{"product_id":"the-greening-of-ben-brown-isbn-9780971691582","title":"The Greening of Ben Brown","description":"Michael Strelow weaves the story of a town and its mysteries in his debut novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Greening of Ben Brown,\u003c\/i\u003e an Oregon Book Award Finalist for fiction 2005. Ben Brown, the protagonist, becomes a citizen of East Leven, Oregon, after he recovers from an electrocution that has not left him dead but has turned him green. He befriends 18 year-old Andrew James and together they unearth a chemical spill cover-up that forces the town to confront its demons and its citizens to choose sides. Strelow's lyrical prose and his talent for storytelling come together in this poetic and important first work that looks at how a town and the natural environment are inextricably linked. \u003ci\u003eThe Greening of Ben Brown\u003c\/i\u003e will find itself in good company on the shelves between \u003ci\u003eWinesburg, Ohio\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eTo Kill a Mockingbird\u003c\/i\u003e and readers of both will have a new story to cherish.\"The greening of ben brown is an intriguing debut novel.\" —\u003ci\u003eSeattle Post-Intelligencer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An english teacher at willamette university, Strelow resonates as both poet and storyteller. In creating inhabitants of a town, its central figure and a strong sense of place, he lays on description lavishly, almost breathlessly, in both broad and detailed strokes. The author lovingly invokes a particular brand of Pacific Northwest magic realism, a blend of fable, social realism, wry wisdom and irreverence that brings to mind Ken Kesey, Tom Robbins and the best elements of a low-key mystery.\" —\u003ci\u003eThe Oregonian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Strelow’s powerful descriptive language in \u003ci\u003eThe Greening of Ben Brown\u003c\/i\u003e proves beyond a doubt that he is an author to watch in the future.\" —\u003ci\u003eJackson Free Press\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"The greening of ben brown is about communities, physical and emotional. It is a tale of wonders and everyday things. This is a wise book. While it might seem to be intrinsically about the Northwest, it is about universal things. Not many novels mean as much, entertain as much and stimulate as much as \u003ci\u003eThe Greening of Ben Brown\u003c\/i\u003e.\" —\u003ci\u003eStatesman Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Debut novelist Michael Strelow’s prose is wonderfully descriptive, especially in describing the natural characteristics of East Leven, and clearly demonstrates his affection for the state he’s called home for more than thirty years.\" —\u003ci\u003eThe Absinthe Literary Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Michael Strelow has given Northwest readers an amazing fable for our time and place featuring Ben Brown, a utility lineman who transforms into the Green Man following an industrial accident. Eco-Hero and prophet, the Green Man heads a cast of wonderful and zany characters who fixate over sundry items from filberts to hubcaps. A timely raid on a company producing heavy metals galvanizes Strelow’s mythical East Leven as much as the Boston Tea Party rallied Boston. Fascinating, humorous, and wise, \u003ci\u003eThe Greening of Ben Brown\u003c\/i\u003e deserves its place on bookshelves along with other Northwest classics.\" —Craig Lesley, author of \u003ci\u003eStorm Riders\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"If the Green Man of medieval lore appeared in Oregon—the mystic version of Strelow’s Oregon— and if the ghost of Kesey helped keep the tale irreverent but strangely tender for place, person, and our chance, then you would hold in your hands \u003ci\u003eThe Greening of Ben Brown\u003c\/i\u003e. And so you do. Let this quiet mystery take you where you need to be.\" —Kim Stafford, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Muses Among Us\u003c\/i\u003e and\u003ci\u003e Other Pleasures of the Writer’s Craft\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"With its richly cultivated and carefully tended prose, \u003ci\u003eThe Greening of Ben Brown\u003c\/i\u003e is a compelling examination of community and what it means to love the land, for, as these characters teach us, there shall never be another quite like it.\" —Gina Ochsner, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Necessary Grace to Fall\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eMICHAEL STRELOW\u003c\/b\u003e has published poetry and fiction in a variety of literary magazines including \u003ci\u003eThe Bellingham Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWillow Springs\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCutbank\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePoetry Midwest\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eKansas Quarterly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSou'wester\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHubbub\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSilverfish Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eMr. Cogito\u003c\/i\u003e and a number of anthologies. He teaches English at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and has lived in Oregon for 32 years. Find out more about Michael at michaelstrelow.com","brand":"Hawthorne Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48532202291429,"sku":"NP9780971691582","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780971691582.jpg?v=1773183044","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-greening-of-ben-brown-isbn-9780971691582","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}