Full disclosure: Big Jess Walter fan.
I was lucky enough to interview him more than a decade ago for “Beautiful Ruins,” which honestly I feel like I need to re-read post-Season Two of White Lotus.
I haven’t read everything by Walter just yet, but I saw “So Far Gone” released this summer and knew it should be added to the TBR pile. The adamant supporter of independent bookstores I am, I snatched it up at Logan Square’s City Lit post- farmers’ market sojourn, and am disappointed I let it sit as long as I did.
It’s simply fantastic storytelling.
Walter’s protagonist, Rhys Kinnick, is just about every disgruntled lib fantasy come to life. In the face of a MAGA-ish son-in-law, Kinnick suffers an emotional breakdown and gets the hell out of Dodge, literally, heading for the hills and leaving any connection to community behind. Thus, the irony. I am reading a book about escaping the extreme right while trying in real life using my love of reading to disassociate from the public discourse which is filled with … blech.
Despite any initial hesitation I had that the book may throw me for a loop, I forged ahead, and was thrilled I did. Walter, a phenomenal writer in his own right, has created what almost feels like an homage to Richard Russo with his tale of Kinnick and a path to redemption — finding his adult daughter Bethany, whose children were dropped off at his “I’m eschewing society” retreat, before their father/stepfather and maybe-a-cultist member Shane comes to collect them.
The cast of characters to support Kinnick on his journey are quirky and engaging and feel like the family Kinnick doesn’t even understand he has, from an ex-girlfriend he only now realizes he truly loved, to that ex’s ex, a retired cop-turned-PI, a quasi-neighbor and his common-law wife (whom he also admitted feelings for and paid the price) right down to a ‘shroom-addled music festival concierge just over the Washington border.
I wasn’t prepared for the penultimate episode — the convergence of the forces vying for Kinnick’s grandchildren Asher and Leah — and was surprised at the empathy I felt for Shane. I can’t imagine a world where this isn’t adapted into a movie or streaming series. Netflix, if you’re listening …
What a great read, and a quick one if you’re looking for a fast book club pick or want to up your reading goal output. Bittersweet, all about the families we are born into and those we create on our own. Walter knocks this out of the park.
LitzyDitz 