The Girl with the Face of the Moon Special Edition

Ellis Amdur's first novel is a singular piece that is as utterly unique and universally mythic. It is unmistakably a product of Amdur's unique experience and insight, but in the precision and simplicity of execution it is profound and timeless.I think this is a rare and triumphant addition to that unique genre, the ogre tale. We don't get many these days; perhaps the best modern example is the Peter Greenaway film "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover." Although we see ogres all around us in life and literature, we rarely get to see the interplay of nature and culture, wild, tame and in between, sanity and madness, harm and healing, persistence, struggle and redemption (or the all to common lack thereof and the consequences of that for the survivors) laid bare and portrayed in stark signifiers for us to wrestle with long after the tale is told.It is that quality, the resonant reverberation in the mind of the reader, that is the mark of a work that is above the norm. I think "The Girl With The Face of the Moon" has that quality. Others may remark on the reality and visceral quality of the combat and body arts depicted, or the unique snapshot of life ways now faded to hazy memories of times now gone. But to me it is that truth only to be found in the most stylized myth or folktale that is a rare gift to be treasured when it is found. This deserves to find its way into printed form.