Bücher von Ed Davis

" . . . powerful; beautifully written, well-observed and effective." --Kirkus ReviewIn 1970, a seventeen-year-old trainee enters the psychiatric technician training program at Sonoma State Hospital. Having volunteered there as a high school student, he feels fairly well prepared and presumes that conditions like those in Jack London's 1914 short story about the place, "Told in the Drooling Ward" are a thing of the past. He soon discovers that what really happens behind the closed doors of the institution has not changed much since London's time, certainly not for the better.Taught the "necessary" skill of how to choke out a patient on his first day, and told with a shrug that sometimes when patients run away to the nearby hills, they're never found, the young trainee is thrust into a world of austere realities that most adults would balk at entering.Based on author Ed Davis's real-life experiences, In All Things is an honest reflection of a pivotal time in his life, as well as a compelling social commentary on how mental institutions were run in the 1970s. Told as a fictionalized, first-person narrative and expressed with stirring compassion, his story is an open door into a dark part of our history that will stay with you long after you read the last page.

"His writing shines in descriptive passages, showing his love of travel and landscapes . . ." --Publishers Weekly In 1972, Ed Davis, like many in his generation, felt the call of the road. Unlike most, Davis rode freight trains. He caught rides on-the-fly, slept in hobo jungles and dodged railroad security across the Pacific Northwest and Canada. And like Jack Kerouac and Jack London before him, Davis wrote about what he saw. For the next four decades, whether catching freights, trekking the Sierras, visiting an old friend in prison or attending a presidential inauguration, Davis took to the road whenever possible. Written in freight cars and truck stops, hotel lobbies and high mountain camps, Road Stories will take you places you've never been. Join Davis working in an African hospital in a country on the verge of collapse. Spend a week exploring the remote paths of the Peruvian Andes. With a keen eye, he describes the seemingly mundane details of bus travel, and the feel of the warm prairie breeze blowing through an open car window at night. Davis's travel tales resonate with readers because, as he says in the Forward, "We spend our lives on the road." Told with honesty and humor, Road Stories makes you want to hop a fast freight for parts unknown. Just watch out for the railroad bulls.

In the very near future . . .a progressive struggles against a newly elected totalitarian regime in America - at tremendous personal cost. While the country moves to the far right and sacrifices freedom for security, a small cadre of "old slow guys" in a bucolic Northern California town peacefully take over their local government to see their visions of peace, tolerance, and harmony become the law of their small land.But even as their cherished principles blossom in the village, dark clouds of oppression gather over their beloved nation. Their leader soon finds himself sentenced to die for a televised accident.His gripping last 24 hours is conveyed in his own voice - one rich with suspense, reflection, incisive wit and lush narrative. Beliefs are tested and honor challenged while the minutes inexorably tick away to the final decision, reducing his life to A MATTER OF TIME.

"A well crafted fictional account of a real life situation too common in the USA, the prospect of losing a small town''s ambiance along with its farm lands. Tied to the land and each other in complex ways, the characters are Ohio angels with halos slightly askew. The truth of this story made my heart sing." Phyllis Wilson Moore, Independent Researcher, West Virginia Literature, Clarksburg, WV"A story of two men and a village who find their heart''s desire - and their family roots - in their own backyard. The characters are original fiction, but the fight to save the farm is real. And the fight continues, every day, all across the nation."Krista Magaw, Executive Director, Tecumseh Land Trust, Yellow Springs, Ohio