I read Gary Presley's memoir, Seven Wheelchairs, I commented that his prose is so sparse, precise, and beautiful that I would probably read a book about paint drying if it were written by him. Fortunately this is not a collection of essays about paint! I did however, enjoy them.
Other than daily life, there's no real unifying theme behind these essays; some of the essays involve Presley's disability and others don't. I think the "down here" in the title refers more to our situation as humans, down here on earth. Regardless of what subject he's tackling, however, Presley shows us the world through a lens of keen, gentle insight.
I particularly enjoyed the essay about the joy he finds in cooking for his dogs, and the one about people's reactions in the aftermath of a destructive tornado.
If there's any criticism I have of this collection, it's that some of the essays are much more polished than others. The details at the beginning of the book state that some have been published in various places, while others have not. I suspect the "clean" essays were the ones that found publication, while the typos and less-polished prose appeared in the bits not subject to more strenuous critique. Nevertheless, this was a minor issue.
Overall, a solid, enjoyable read which is certainly worth the bit of pocket change it costs.
It's almost unfair to mention that Gary Presley, noted New York Times best-selling author of "Seven Wheelchairs," has, thanks to polio when he was seventeen, spent almost the last fifty years "butt-surfing through life." Almost unfair, because as this collection of memoirs attests, life in a wheelchair does not immunize you from the foibles and funny business everybody else endures.
"The View From Down Here" is a literary bundle of charming, gentle, often amusing and always insightful observations on the human condition. For those of you who have guiltily wolfed down a couple of slices of cold pizza for breakfast, Presley's experiment with chili and bran cereal will leave you laughing. Does it work? Well, Presley says, the bran "lost its 'surely this isn't food consistancy'." But the chili sort of lost its chiliness, leaving an unsatisfactory combination, a "gastronomic Julia Robert-meets Lyle Lovett mismatch." Like us with the pizza, he eats it anyway.
Only one vignette,entitled "A Pot to Pee In," explores his life facing ordinary daily functions like urinating that can be daunting to a man who can't stand up to pee. But even this memoir, which I admit got me a little itchy at times, is told with great good humor.
Presley and his dry-witted and delightful wife (when he offers his achilles tendon to replace her ailing one, she says "No, I need a horse's paracardium; not a horse's ass") surf through life like the rest of us, looking for a measure of happiness, and in Presley's well-written account, finding that he can be "content with the knowledge that not every act needs a reason,not every wound a bandage, not every question an answer."
Jack Shakely
president emeritus
California Community Foundation
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