English Creek
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4.5 • 47 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
In this prize-winning portrait of a time and place—Montana in the 1930s—that at once inspires and fulfills a longing for an explicable past, Ivan Doig has created one of the most captivating families in American fiction, the McCaskills.
The witty and haunting narration, a masterpiece of vernacular in the tradition of Twain, follows the events of the Two Medicine country's summer: the tide of sheep moving into the high country, the capering Fourth of July rodeo and community dance, and an end-of-August forest fire high in the Rockies that brings the book, as well as the McCaskill family's struggle within itself, to a stunning climax. It is a season of escapade as well as drama, during which fourteen-year-old Jick comes of age. Through his eyes we see those nearest and dearest to him at a turning point—“where all four of our lives made their bend”—and discover along with him his own connection to the land, to history, and to the deep-fathomed mysteries of one’s kin and one’s self.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The summer of his 14th year brings challenges and changes to Jick McCaskill and his family, in this book which echoes with "the pioneering and human spirit,'' observed PW. Jick's older brother decides not to attend college, becoming a cowboy instead; a fire in Two Medicine National Forest threatens to destroy the community; and, ``by summer's end, Jick has learned the secret his father and an old campjack have kept from the rest of the community,'' PW added. November
Customer Reviews
A snapshot of past Montana
This book was so beautifully written that I could actually visualize what late ‘30s Montana looked like and what farming and ranching was like then. I especially like when Ivan Doig’s narrator is an adolescent boy. His adventures (and MISadventures!) are so much the more humorous. I just love anything I’ve read by Doig.