The Gift

by Patrick O'Leary

Book Overview

The Gift is an exploration of the art of storytelling, a coming-of-age tale in a place and time when magic is not the ring to be grabbed but the poison to be shunned. This Gift is one that will be opened, read, and treasured for a long time to come.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312864035
• ISBN13: 9780312864033
• Release Date: August 1998
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

a story to keep you up late, unable to stop

This is the first novel I have read by this author but will not be the last. It seems some of the negative reviews came from readers who took the structure of the story too seriously. The book is a brilliant meditation on the joys, pains, power, and responsibility of storytelling in all its forms. Whether it serves to strengthen a bond between friends, help a listener to understand and forgive, to expand the listener's breadth of experience, or to indict the guilty for secret crimes; storytelling is a part of what makes us human as well as an effective means of communication. I read this book over two nights and in the days after became so aware of how often in conversation we are telling tales- not meaning that people are being dishonest- just that people paint a picture of "what really happened" based on what they feel is the message of the story. And it is in telling our own particular and unique stories that others come to know us. I loved the characters, the story, the stories-within-the-story, and yes, the ending. I can see how one would think it contrived or too neat, but I felt as if O'Leary meant it that way as a perfectly fitting lid to this decorative box filled only with more boxes.

Enchanting fantasy

I was drawn to Patrick O'Leary's second novel by Tom Canty's always wonderful cover art. I brought it home from the bookstore and thought I'd read a chapter or two. The Gift drew me in and before I knew it, it was nearing 2 am and I had read it all the way through.The Gift is one of those novels that you cannot put down. O'Leary paints a picture every bit as vivid as that on the cover. Writing as emotionally evocative as O'Leary's has in my experience been almost entirely the domain of women authors.I have already read this book twice in less than a year and I know I'll read it again and again.

The story teller of all story tellers

How delightful to find a book that surprised and pulled me into another world and reality! I had come to believe that I had grown too old and had lost the ability to exercise this pleasure. I am greatful that I did not discover Patrick O'Leary until now and only wish there were more like him.

The Storyteller meets Stephen King on Fantasy fareground

This is probably the oddest book there is in this genre. Oleary is a new uprising writer, who has a real talent in storytelling. Now, SciFi Fantasy is one thing, but what this guy's doing is a whole lot of a different art. And you'll love every minute of it. This story is actually an excuse for Oleary to do his best - Storytell. The layout is some kind of an Earth-like world, only technologically retarded. It tells the story of the ancient Wind Wizards, who crashed to the planet, and made it their own; it tells the tale of a young deaf King, Simon, who's healed by the dark Usher of the Night, only to become a Sentinel. He then starts on an adventure with only one thing set on his mind - Revenge; it tells the story of a little orphan, Tim, who's destined to more then he's ready to bargain for; it tells the sad story of a lost species of magic, the Watermen, who are at the point of extinction. Science-fiction, Fantasy and Story-telling meet in an exquisite mixture of high-tense adventures, humor, bizzare and night-marish sequences of the S.King kind. If any, this book's worth the reading. You'll LOVE it - every one of its 287 pages.

A wonderful and magical adventure!

I found this book as enjoyable as Door Number Three. It is a fairy tale, with modern overtones, rich in description, and almost surrealistic. This book is more than a fantasy novel; it is a work of literature, beautiful and fearsome. I eagerly await any forthcoming books by Mr. O'Leary.