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Topic: Absent Friends

	BBC - Rock & Alt Review - Divine Comedy, Absent Friends
		Essentially, Absent Friends is the soundtrack of a man who's never been happier, yet is keen to remember the bad times to put things in perspective.
		Absent Friends was a particularly poignant name for the new album with the sacking of the band who where indeed, friends.
		Friends are presence even when they are absent.
	www.bbc.co.uk /music/rockandalt/reviews/divinecomedy_absent.shtml (3193 words)

	Amazon.co.uk: Absent Friends: Music (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		With Absent Friends the Divine Comedy's Neil Hannon finally establishes himself as one of the finest songwriters of a generation.
		With 'Absent Friends' The Divine Comedy has surpassed them, and this is highly recommended as the best album in many a year.
		From the off absent friends the title song displays his unique enlighted songwriting drawing examples from popular history into an epic requiem for departed unsung heros such as playwright oscar wilde and spacedog laika - a russian dog who paved the way for mammalian space travel while sacrificing his life.
	www.amazon.co.uk /exec/obidos/ASIN/B00014TJUC (1407 words)

	Bookreporter.com - ABSENT FRIENDS by S.J. Rozan
		ABSENT FRIENDS is not part of this series but is instead a stand-alone book, in every sense of the word.
		James McCaffery, the protagonist of ABSENT FRIENDS, is dead as the novel commences.
		ABSENT FRIENDS is one of those rare novels that transcends the limitations of a genre and stands on its own as a novel for the ages.
	www.bookreporter.com /reviews2/0385338031.asp (480 words)

	HMV.co.uk: Music Albums: Absent Friends (2004) (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Absent friends are often thought of with warm affection when you’re at a loose end, reminiscing about the ‘good old days’, and yearning to re-create an idealised utopia that never really existed.
		The good news is that ‘Absent Friends’ still contains all the elements that made The Divine Comedy such a vital component to one of Britain’s most successful music scenes.
		‘Absent Friends’ is a reunion that doesn’t disappoint, where the long-forgotten buddy has all the sparkle, wit and intelligence that made you friends in the first place.
	www.hmv.co.uk /hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?sku=160835&source=1411 (521 words)

	Guardian Unlimited Technology \| Technology \| Working the web: Absent friends
		The now famous www.friendsreunited.co.uk allows you to get in touch with old school-friends, fast: perhaps too fast, in fact, for your better sense to remind you why you have not been in touch since.
		Since the success of Friends Reunited, a number of other sites have sprung up, so if you want to track down the school bully, try www.lostschoolfriends.co.uk or www.yourschoolreunion.co.uk for a re-match.
		Friends Reunited is the most popular of these services, and so usually the most useful.
	technology.guardian.co.uk /online/story/0,3605,562718,00.html (792 words)

	BookLoons Reviews - Absent Friends by S. J. Rozan
		The author takes readers into the lives of childhood friends passing in time, back and forth, from the 60s and 70s to a clear morning on September 11th, 2001 and the time shortly thereafter.
		Absent Friends is a read to be savored, and I look forward to the release of Rozan's next novel in the Spring of 2005.
		The contrast between Jimmy's friends and their quest to protect his memory (as well as their own secret) and Laura, who is single-mindedly pursuing Harry's murderer, is striking and fits perfectly into the confusion of Fall, 2001.
	www.bookloons.com /cgi-bin/Review.ASP?bookid=3484 (639 words)

	The Divine Comedy: Absent Friends: Pitchfork Review (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Absent Friends is a sort of quintessential distillation of The Divine Comedy's many phases, Hannon handling the production and most of the instruments himself while longtime cohort Joby Talbot conducts the orchestra, which is here back to full prominence.
		Hannon's tenor is commanding, and he spins an incredible melody as he runs through a series of tributes to 20th century icons whose lives ended prematurely, from French actress Jean Seberg to Laika, the first dog in space.
		Absent Friends isn't my favorite Divine Comedy record (Fin de Siecle, actually), but it is an excellent record, and one that seems more likely to appeal to non-fans than his more ostentatious outings.
	pitchforkmedia.com /record-reviews/d/divine-comedy/absent-friends.shtml (472 words)

	SJ Rozan: Absent Friends: Description
		Set in New York in the unforgettable aftermath of September 11, Absent Friends brilliantly captures a time and place unlike any other, as it winds through the wounded streets of New York and Staten Island...and into a maze of old crimes, damaged lives, and heartbreaking revelations.
		The result is not only an electrifying mystery and a riveting piece of storytelling but an elegiac novel that powerfully explores a world changed forever on a clear September morning.
		In a novel that will catch you off guard at every turn, and one that is guaranteed to become a classic, S. Rozan masterfully ratchets up the tension one revelation at a time as she dares you to ponder the bonds of friendship, the meaning of truth, and the stuff of heroism.
	www.sjrozan.com /rozan/absent/absent.html (147 words)

	Powell's Books - Absent Friends by S. J. Rozan (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		On September 11, 1979, Mark Keegan, a childhood friend of McCaffery's and most of the other characters in this rich, beautifully written book, killed a local mob boss's stepson — allegedly in self-defense — and later died in prison.
		"Absent Friends is a meditation on love, loss and enduring friendships as filtered through the shattering aftermath of 9/11....Without question one of the year's standout novels."
		Childhood friends, each will live in the shadow of a past that still echoes with hopes and regrets.
	www.powells.com /cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=1-0385338031-1 (886 words)

	Absent Friends - The Divine Comedy
		Absent Friends is largely lacking in tracks that seem obvious candidates for radio play, but Come Home Billy Bird is a terrific piece of orchestral pop, with sweetly intoned Lauren Laverne vocals for the chorus a nice contrast to Hannon's mellifluous verses.
		I must admit that given the choice, I would have swapped the first and last tracks as Absent Friends concludes with a resolute confidence that Charmed Life does not.
		Still, after the somewhat disappointing Regeneration, Absent Friends is, as they say, a real return to form.
	www.soundtrack-express.com /osts/absentfriends.htm (575 words)

	The Divine Comedy: Absent Friends - PopMatters Music Review
		Hannon clearly realized this, because Absent Friends, which he produced himself and played nearly singlehandedly, is a back-to-basics affair -- which, of course, means that there's nothing basic about it -- with the orchestra putting in overtime to make up for taking the last album off.
		Fatherhood has also put him in touch with his own childhood: "My Imaginary Friend" recalls his days of spending every second with, and then abandoning, the closest friend he never had.
		Absent Friends must have been a hard album for Hannon to make.
	www.popmatters.com /music/reviews/d/divinecomedy-absent.shtml (1202 words)

	SJ Rozan: Absent Friends: Excerpt
		McCaffery, 46, one of the most decorated firefighters in the history of the New York City Fire Department and the focus of a Memorial Fund, was remembered by speakers including the Mayor, the Fire Commissioner, the Governor's Chief of Staff, and firefighters who had served with McCaffery or under his command.
		Firefighters from nearly every state in the union stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the cathedral aisles, ceding the pews to members of the FDNY and to McCaffery's family and friends.
		"That was definitely Jimmy," Thomas Molloy, a prominent Staten Island businessman, childhood friend of McCaffery's, and founder of the McCaffery Memorial Fund, told the Tribune.
	www.sjrozan.com /rozan/absent/absentexcerpt.html (3499 words)

	NCYM(C) 1999 Minutes
		Friends were asked to consider volunteering for Prison Visitation and Support, a program to provide visitors for long-term inmates far from home, who otherwise would go for years without any visitors.
		Friends approved that the letter should be sent with an additional personal note to George and Elizabeth Parker, Alfred and Jannell Newlin, Robert and Louise Wilson and George Stabler.
		Friends are called to be a peculiar people who reject the power of this world, as Jesus did, and to submit to divine authority.
	ncymc.org /ym99/minutesnof.html (7991 words)

	Amazon.com: Absent Friends: Books: S.J. Rozan (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		In Absent Friends, this Edgar Award-winning author takes a wide detour from her series featuring Manhattan private eyes Lydia Chin and Bill Smith (Winter and Night) to deliver a standalone yarn that is much more satisfying as a character study than a mystery.
		So are the late firefighter's closest childhood friends, who have maintained his secrets for much too long; Keegan's son, who has grown to accept his father's early demise and to hero-worship McCaffery; and Phil Constantine, the lawyer who defended Keegan and has since tried to engineer a relationship with his widow.
		However, the conclusion of Absent Friends is something of a letdown, less surprising or emotionally wrenching than it is merely complicated.
	www.amazon.com /exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0385338031?v=glance (3066 words)

	Medialunchbox - Music : Absent Friends (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Whereas "Regeneration" was rather dramatic and bleak in its melodies and arrangements -and yet worth owning in its own right-, "Absent Friends" has managed enough of a romantic and ironic tone, at the same time, to invite listeners more successfully in.
		Listen to it, and keep in mind it's nothing but an OK track by Absent Friends' standards...
		It may be too early to say it, but I do believe Absent Friends will be seen in twenty years as one of the greatest albums of all time.Think about it, just how many other albums have come this close to the beauty of Pet Sounds, Forever Changes or The Queen Is Dead?
	www.medialunchbox.com /ItemId/B00014TJUC (381 words)

	The Divine Comedy - Absent Friends [Bonus Track]: Reviews, Track Listing, Audio Clips, and more \|\|\| Music.com (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		With Absent Friends, Neil Hannon returns to the glorious whimsical form of his crooning pop masterpieces.
		While Regeneration seemed mired in murkiness and awkwardly styled angry tunes, and some wondered if Hannon would recover from sacking his bandmates, Absent Friends sees Hannon blending the finest themes of his previous albums into a gorgeous, mature tapestry of musical adventures.
		It is perhaps "Our Mutual Friend" that really drives home the confidence and sublime nature of Hannon's songwriting and execution at this stage of his career.
	www.music.com /release/absent_friends/3 (483 words)

	To Absent Friends
		Of all the animals in the world, only the dog has chosen to share his life with man, and while the dog may have benefited from the arrangement, man has gotten the much better end of the deal.
		To Absent Friends is a collection of stories of dogs told by those they left behind.
		Most of the dogs in these stories were good dogs; some were what we may politely describe as eccentric, some were mischievous, some were just plain bad, but all were loved, and all are missed.
	www.gundogsupply.com /toabfr.html (481 words)

	Absent Friends (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Her staunch friend is convincingly played by Julie Ann Nevill.
		After not having seen Colin for years, Diana and Paul are hosting a tea party for him, with all of Colin's former hometown friends in attendance.
		However, Colin proves impervious to their awkward attempts to comfort him as he unwittingly touches every raw nerve in the troubled lives of all his old friends.
	home.mn.rr.com /edwinstrout/AbsentFriends.html (216 words)

	www.myspace.com/absentband
		When their first show was almost ended before it began because their name was deemed “inappropriate,” they did something many wouldn’t; they put their music before their egos.
		Absent took the stage and has been blowing the doors off of Metal’s norms ever since.
		Brad demonstrates his tremendous vocal range while rounding out Todd’s guitar riffs, with Chris providing his years of experience and recording engineer’s ear to the band’s sound, all the while pounding away at the Ludwig drums and Sabian cymbols that surround him.
	www.myspace.com /absentband (905 words)

	SLG News (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		While not strictly autobiographical, the stories in Absent Friends are, according to writer Elliott, inspired by "personal experiences, thoughts and traumas." Elliott, known primarily as a comics artist, intended to draw the stories himself, but he wasn't satisfied with his attempts.
		In Absent Friends, a man recalls a dangerous friendship, a boy tries to understand his teenaged sister, a young man learns about sex and love, and a street musician finds her own path to success.
		Absent Friends is a 40-page graphic novella in 5.5 x 8.5 inch digest format.
	www.slavelabor.com /nf_absentfriends.html (503 words)

	Absent Friends
		Summary: Janeway and Chakotay meet on Earth as Janeway remembers an absent friend.
		The relationship with Seven was probably forgivable, but he should have told her himself, instead of waiting until the rumours — suitably embellished — reached her ears.
		It had been hard, returning to the alpha quadrant and finding that so many old friends, Academy classmates and former shipmates had died.
	www.geocities.com /elizabeth_barr/absentfriends.htm (626 words)

	Absent Friends by S. J. Rozan
		Absent Friends is a read not to be skimmed but to be savored.“
		–Josephine L., Concord, NH Absent Friends was my first contact with Edgar, Anthony, Macavity, and Shamus award winner S. Rozan and her richly detailed characters make it obvious why she's won so many awards.
		"ABSENT FRIENDS is a meditation on love, loss and enduring friendships as filtered through the shattering aftermath of 9/11.
	www.randomhouse.com /catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385339230 (1269 words)

	Compare Prices and Read Reviews on Absent Friends - The Divine Comedy at Epinions.com
		One of the real classics on the album is the musically beautiful Our Mutual Friend, a beautifully edgy orchestral piece, and Hannon’s deadpan sad voice about a mundane and drunken night with a wanna be lover, and their mutual friend.
		This is a song about a business traveller who has spent a night on the tiles with some Belgium business men, and the song catalogues his trials at the airport while he attempts to make it home in time for his son’s soccer match.
		My Imaginary Friend has a kids TV style musical backing, and is from a small child’s perspective a tale about an imaginary friend, a child who creates an imaginary friend because his father works in a mobile library.
	www.epinions.com /content_138833333892 (912 words)

	Old and Absent Friends
		She had just issued a toast ‘to old and absent friends’, when the red alert alarms activated.
		Chakotay was barely conscious when she reached him, gently bending down to take his head in her lap.
		Holding up her glass, she whispered the same toast she said every year, “to old and absent friends”, before turning away, a single shooting star the only answer.
	www.angelfire.com /az2/jetcfanfic/friends.html (843 words)

	Absent Friends (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		When a good friend dies, you die a little bit, also.
		Inevitably, you are brought closer to the understanding that you are mortal, even as he was mortal, and that the time he has just visited will be there for you,too, some day in the not-too-distant future.
		Herb Coleman was a friend of mine for nearly 40 years.
	home.comcast.net /~richcoleman/absent.html (873 words)

	LA Weekly: Columns: Ant Farm: Absent Friends (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		They had exceeded the limit of their keepsake meaning; they were no longer as important to her as the free space their removal would create.
		And below that, next to a snapshot of my parents dancing in the living room in 1964, is a picture of another absent Bob, my old school chum and sometime roommate, when he wasn't sleeping on a couch at the student center.
		My friends have always seemed to me not just a network, but a net: the thing that keeps me from falling into nothingness.
	www.laweekly.com /ink/02/35/ant-lloyd.php (1456 words)

	TheFourthRail.com - Critiques on Infinite Earths (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Absent Friends isn't exactly must-read fare, but readers won't go away disappointed either.
		Most of the stories seem to delve into the notion that each protagonist is a victim of some sort...
		duped by friends' tall tales, victimized by colleagues or struck down by disease.
	www.thefourthrail.com /reviews/critiques/020904/absentfriends.shtml (459 words)

	Review of Absent Friends (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Whilst one of the significant absences onstage is straightforwardly humorous — as Marge (Caroline Holdaway) takes a series of telephone calls from her husband, who manages to suffer endless misfortunes even when confined to his bed — the tone is primarily set by Colin's rhapsodising about his recently deceased fiancée.
		Jessica Tyrwhitt's design and the pre-show music locate the play vaguely in the mid-1980s, but period is not of the essence.
		In comparison with much of Ayckbourn's subsequent work, both the form and content of Absent Friends are relatively small beer, an impression reinforced by this comfortable but unexceptional production.
	www.cix.co.uk /~shutters/reviews/97028.htm (338 words)

	Absent Friends by S.J. Rozan
		You take a somewhat similar approach in ABSENT FRIENDS, but from a much different, and very original, perspective.
		The impact of Sept. 11th can't really be felt when you think of "3,000 dead." Each person who died was someone particular, with a present and a past; and each death scored deeply into numerous other lives that then had to go on.
		What I can say is that even from my days as an architect, when my firm did a number of firehouses, I've been intrigued by the idea of a career that's nine parts sitting around and one part risking your life, and intrigued by the people who choose that career.
	www.randomhouse.com /catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780440335092&view=qa (1012 words)

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