American Boy
A Novel
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3.7 • 10 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The author of the acclaimed Montana 1948 "spins charm and melancholy" in this novel of youth and romantic rivalry in 1960s rural Minnesota (Denver Post).
Willow Falls, Minnesota, 1962. The shooting of a young woman on Thanksgiving Day sets off a chain of unsettling events in the life of seventeen-year-old Matthew Garth. A close friend of the prosperous Dunbar family, Matthew is present in Dr. Dunbar's home office when the victim is brought in. The sight of Louisa Lindahl—beautiful and mortally wounded—makes an indelible impression on the young man.
Fueled by his feverish desire for this mysterious woman and a deep longing for the comfort and affluence that appears to surround the Dunbars, Matthew finds himself drawn into a vortex of greed, manipulation, and ultimately betrayal. Larry Watson's tale heart-breaking tale "resonates with language as clear and images as crisp as the spare, flat prairie of its Minnesota setting" (Kirkus Reviews).
An Esquire Best Book of 2011
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Watson's new novel about a young man's coming-of-age in rural Minnesota during the early '60s never veers off course. Working-class narrator Matthew Garth has always been treated well by best friend Johnny Dunbar's well-to-do family, particularly by Johnny's father, Dr. Dunbar. In the town of Willow Falls, the doctor's wealth and commanding presence position him as a leader to some, but to others including Matt's mother he remains an ostentatious outsider. He treats Louisa Lindahl, a young woman shot by her boyfriend (who later strangles himself while in custody); having "no resources and no place to go," Louisa recuperates with the Dunbars and stays on to live and work with the family. Matt develops an infatuation for Louisa, but her own plans, about which the reader is never unaware, lead to explosive changes in Matt's standing with the Dunbar family. Though the novel's d nouement packs a punch, much about Matt, from episodes relating to women to his trajectory with the Dunbars, is foreshadowed to the point of draining the story of drama. Though Watson's (Montana 1948) laconic prose fits the setting, his decision to telegraph every narrative turn is disappointing.
