Promised Land (A Spenser Novel) Mass Market Paperback – July 1, 1987

Ya gotta have moaning melancholy ... and ... and ... thoughtful, teaching t'ings.For me, this # 4 in Parker's Spenser series was a key novel, a turning point for honing purpose and direction for future offerings. With PROMISED LAND, the baseline ingredients were set. It almost seemed to me as if, in writing the early parts of this plot, Parker had scrambled to the top of a mountain and surveyed the territory he had acquired in his first three books. "I've clearly opened something successfully long-term here," he might have concluded. "What do I want to do with it. Where do I want to take it."A third into the plot of PROMISED LAND, a short paragraph from Spenser's narrative soured a trumped-up deal, like flat beer worn down:>> Living around Boston for a long time you tend to think of Cape Cod as promised land. Sea, sun, sky, health, ease, boisterous camaraderie, a kind of real-life beer commercial. Since I'd arrived no one had liked me, and several people had told me to go away. Two had assaulted me. You're sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod. <<Of course Hawk's arrival to the series, as many reviews have eloquently heralded, was highly effective and welcome, though I had anticipated a "love at first sight" First Meeting between Spenser and Hawk. As I thought about it, though, I was impressed with the thematic effect of Hawk being introduced as someone not yet integrated, but long significant in Spenser's life. As Spenser explained more than once here:"I've known him a long time."Yet, it wasn't until "now" that the relationship between these two machismo (in the detoxified, good sense of the term) males seeded and began growing into ... a black-and-white-Knight ... chess set ... a pair of large oak trees ...Well, okay, since these guys were self-mobile (and too cool) maybe I should get off the mangled-metaphor kick, and be trite-but-right in terming them Super Heroes. But, in fact, they were more like genetically pure, human males, evolved beyond ape without losing the pheromones.One of my favorite paragraphs in the Spenser novels (those which I've read so far) was in PROMISED LAND, and has this line in it:>> There ain't all that many of us left, guys like old Spenser and me. <<The paragraph from which that line was lifted, and the way it played from the previous scene, brought a moan of acknowledgment up from the soul, tears to the eyelids. If that statement was spirit-level-true in 1976 when the book was copyrighted, how much truer (and more devastating) would it be today.One of the ingredients noted above, which came through here as a commitment in the Spenser series, was that it was going to deal dramatically with various sociological and psychological issues (which definitely related to machismo, etc.). The seventies were the "Time" in which both those fields of study of human behavior had come into prime, in a growing acknowledgment from the masses. In the early seventies, I was fresh out of college (actually I was weathered, withered, and wilted, but still wide-eyed), breaking in the graduate psychology and philosophy seminars I had worked through, becoming acquainted for the first time, along with the rest of the world, with the differences among those idealized "-ologies"; becoming intimately acquainted with the unique definitions and uses of each.Self-help books had just begun bulging commercial bookshelves, bombing and bumbling outward into the cultural scenes.It might be interesting to note, though, that to recommend therapy to anyone in that era wasn't as "old hat" as it is today, when probably 70% of the US population has at least considered that option, if not been decades into such a Freudian deal of paying a professional "ear" (similar to a private "eye") into which to pour personal woes dredged up from the toes. And now we have Winfrey, Dr. Phil, and scuds of Prozac pills. Who woulda thunk? Burp. Overdosing has become a constant; not a constant threat, just a constant.Sometimes it appears to me that, since the time of that primal-pivot-70's era, the human -ologies have become polluted by the very seas of social ills they were instigated to cure. Unfortunately, instead of a cure, maybe we've had a nurturing of the complicated foolishness we humans have imposed upon ourselves (pushed `n packed into our cases of emotional baskets).But, in PROMISED LAND, Spenser's descriptions of how that "system" was supposed to work are "Right on!" from my perspective.He quoted from Robert Frost as advising, in essence, that a man must get behind his Father's sayings, must evaluate them for himself, must begin drawing his own conclusions about who he is and what he wants his (personal) world to become. The implication there (in this novel's plot) was that when personal worlds were in working order, The Greater World, "The Causes," would become moot points (Thank God, or Whomever!); or, at least, would become functioning, well-oiled, strongly founded points of sanity and security.Interestingly, Susan was using the Frost quote (I had flashed to the talk-show host instead of the poet) to explain one of the social issues brought out in this novel with such painful, yet cheer-inducing clarity, that of the budding of militant Feminism, its time of seeding, rooting, and blossoming ... barbs, thorns, and machine guns ... with roses and truth crushed, bruised, brutalized, omitted or deleted. Susan was using the Robert Frost (with bite) line to show how woman, especially housewives, needed to "come of age" or to begin evaluating what they were taught by parents, often through eons-concretized, self-perpetuating-auto-behaviors, more than through specific words, phrases, or beliefs.What I liked about Susan in this one was that she could realize she was wrong; be hit upside-the-head (symbolically) by Spenser; then come up to speed, without wasting a split-second feeling foolish. Once she got that she was off base (maybe mildewed) in her thoughts; she slipped into a quick and total, "Oh, I see," and began skipping to the true tune without missing more than a few beats. She may have been entertainingly outspoken and opinionated, but she didn't allow herself to stay stuck or stale.Moving on into the plot, I want to mention that the points were beautifully "telling" (and very well taken by me) which Parker made around the murder of the old guard at the bank (which I might type as "Old Guard" to pile on more meaning).There was also a good amount of tension between Spenser and Susan here, a cool (and hot) dancing-around-issues on how to be "together," all of which played beautifully off the sociologically-wounded-married-couple in this plot, intriguingly named Pam and Harvey Shepard.I've noticed in a few interesting comments in Spenser's blog on Amazon, comments from housewives (I'm proud to say I am one, by choice) wondering why Parker doesn't like their "breed." Actually, in this novel, I felt that The Housewife, Pam Shepard, was a heroic figure, used well fictionally to expose the type of growth possible through gutsy choices, when they continued to move onward instead of to solidify into militant ignorance (thanks to Spenser).I also enjoyed the clarity here of what Spenser felt about anyone (man, woman, or in-between) suddenly dropping responsibilities to children, and skipping out on Walk About (to "find" oneself).Parker exquisitely laid bare the various sides of sociological and psychological issues as they played into his individual characters and their ongoing lives. His brand of "analysis" (soul searching), expressed amazingly clearly in this novel, I could get behind. It allowed a person to responsibly go beyond whatever may have been blocking his/her life from "doing its (True & Intended) thing."PROMISED LAND was the absolute perfect title for this novel. Parker's rhythm and stride had arrived (though the first 3 novels were perfect in their own right); he was committed to dance and stretch through what evolved into 3 decades with Spenser, Susan, and Hawk. (Possibly his publishers had begun realizing Parker's unique potential by then and were wisely clamoring for continuation.)As I've said in previous reviews of this landmark series (see my two-part Listmania); it is one of the best treatises I've found on our US cultural evolution, from perspectives including and beyond the various -ologicals. To have that worked seamlessly into the high entertainment of a mood-rich detective series is a steal on steel.What I dread more than "guys like us" (Spenser and Hawk) going extinct, is the day when no one will be able to comprehend, let alone remember, who they were, what they stood for.Who ... was ... John Galt?Learn this. Know it. Remember it.Or else!Or, our species will not be worth the Sacred Fertilizer (my term for Holy Sh...) we're churning out with too many "-isms" and not enough sense; with too much seeking of "safety in numbers" (though I believe in the necessity of our well-trained military, and am beyond thankful for their dedication, diligence, and expertise) and not enough singularity of sanity.With Respect (and hope) for our species, a respect which sometimes flickers and dims, but my Rose Tints still work,Linda Shelnutt

Robert B. Parker wrote 39 novels with Spenser as the protagonist, but this one, the fourth in the series, won him the 1977 Edgar Award for Best Novel. The plot moves quickly and Spenser’s quips and comments keep everything on the lite side. I would definitely recommend this novel to any reader of mysteries with a private investigator as the protagonist. The interactions between Susan Silverman and Spenser are both entertaining and thought-provoking.Spenser’s First NamePeople claim that Parker never revealed Spenser’s first name… never in 39 novels. I take exception to that claim. In Chapter 19 of Promised Land, Spenser is required to show his PI license and permit to carry a weapon to Detective Jackie Sylvia. The interaction is revealing.“Very good,” I (Spenser) said. “One look at my license and you remembered my name. I didn’t even see your lips move when you looked at it either.”Detective Sylvia immediately replies: “Don’t smart-ass with me, Johnny, or you’ll be looking very close at the floor. Understand what I’m saying to you?”Some Spenser fans will assuredly argue that Detective Sylvia just picked the name “Johnny” out of the hat, but I think the scene and it’s accompanying logic points to a very different conclusion: that this is the one time Spenser’s first name is revealed. Detective Sylvia had just moments before this dialogue had looked at Spenser’s private investigator license (which would’ve had Spenser’s first name on it) and at Spenser’s permit to carry a weapon (which would’ve also had Spenser’s first name on it). Having seen Spenser’s first name on these two documents, and fresh in his mind, why would Detective Sylvia call Spenser “Johnny” if that wasn’t Spenser’s first name on those two documents? As such, I would say that Robert B. Parker did reveal Spenser’s first name, and that it is John or Johnny. Johnny Spenser, which, as chance would have it, sounds like a good name for an ex-boxer.

The characters had depth and the scenes were well described and the action was fun.It was another enjoyable book by Robert B. Barker.

Reread. Unlike several others, this book was tedious. Over the yrs. I've reread most & enjoyed. Not so this one.way too much talk not nearly enough action. Mr. Parker has nice tight prose. This book busy pontificating on Hawk &Spencer, not nearly enough action.sad. wichita lawyer...

Spenser is a very interesting study. Robert Urich is still my vision of him. This book has all kinds of twists and turns.

Great underlying subject matter in view of the politics regarding race and sexual equality {inequality} currently raging.Very much relevant now, especially since the book was written almost fifty years ago.Straightforward, uncomplicated and brilliant, perhaps why Spenser has not made the transition to the big screen successfully.Now that is a crying shame.

Another terrific Spenser, bringing together the story of a businessman who gets in way over his head, and the story of his disaffected wife. Of course Spenser fixes things, while the novel offers a lot on the relationships between men and women. I gave it four stars instead of five only because it's early in the series, and neither Hawk nor Susan are yet firmly fixed in Spenser's life.

lovely

Some food, some Thoreau, some beer, some knightly behaviour, Susan looking lovely, sensitive interpersonal stuff and some fighting. You know what you will get with Spenser and this tale of smothering love with theoretical feminists and the introduction of the inimitable Hawk does not disappoint