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The River Queen: A Memoir | 
 enlarge | Author: Mary Morris
Publisher: Picador
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $7.24
You Save: $7.76 (52%)
New (32) Used (14) from $6.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 327748
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0312427891
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312427894
ASIN: 0312427891
Publication Date: May 27, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
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Product Description
In the fall of 2005 acclaimed writer Mary Morris set off down the Mississippi River in a battered old houseboat called The River Queen, with two river rats named Tom and Jerry and an ailing, irascible rat terrier named Samantha Jean. Her father had just died. Her daughter had gone off to college. Lost and uncertain, Morris returned to the river of her youth, to the waterside towns where her father had once lived. In this poignant and often humorous memoir, Morris reclaims the world of her childhood as she gets a bearing on her future. She describes traveling down stream through the Midwest, living like a pirate as she survives a tornado and infestation of mayflies, bivouacs on beaches, and ties up to paddleboats in the dark of night. As she learns to pilot the River Queen through these fabled waters, Morris delivers a memoir that “deserves to be both a best-seller and a classic” (The Courier-Journal).
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Couldn't finish it October 5, 2008
I have read other books by Mary Morris and have always enjoyed them. So I was excited to find this one. This could have been a fascinating story; except that I as a reader lost my patience with the author very quickly. If I was a river runner and she was my passenger, I'd have thrown her out with the anchor. She obviously did not know what she was getting into, had a very naive view of what the journey would be like, and didn't seem to be learning much. She complained constantly and got too much into daily minutea. Tho I ended up not finishe it, topic still interests me, and I hope to find a better book about that journey soon.
My River, Too July 26, 2008
In her memoir, The River Queen, Mary Morris takes her readers on a unique journey down the mighty Mississippi as she makes a private journey of her own--coming to terms with her father's passing. Her naivete is refreshing, and she admits early in the book, "I don't have the river in my head, yet." Unlike the writer's friend, who never thought about the river despite growing up in St. Louis, I grew up twenty miles southeast of St. Louis, and the river has been a large presence in my life. Like many Midwesterners, I have traveled the river and visited some of the places Morris describes. By the book's end, Morris has changed. She has learned things about her father's life and about herself, contentment evident as she pilots the last leg of her journey with the river firmly fixed in her head. I agree with T.S. Eliot, "The sea is around us, but the river is in us." Reading Morris's memoir will put a little of the river in every reader.
 A Personal Journey December 17, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Mary Morris' father lived to the age of 102. He was many things during his long life; dandy, ladies man, business man, developer, husband and father. He also left strong memories in his daughter of his uncontrollable and unreasonable rages that he took out on whatever family member happened to be near. A portion of his life, but by no means all of it, was spent in small towns along the banks of the Mississippi River. Mary hires a houseboat, and sets off on a journey down the river to try and reconcile her grief, ambivalent feelings, and understand her father's roots better. Sounds like a fascinating journey. The trip down the river is an adventure in itself, encountering hurricanes, hazardous currents, and busy shipping channels that make navigating the houseboat a serious undertaking. Ms Morris writes well. The story flows, and the transit between musings on her memories and telling the story of her river journey is smooth and not jarring. It is a well written book. However, the story both of the river trip and her father seemed superficial to me. She tells mostly of everyday occurrences; who cooks dinner, where they eat on the boat, and the never-ending quest for a hot shower. The towns they visit are only given sketchy portrayal. She mostly doesn't care for the people they meet, and gives them a wide, therefore un-insightful berth. Her father's life lives within the same boundaries her memory supplied before the trip. She finds no insight, does not experience either elation, grief, or camaraderie of his memory by being on the river. A good travel book can be engrossing. A good book of exploration of familial ties can be enlightening. I was neither engrossed, nor enlightened, but I was also not bored to the point of giving up. I read the book waiting for the "other shoe to fall", and it never does. Nor will I take any memories from this book as I lead my life. I read it, it's done. Reading this book is like holding a handful of Mississippi river water; it trickles between your fingers, then it's gone.
River Queen October 30, 2007
I loved the River Queen and am sharing it with the group that I am escorting on a Mississippi River cruise on the American Queen next July. Mary Morris gave wonderful discriptions of the Mississippi as she learned to love the river. I can just picture the "River Queen" as she called the house boat she was on with Tom and Jerry, 2 great river boat captains. She also understood her father much better after her trip. When we cruise in the luxury of the American Queen we will remember Mary's cramped quarters in the cabin, the shower that didn't work, the locks and dams she went through, the heat, the bugs and enjoy our turn even more! I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn about the Mississippi.
 Great Read! October 14, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Although I had heard of Mary Morris, I had never read any of her books. The River Queen is excellent, and her other books are now on my "to read" list.
The author decides to travel down part of the Mississippi on a houseboat, and she takes us on the ride with her. It is interesting (and humourous) to learn about the Mississippi river, and all the small towns and characters she meets along the way. The book is also about her father, who passed away at the age of 102.
Ms. Morris manages to intertwine, very successfully, the story of the river and of her father.
The personality of the two men (and a dog) that she hires to take her down the river really adds to the appeal of the book. I wish there would have been photographs!
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