No Wolf

by Richard St.Ofle

Out of love, out of money, out of character, Richard St. Ofle fell in love, left his wife, and took a job silkscreening in Guadeloupe, a tiny drop of ink on the map, somewhere deep in the Caribbean. What followed would test his character and change the course of his life forever. A poetic and magical season, "No Wolf (the waygoing compromise)" tells the story of St.Ofle's life-changing summer of 2008.

268 pages, Paperback

First published June 4, 2010

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My friend recommended this book to me on the grounds that it would remind me of my favorite author, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Instead, I thought it reminded me of Dave Eggers. Not my favorite author, but quite a good one. They both have a wordiness combined with such a strong urge to get the words out on paper, that it comes out like beautiful word vomit. It's a compulsive read, and I finished this book in just under 48 hours. I hope this is not the last book that St. Ofle will write.

It's cool to think that my friend was this guy's editor. But it would have been cooler if that friend had reminded St. Ofle to use commas at the ends of parenthetical elements. That was particularly distracting to me, a grammarian and linguist. Moreover, I thought the spamoscopes were interesting, but they were not helpful to the story. I'd rather read them in their own collection with St. Ofle's matching short stories. Kill your babies...so they may be resurrected in another volume.

[Jyoti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this book as soon as it was published. I am friend's with the author and was dying to read it. I honestly read it in less than two days (and I'm a slow slow reader usually). I burned through it because it was about a secret and I had been waiting for the gossip.

I don't really want to give it a full review here because I don't know what it is like to read if you don't know anyone in the story. Will you be as compelled as I was?

I told Richard that I would read it again before I reviewed it, but I lent it to friends to read and now it is 400 miles away at a friend's house. I plan to read it again, slower and as a reviewer.

[Benjamin Spalink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unflinching in his self-analysis, heart rending in his narrative, Richard St. Ofle's book, the first ever published by Ashbury Way in New York, is a glimpse into the emotional mind of an artist and adventurer. This chronicle of self-discovery is a window not just into his own life, but into the heart of us all, and therein lies its value. The story is not only about how far we'll go to get what we want, but about how what we most want is only really found if it is given to us.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down and was kind of sad when it ended. Signs of a great book if you ask me. Impressed.