nd rancher whose wife leaves him, precipitating a downward spiral as Frank's life begins to come apart at the seams.It's typical McGuane, from the small town Montana setting to the larger than life comic bumblings of a man losing control. Once his wife is gone, everything else good seems to start to go as well. Business deals go sour, he loses his business savvy, friendships are strained, and his interest in life wanes. As his interest wanes, the vicious cycle continues. A work like this can bog down into typical mid-life crisis and male angst, but I thought that this one rose above that. Perhaps I am more willing to overlook the formulaic nature of this story because I like McGuane in general and find him to be a very entertaining read. And in this specific instance, as infuriating it was for me to watch Frank careen around out of control, I kept hoping that he would get his act together in the end. He wasn't the most likable character in the world, but I felt for him, and that kept me fully engaged.
4 stars out of 5. Very good. Funny, poignant and entertaining.
Books read this year: 28 [totalling 6,474 pages]
Published in 2010: still 17
By new authors: still 16
Classics: still 3
I think I will continue working my way backwards through his novels and read Keep the Change next.
No comments:
Post a Comment