The Ballad of Pinewood Lake

by Jory Sherman

Writing pseudo-journalistic stories about a war he’d never seen was filling Johnnie Paul’s pockets, but breaking his heart. He had dreams, and to fulfill those dreams he had to leave behind the city where he worked, and go to a place where he could write fiction, fiction from the heart. Life in Pinewood Lake gave Johnnie the chance to deal with his ill wife and become close to his young son. But all too soon Johnnie learns that the country does not change the person. Confronting the dark currents of the human mind, Johnnie comes to recognize his own inability to distinguish between the ideal and reality. And how in one tragic moment, that ideal can be destroyed.

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published February 1, 2001

About the author

Jory Sherman was born in Minnesota and grew up in West Texas, Louisiana, and Colorado. He was a magazine editor for a time and had some of his work published, including some poetry, short stories and articles. Sherman had a friend who owned a publishing company and asked him to write a novel for the company. From that offer came five more novels, all written in one year. He wrote the supernatural mystery series, "Chill," which was somewhat revolutionary for the times, but which earned him an eight book contract. He then came up with the idea for "Rivers West," a series which had each book written by a different western author. Then came the "Baron Saga," the first of which was "Grass Kingdom" which earned Sherman a nomination for the Pulitzer Prize in Letters. Sherman has also won the Spur Award for his contribution to Western Literature.

Reviews

[Gail Winfree · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Writing pseudo-journalistic stories about a war he’d never seen was filling Johnnie Paul’s pockets, but breaking his heart. He had dreams, and to fulfill those dreams he had to leave behind the city where he worked, and go to a place where he could write fiction, fiction from the heart. Life in Pinewood Lake gave Johnnie the chance to deal with his ill wife and become close to his young son. But all too soon Johnnie learns that the country does not change the person. Confronting the dark currents of the human mind, Johnnie comes to recognize his own inability to distinguish between the ideal and reality. And how in one tragic moment, that ideal can be destroyed.” –From the book cover

“The Ballad of Pinewood Lake” is a beautifully written story. Sherman is a very prolific writer who has written hundreds of novels, mostly westerns, and has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. He was friends with Charles Bukowski and a member of the Beat Generation of writers. Strangely, though, not many people have heard of him. That’s too bad, for if his other works are as good as this one, he deserves to be read.

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. 2 stars for the beautiful writting. 1/2 star for the discombobulated story itself.

[Kevin Larose · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book at all. The prosse was very dense and hard to follow at times. I'm certain there was deep symbolism contained therein, but I totally missed it. I'm not recommending this one.

[Deliasue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a family who wants to get out of the rat race of city life, so they move to Pinewood Lake in a chalet. It is very lonely and quiet up there. Can they make it through the winter and summer alone?
Something terrible happens to change their lives forever.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was in short in sweet chapters so not too heavy going - a bit weird though

[Becky]

Got bored with this one. Writing style is distracting.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me this was like a read of someone's personal journal. It was dark in far too many places, what a shame the way it all turned out. I like something a bit more uplifting.