Protagonist David Burkett is descended from a line of wealthy timber barons in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He is part of a dysfunctional family. His alcoholic father takes advantage of underage girls. David wishes his he and his father could have an ordinary relationship but is appalled at his debauchery. David feels a sense of guilt for his ancestors’ role in the destruction of natural resources and their corrupt actions against the local people. He is obsessed with making amends but is uncertain how to go about it. He turns to writing. He gets involved with a number of women but has trouble forming lasting bonds. We follow David’s life as he searches for direction.

I have mixed feeling about this book. I appreciated the writing, especially the sense of place and descriptions of the natural world. I particularly liked the dog, a wonderful character – probably the most likeable of the bunch. The flow is choppy, and the ending did not work for me. This is my first book by this author, and I liked it enough to read more of Harrison’s work.

3.5
( )

I found the book difficult to enter; it's a really specific voice, and the tale depends on knowledge of a broad range of characters and circumstances. But once the voice is assimilated, and once the milieu solidifies around you, the book picks up momentum and begins to unfold. The scent of things awakens. The last third of the book, with the currents of what came before bearing it up, is masterful. ( )

This is a beautifully written novel about the ways that the sins of the parents are visited on the children. David Burkett is a fourth generation member of a family responsible for the deforestation, in true "robber baron" style, of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Burkett's father is even further flawed. Among other things, he has been a serial statutory rapist throughout David's life. As he grows (during the novel) from early teens through the middle of his 30s, David, an intellectual who wants no part of his father's business dealings, becomes obsessed with discoving, and writing about, the depths of his family's depravations of greed and ecological disaster. And yet he can't get away from the fact that it is only the fact that he is a child of privilege that allows him to live his live this way. David's relationship with his sister, his parents, and the various women he becomes are mostly well drawn. His sister, Cynthia, is a particularly well developed character. In addition, and extremely importantly in terms of the book's overall impact, Harrison's descriptions of many of the natural settings of the Upper Peninsula are admirably rendered. You really feel like you're there.

About two thirds of the way through the novel, however, I grew a bit tired of living inside this character's head. His philosophical meanderings, and the things that occur to him about himself as the narrative rolls along, start to become repetitive. The wonderful quality of the writing, however, pulled me a long nevertheless, and overall with is a terrific novel. ( )

Le seul malheur qui existe avec la rencontre d'une oeuvre puissante, c'est qu'on ne pourra plus la découvrir! Au nouveau lecteur la joie d'être transporté par cette écriture et cette intrigue! Bien sûr, il me reste le souvenir, mais... ( )

An enjoyable read, although too long and a tad repetitive. There's enough good writing to help you stay with it, though.