The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora

By: Michael Nesmith

Narrated by: Michael Nesmith

Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Who is Neftoon Zamora? According to stories, he (or she) was part Zuni, part Martian, part Delta Blues player, and had come from the Great Spirit, Mars, or some place in Mississippi, thousands of years ago. Is Neftoon Zamora merely folklore, a tale told by fools to children? Or does Neftoon Zamora really exist, living in a small, hidden settlement in the mountains of New Mexico?

Welcome to The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora, a first novel of magical realism by Michael Nesmith.

©2002 Michael Nesmith (P)2002 Pacific Arts Corporation

Entertaining- well read story

Hey, Hey -Who knew Michael Nesmith was also a talented story teller? With the sounds and music of an old fashion radio show, he takes us to a magical place. I love to listen to a writer read his own words aloud. And, Nesmith's style was a real treat. His descriptive witty poetic ramblings could stand alone as fascinating monologues.
As mystical quests go - this is a delightfully well told and well crafted tail. If you enjoy playing with the rhythm of words and sounds you will trip head first off the cliff with Nez and wonder in and out of consciousness.

"The embers from the rocket fire fall down and out of frame in the gravity of the times, the sparks rise with the smoke like fireflies and wander back and forth, serpentine, like the patterns on the entrance to a Parisian subway, and Telstar seizes the drifting, rising smoke and shimmers a little inside a Fender Super Reverb guitar amp, inside the Mississippi magic of the blues guitar, but it is not inside, it is outside, in outer space and the chords are changing and changing and changing, not the usual one four five four five."

I do recommend this loving vacation from your humdrum life. Nesmith takes the listener to that secret place we all wish we could find. If you are willing to believe, curl up in your patchwork quilt, and have fun with this enchanting listen.

Hard Going.

I am a great admirer of Nesmith's two other literary works, the books with soundtracks
"The Prison" and "The Garden". These are, for want of better words, works of an esoteric / spiritual nature, and if this is your sort of thing - greatly inspiring and quite profound. I suspect this novel, "The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zimora", follows the same line of feeling although quite different.
This book while listed under Contemporary Fiction, could quite happily sit in the Spirituality and Biography categories.
Selecting a book for download can often be a hit and miss affair. Sometimes you are astonished and other times dissapionted. This book wasn't unlistenable, but hard going. I never once felt engaged by it, and if not for my respect for Nez and his work I could quite easily have abandoned it. I reluctantly file it under dissapionted. Why? hard to say. Its a brisk and slightly surreal little tale, well read by the author, with a deeper undercurrent flowing through the narrative. Perhaps some judicial editing could have picked it up a little, perhaps it was just me.
Taste is a subjective thing and if you are interested in Nez, please give it a go.

Always a fave.

I read this book when it first came out and 20 years later it still grips my attention.

Good effort

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The plot is so esoteric that it's difficult to follow at times. I wasn't sure until about the middle of the book who the "I" person was. I found that very disconcerting. Not the usual sort of book I would read/listen to, but I'm glad I tried. Nesmith is incredibly creative, but seemed never to really find the plot exactly. In trying to leave it open to interpretation, I think it suffered. And Nesmith, love him as I do, could've used a vocal coach. The reading was a bit lackluster. Whether that is intentional or not, is difficult to say.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Michael Nesmith?

No one. I just wish he had read the entire book with more inflection, not just the "exciting" parts.

Could you see The Long Sandy Hair of Neftoon Zamora being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No.

AMAZING!!!

This book was absolutely a pleasure to experience, made even better by the narration of Mr Nesmith. I will highly recommend this book to anyone who appreciates a truly amazing and unique tale 👍

creative and interesting

I swear Nez has the most sexy and soothing voice! Loved this book - already listened to it twice!