Monday, May 12, 2008

I Love Leif Enger

Over the weekend I finished So Brave, Young and Handsome, and y'all - Run, do not walk, to your bookstore and get this book. It is just fantastic. The characters are so well-written, from Monte Becket, the struggling novelist at the heart of the novel to the outlaw Glendon Hale, to Charles Siringo, a real-life Pinkerton detective who is tracking Glendon. One of the novel's greatest strengths is it's veracity. The thing that I love most about this novel is the relationships between Monte and his wife and son. Monte's son Redstart is a handful, an imperious, bossy little boy who totally reminds me of my daughter. At one point, Glendon remarks, "Ah, Redstart. I suspect there's only one of him." Yep. That's written by a man who has kids. And the relationship between Monte and his wife is gorgeous. He leaves to go to Mexico with Glendon, and stays gone far longer than originally planned. She sends him a telegram saying, "I miss your face. Come home." It's a wonderful, richly drawn story, with characters who feel like friends by the end. I was very sad to see this book end. I truly hope that it has been submitted for consideration for next year's Pulitzer Prize.

And! After Shauna's comments on my last post, I visited Mr. Enger's website to see if I could find the books he co-wrote with his brother (I could not! Boo!). However, I found out that he is coming to two bookstores near me on his book tour! TWO! I am floored. Several of my favorite authors who live closer to me do not come to NC on their book tours (Jen Lancaster who lives in Chicago is coming to Atlanta, but not NC; Jennifer Weiner who lives in PA never comes to NC), but Leif Enger, who lives in fricking Minnesota is coming to Raleigh and to Pittsboro!!!, NC. Seriously, Pittsboro is like Podunk Luke, NC. I'm not sure who booked this man's book tour, but obviously I owe them some sexual favors. (Sorry, we watched Erin Brockovich last weekend. "634 blowjobs! I'm actually quite tired.") I am so pumped! Now I just have to find those mysteries before his appearances.....

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the recommendation!

email said...

I haven't read anything by him, but I'll definitely track down this one and the one you mentioned last post.

Pickles and Dimes said...

Awesome! I need to get his books post-haste.

Here's a site that lists all the books he wrote with his brother as L L Enger: linky

It looks like you can even order them from there - good luck!

Shelly said...

Shelly - You're welcome! I just bought Rabbit Factory on your recommendation. : ) Hope you enjoy SBYaH!

Shelly said...

jmc - I think you'll love both of them. I have my hubby reading Peace Like a River right now, so I'll let you know what he thinks.

Shelly said...

And that's why I love you, Shauna. I hadn't had time to look those up! Thank you so much!

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

Hello. Great job. I did not expect this on a Wednesday. This is a great story. Thanks!