Driftless
"A fast-moving story about small town life with characters that seem to have walked off the pages of Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology."--The Wall Street Journal
The few hundred souls who inhabit Words, Wisconsin, are an extraordinary cast of characters. The middle-aged couple who zealously guards their farm from a scheming milk cooperative. The lifelong invalid, crippled by conflicting emotions about her sister. A cantankerous retiree, haunted by childhood memories after discovering a cougar in his haymow. The former drifter who forever alters the ties that bind a community. In his first novel in 30 years, David Rhodes offers a vivid and unforgettable look at life in small-town America.
"[Rhodes's] finest work yet . . . Driftless is the best work of fiction to come out of the Midwest in many years."--Chicago Tribune
"Set in a rural Wisconsin town, the book presents a series of portraits that resemble Edgar Lee Masters's 'Spoon River Anthology' in their vividness and in the cumulative picture they create of village life."--The New Yorker
"Encompassing and incisive, comedic and profound, Driftless is a radiant novel of community and courage."--Booklist (starred review)
"A welcome antidote to overheated urban fiction . . . A quiet novel of depth and simplicity."--Kirkus Reviews
"It takes a while for all these stories to kick in, but once they do, Rhodes shows he still knows how to keep readers riveted. Add a blizzard, a marauding cougar and some rabble-rousing militiamen, and the result is a novel that is as affecting as it is pleasantly overstuffed."--Publishers Weekly
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Community Reviews
Driftless by David Rhodes
429 pages
What’s it about?
This book is a collage of stories that center around the small, rural town of Words, Wisconsin. It is the kind of small town that you drove through 30 years ago and wondered if it would still be there the next time you passed through. It is town alive with characters that live a different kind of life- a life that is slowly becoming extinct.
What did it make me think about?
This book is about life in a rural small town and it made me sad to think this way of life may be coming to an end. This book was also about our universal journey through life and how- although we are essentially alone in our experience- we do not have to be lonely. It is about the connections we make as a community and how those connections ultimately sustain us. It is a message that resonates whether you live in a small, rural town or a high-rise in the city. Having said that it also uniquely demonstrates the attitude and work ethic that have sustained the American farmer for hundreds of years.
Should you read it?
Well- this book was a slow starter for me. I really loved it, BUT these interwoven stories are not for everyone. There are so many characters and it takes awhile to see who is who, and how they connect. The characters are SO incredibly well drawn that you find yourself looking forward to hearing from them again. In some ways Mr. Rhodes writing reminds me of Wallace Stegner. I remember reading “Angle of Repose” and enjoying it but feeling like I could only read it slowly. I felt the same way with “Driftless”. So I encourage you all to pick it up and take your time as Mr. Rhodes is a man of immense talent!
Quote-
“Though he didn’t give a nickel what any particular individual thought about him and even help most of his neighbors in near-contempt, the mass of them all together- the community- had considerable weight.”
If you like this try-
Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson
The Bartender's Tale by Ivan Doig
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