Staff Pick
In this love ballad to the Midwest, author Nickolas Butler gives us a glimpse inside small-town Wisconsin. The novel follows a circle of friends — a farmer, a rock star, a businessman, a mother, and a rodeo cowboy — as they each come to grips with the choices and events that have set the course in their lives. A smoothly crafted, multi-narrated story that will leave you wistful. Recommended By Aubrey W., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
National Bestseller
Welcome to Little Wing.
It's a place like hundreds of others, but for four boyhood friends — all born and raised in this small Wisconsin town — it is home. One of them never left, still working the family farm, but the others felt the need to move on. One trades commodities, another took to the rodeo circuit. One of them hit it big as a rock star. And then there's Beth, a woman who has meant something special in each of their lives.
When all of them are brought together for a wedding, Little Wing seems even smaller than before. Lifelong bonds remain strong, but there are stresses — among the friends, between husbands and wives. There will be heartbreak, but there will also be hope, healing, even heroism as these memorable people learn the true meaning of friendship and love.
Nickolas Butler's Shotgun Lovesongs is that rare work of fiction that evokes a specific time and place, yet movingly describes the universal human condition. It is, in short, a truly remarkable book — a novel that, once read, will never be forgotten.
Review
"Sparkles in every way. A love letter to the open lonely American heartland.…A must-read." People
Review
"The kind of book that restores your faith in humanity." Toronto Star
Review
"Shotgun Lovesongs is about a hometown in Wisconsin and the close band of friends who will always feel its magnetic pull.…The most lyrical parts of this big-hearted book are about how all the characters, including the star, are almost physically drawn to the town and one another.…Impressively original." The New York Times
Review
"We all have them, right? Those songs that indelibly mark the milestones in our lives? Songs that stir up our deepest feelings and remind us of who we are.…Only the best, most emotionally resonant novels work in the same way. Nickolas Butler's Shotgun Lovesongs is one of those novels." Minneapolis Star Tribune
Review
"Nickolas Butler ripped my heart out with rare honesty and good old-fashioned unapologetic love. A book that makes you want to call old friends. A writer who makes you feel more human than you thought possible." Matthew Quick, New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook
Review
"This is a novel about home, and home is how the book feels." Josh Weil, award-winning author of The New Valley
Review
"There is also a profound empathy for the characters and the small-town dynamic that the reader will likely share, an appreciation for what 'America was, or could be.'" Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Synopsis
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Impressively original. --The New York Times
Sparkles in every way. A love letter to the open lonely American heartland...A must-read. --People
The kind of book that restores your faith in humanity. --Toronto Star
Welcome to Little Wing.
It's a place like hundreds of others, but for four boyhood friends--all born and raised in this small Wisconsin town--it is home. One of them never left, still working the family farm, but the others felt the need to move on. One trades commodities, another took to the rodeo circuit. One of them hit it big as a rock star. And then there's Beth, a woman who has meant something special in each of their lives.
When all of them are brought together for a wedding, Little Wing seems even smaller than before. Lifelong bonds remain strong, but there are stresses--among the friends, between husbands and wives. There will be heartbreak, but there will also be hope, healing, even heroism as these memorable people learn the true meaning of friendship and love.
Nickolas Butler's Shotgun Lovesongs is that rare work of fiction that evokes a specific time and place, yet movingly describes the universal human condition. It is, in short, a truly remarkable book--a novel that, once read, will never be forgotten.
About the Author
Nickolas Butler was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. His writings have appeared in Narrative Magazine, Ploughshares, The Kenyon Review Online, The Progressive, The Christian Science Monitor, and elsewhere. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, he currently lives in Wisconsin with his wife and their two children.