Add this copy of The Given Day (Coughlin, Book 1) to cart. $1.25, fair condition, Sold by Once Upon A Time Books rated 3.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Tontitown, AR, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by William Morrow Paperbacks.
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Fair. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket. This is a used book. It may contain highlighting/underlining and/or the book may show heavier signs of wear. It may also be ex-library or without dustjacket.
Add this copy of The Given Day: a Novel to cart. $1.26, very good condition, Sold by More Than Words rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Waltham, MA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by William Morrow & Company.
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Very Good. . All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofit job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.
Add this copy of The Given Day: a Novel to cart. $1.26, good condition, Sold by More Than Words rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Waltham, MA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by William Morrow & Company.
Add this copy of The Given Day: a Novel to cart. $1.26, fair condition, Sold by More Than Words rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Waltham, MA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by William Morrow & Company.
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Acceptable. . All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofit job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.
Add this copy of The Given Day (Coughlin, Book 1) to cart. $1.72, good condition, Sold by Orion Tech rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Arlington, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by William Morrow Paperbacks.
Add this copy of The Given Day (Coughlin, Book 1) to cart. $1.72, fair condition, Sold by Your Online Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Houston, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by William Morrow Paperbacks.
Add this copy of The Given Day (Coughlin, Book 1) to cart. $1.72, good condition, Sold by Gulf Coast Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Memphis, TN, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by William Morrow Paperbacks.
Add this copy of The Given Day to cart. $1.99, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by HarperCollins Publishers.
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Very good. A copy that has been read, but remains in excellent condition. Pages are intact and are not marred by notes or highlighting, but may contain a neat previous owner name. The spine remains undamaged. An ex-library book and may have standard library stamps and/or stickers. At ThriftBooks, our motto is: Read More, Spend Less.
Add this copy of The Given Day: a Novel to cart. $2.26, very good condition, Sold by More Than Words rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Waltham, MA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by William Morrow & Company.
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Very Good. All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofit job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.
Add this copy of The Given Day (Coughlin, Book 1) to cart. $2.62, very good condition, Sold by HPB Inc. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by William Morrow Paperbacks.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
SAATISFACTORY-YOU HAVE TO LIKE LEHANE--THIS MAY NOT PLEASE EVERYONE.
jrwaw
May 6, 2010
Terrific Read
Dramatic historical fiction using the Boston Police riots which involve all the characters, most of whom are members of an Irish family with a tradition of public service.
Well written and gripping descriptions as well as painlessly transmitted information about Boston at that time of our country's history. Maybe a little over the top at times, but immensely satisfying overall.
farsighted
May 21, 2009
earley unionization
a good story about several characters of vastly different backgrounds at the same time in history.
greebs
May 13, 2009
Gritty excellence
Dennis Lehane is a very interesting writer -- he made his mark with gritty, edgy crime novels like A Drink Before The War and Gone Baby Gone, but showed his literary chops with the phenomenal Mystic River. He also penned Shutter Island which is more of a thriller, and I believe is being made into a feature film.
But The Given Day bears little resemblance to any of those excellent books, except in the simple fact that it is incredibly good.
Set in Boston just after the first World War, The Given Day follows a few key players - Aiden "Danny" Coughlin, a Boston cop trying to make his own mark in the shadow of his father Thomas; Luther Laurence, a black ("Negro" here) amateur baseball player who is forced to run away from his past, including his pregnant wife; and, of all people, Babe Ruth. The influenza pandemic has just swept through the country and Boston is being threatened by political terrorists, all while the police force tries to organize to get a respectable wage.
If a book about unions, the development of the NAACP, Irish cops and race relations doesn't sound particularly compelling, then I haven't done a very good job writing about the book here. As the novel worms its way to the finish, the sense of foreboding, of knowing that the city is set to explode (and does) is truly gripping. The character development is such that it's hard to pull away from the book, and the conclusions feel real, unforced and satisfying.
The Given Day is a phenomenal book. As I understand it, Martin Scorcese is making it into a movie, but I'd recommend reading the book on its own long before that shows up.
Francesca
Dec 24, 2008
Yes, I would recommend it, and yes, it was very well written. There were some bald spots through which I had to push myself, and I felt that the Babe Ruth sections could sound a bit forced. But that may be because the very mention of Babe Ruth to a long term Red Sox fan is uncomfortable. Was he really that much of a slob? It's worth the journey to re-live the Boston police strike and the tensions of the era. And the characters, especially the black ones, are engaging and complex. No one is wholly good, and several are wholly bad. The villain turns out to be the social network of immigrants, wards, poverty, and social deprivation. This is how it was, and we don't want to forget.
