Synopses & Reviews
George McLeods easy life turns to chaos when his bodybuilder cousin, Buck Root, returns to Minnesota with his sexy girlfriend, Joy, and her mother, Livia, whose sense of reality blurs into the pages of a western novel. For the first time, George understands the rage to live life to its fullest—the rage that has consumed Joy, Buck Root, and Livia. With tragicomic grandeur, Duff Brenna weaves the story of four people who come together in a cataclysmic moment of truth that tests their compassion and capacity to love.
Review
“A moving meditation on the dissipation of youth and our raw need for intimacy and love.” —
The New York Times Book Review“Crystal-clear writing...Brenna sees his larger-than-life creations with an unflinching eye, but also with measures of love.” —The Washington Post Book World
“Duff Brenna is a master at capturing the helplessness of humans, particularly humans with ‘tough written all over them.” —Los Angeles Times
“An artfully written, evil and eerie novel...Magnificent.” —Chicago Tribune
“Master stylist Duff Brenna deftly portrays the comic and sinister consequences of striving to embody the American Dream.” —Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
About the Author
Duff Brenna is the author of
The Book of Mamie, which won the Associated Writing Prize for Best First Novel;
The Holy Book of the Beard; and
Too Cool, a New York Times Notable Book. He is also the recipient of an NEA grant and Milwaukee Magazines Fiction Award. A Minnesota native and one-time Wisconsin dairy farmer, Brenna is an English professor. He lives in Poway, California.