Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The English Major

3.46 of 5 stars 3.46 · rating details · 1,425 ratings · 358 reviews

"It used to be Cliff and Vivian and now it isn't." With these words, Jim Harrison sends his sixty-something protagonist, divorced and robbed of his farm by a late-blooming real estate shark of an ex-wife, on a road trip across America, armed with a childhood puzzle of the United States and a mission to rename all the states and state birds to overcome the banal names men h...more

Hardcover, 254 pages

Published October 1st 2008 by Grove Press

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

A Cold Day in Paradise by Steve Hamilton

Better Read Than Dead by Victoria Laurie

The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle by JoAnna Carl

Gifts and Consequences by Daniel Coleman

Books set in Michigan

42nd out of 213 books — 41 voters

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by Unknown

New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2008

54th out of 100 books — 17 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 2,342)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Oct 23, 2008 Lori (Hellian) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Harrison is like Garrison Keiler, a voice I treasure. Even when he is distressed, there's a warmth and deepness that soothes. Because he writes from a spirit that is pure and heartful. He always draws attention to the small details that we can so easily pass over in life, yet hold all the meaning for our spirit. This is a simple book, an easy read, not much of a plot, and not his greatest, but all in all I still really liked it.

like 6 likes · see review

Jan 29, 2009 Ruth rated it 3 of 5 stars

In the mood for an amusing road novel? This will fill the bill. Poor old Cliff, former English teacher and longtime farmer, at a high school class reunion, his wife of more than 30 years disappeared with a former classmate for hours and reappeared with grass stains on her knees. Bad sign. Soon she’s not only left Cliff for (ahem) greener pastures, but has sold the farm out from under him.

He takes off in his beater with the intent of visiting every state, giving it a new more suitable name, and a...more

like 5 likes · see review

Jul 08, 2009 Dana Stabenow rated it 2 of 5 stars

Never read Jim Harrison, bought it for the title. Yes, I am on occasion that superficial.

---

Okay, finished it. I alternatively giggled and dozed during reading. I don't know if it's Harrison's prose style, which does run on so, or that this is the second book in a month I've read about a 60-year old man on the run from something (the other one was Philosophy Made Simple by Robert Hellenga). It's hard to fall in love with a character who is so aimless, I kept wanted to grab him up by the collar o...more

like 2 likes · see review

Dec 18, 2008 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

On the surface this is a travel novel. The narrator, Cliff, who has lost his farm and his wife in a divorce, hits the road to restore himself. He travels through the western U.S. on a mission to rename the birds and states of America. But his real journey is the one in his mind as he contemplates his past life and what makes life worth living. In the hands of the author Jim Harrison, this mind journey is made at 90 miles an hour while negotiating a thousand curves in the road making this novel a...more

like 2 likes · see review

Sep 15, 2010 wally rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: harrison

heh heh! i'd just written about underworld, by delillo, and i lamented that that one should have had an index, a map, to make the journey more enjoyable. i wondered if that was the point. not necessarily to delight and instruct, but to enlighten and bewilder. so say we all?

this one by harrison does have a map. cliff, this 60-something old buck, begins a journey armed with a childhood puzzle of the united states. remember those things? each state neatly cut out and defined, each one a different c...more

like 1 like · see review

Jan 30, 2009 Tom rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a tale about a former farmer/teacher who retires at age 60 after his wife divorces him and sells out the from underneath him. He decides to get in his car and visit each of the fifty states. He does 15 and returns home.

Makes one wonder about ones own life. Looking back, what did I achieve? what impact did I make? Did I make more than or at least 30% of my goal? What do I do now?

The story is entertaining with some humor, but from one as old as I (66), it is also disturbing.

At least a 3 d...more

like 1 like · see review

Jan 08, 2009 Janet rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I really loved the author's "Returning to Earth" and when I saw he had a new book out, I jumped on it. And while I saw some similar elements in this story--namely, Michigan and Native American references, I didn't like the main character in the way I liked the last ones. This guy was a dirty old man and made far too many references to his dick. Totally turned me off! And it's too bad, because it's such a lovely premise--divorced older man hits the road to visit each of the United States.

like 4 likes · see review

Feb 09, 2009 Greg rated it 5 of 5 stars

We're in Nebraska with this maniac former farmer, laughing on every page. Is it because he's 60 and life is just beginning for him?

like 3 likes · see review

Jan 23, 2009 Kathy McC. Mc.C rated it 3 of 5 stars

Great story premise- English teacher retires to take up farming. Wife leaves him. He decides to journey across the US. It was a NY Times notable book of 2008. Also reviewed in BookMarks. The main character was at times witty and at other times reflective. Added to the book's charm was the fact that Cliff was a Michigander and proud of it. "I was mildly irritated that Wisconsin had the same state bird as Michigan." There were many references to various Michigan cities and landmarks.
He had also j...more

like · see review

Jan 18, 2009 Dominica Phetteplace rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: old folks, farmers

Recommended to Dominica by: The New York Times

The English major of the title is the narrator, a man who spent the first ten years out of college teaching high-school English and then abandoned academics to spend the next twenty-five years as a cherry farmer:
"I was heartsick with books and teaching and wanted simply to live the 'natural' life of a farmer. I let my mind life go dead. I was amused at the influx of city people in the seventies and eighties who also wanted to live a natural life in the country and didn't realize that farming was...more The English major of the title is the narrator, a man who spent the first ten years out of college teaching high-school English and then abandoned academics to spend the next twenty-five years as a cherry farmer:
"I was heartsick with books and teaching and wanted simply to live the 'natural' life of a farmer. I let my mind life go dead. I was amused at the influx of city people in the seventies and eighties who also wanted to live a natural life in the country and didn't realize that farming was as technical in its own way as electrical engineering. They listened to Neil Young like myself but then I knew how to farm."
Elsewhere he notes,"Part of the mental slavery of farming is that you're always thinking it's too warm or too cold, too wet or too dry, or that a big wind is going to bruise the fruit."
His divorce from his wife prompts to quit farming and begin a drive across the United States. Yes, this is a road-trip book. There, I've given away the plot. I wouldn't have picked it up had I known that, though it's my own fault for not reading the book jacket. I like my books to have real plots, ones where I can't wait to see what happens next. 'Will they ever make it to California?' is not my idea of suspense. I have the same problem with pregnancy stories, which have three-acts built right in: conception, gestation and birth. Too easy, try harder.
That said, the book is really well-written. It's got a simple and relaxed prose that's meant to be enjoyed over a week or two, not gobbled down in a day. It's got great descriptions of locales that are distinctive, and ones not so unique. The scenes that take place in (spoiler!) Arizona gave me an especially strong image of the land and snake-filled landscape.
I know I'm not in the intended audience for this book. The narrator, like the author is a sixty-ish man. The women in this book are discussed chiefly in terms of their sexual attractiveness. This book's main demographic will fall hard for Harrison's gem-studded prose. Perhaps that's why this was a New York Times Notable book. (less)

like · see review

Dec 10, 2008 Tony rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-mainstream

Harrison, Jim. THE ENGLISH MAJOR. (2008). *****. It is likely that one has to be of a certain age to really appreciate this book, but I certainly liked it a lot. Harrison has the ability to bring his characters to life so that you can imagine yourself joining them for a drink at the bar. In this novel, he chronicles the life of Cliff, a sixty-ish farmer from Upper Michigan and one-time English teacher. His wife has just sued him for divorce and won. In the process, he has lost his farm and most...more Harrison, Jim. THE ENGLISH MAJOR. (2008). *****. It is likely that one has to be of a certain age to really appreciate this book, but I certainly liked it a lot. Harrison has the ability to bring his characters to life so that you can imagine yourself joining them for a drink at the bar. In this novel, he chronicles the life of Cliff, a sixty-ish farmer from Upper Michigan and one-time English teacher. His wife has just sued him for divorce and won. In the process, he has lost his farm and most of his other possessions. He decides – based on his finding an old jigsaw puzzle of America in his attic – that he will travel to all fifty states and try to see that country that he was never able to see because farming doesn’t leave you any time for vacations. He sets out in his old Taurus and makes a stop in Morris, MN, to visit one of his old students from his teaching days with whom he had maintained contact with over the years through letters. She is now 48-years old and addicted to her cell phone. She talks Cliff into taking her along with him as far as a small town in Montana, where her husband is working on an archeological dig. On the way, Cliff discovers that she is a roaring sex enthusiast, and finds himself reliving a fantasy, but nursing himself through the rigors of unaccustomed sexual calisthenics. He is forced to buy a cell phone at the demand of this new companion and learns that he has picked up a new item of hatred for his tool kit. In addition to his new “girlfriend” calling him every half-hour, his son has gotten hold of the number and calls him, too. His son – an admitted gay – lives in San Francisco and works in the movie industry scouting out sets for up-coming films. He is wealthy and free with his cash. He wants his Dad to visit with him so that they can talk over the divorce. Cliff finds his life getting more and more complicated as he inadvertantly lets more and more people into his life. His desire for solitude and contemplation are squashed. He continues to explore the Western states, but his dream of hitting all of them has gone. His goal, now, is to rename all the states and state birds as an exercise of some art form that he can’t really put a name to. One of his Michigan friends provided him with several disposable cameras before the trip, but all Cliff seems able to take pictures of are different breeds of cattle he sees along the way. Cliff manages to get in a lot of windshield time on his trip, and religiously listens to NPR, when he can get it on the radio – unless, of course, they start talking about Iraq. One one leg of his journey, he is listening to NPR, and we learn: “I was diverted by NPR when a disembodied male voice said that a mere teaspoon of a neutron star would weigh a billion tons. As a literature person I at first missed the point and wondered at the preposterous strength of the teaspoon.” The novel is full of non-sequitors like this, and they make you know Cliff very well by the end of the book. Highly recommended.(less)

like 4 likes · see review

Feb 10, 2013 Rick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Having struggled through the overly plotted machinations of Gone Girl it was a pleasure to dive into Jim Harrison's shaggy dog story road trip and reflection on late middle age crisis. When you are reading Harrison you cannot help but hope and feel that the fictional characters are proxy!s for the author. Harrison's protagonists are lusty learned men with big appetites for food drink and the beauty of Mother Nature. They all seem like people I want to meet and hang out with. On nearly every page...more

like 2 likes · see review

Sep 23, 2012 Dex Quire rated it 1 of 5 stars

What happened to Jim Harrison? All his novels and novellas after Dalva dissolve into middle aged men who like to nip the bottle, sit in country cafes and lust after waitresses, get nostalgic for divorced wives, mistresses, daughters travel to the southwest fish and eat brook trout remember dogs, expensive meals, wines, church services of their youth and Lutheran pastors who get drunk; middle aged men who look nudie magazines, porn flicks, flirt with pretty waitresses, get involved with pretty wa...more What happened to Jim Harrison? All his novels and novellas after Dalva dissolve into middle aged men who like to nip the bottle, sit in country cafes and lust after waitresses, get nostalgic for divorced wives, mistresses, daughters travel to the southwest fish and eat brook trout remember dogs, expensive meals, wines, church services of their youth and Lutheran pastors who get drunk; middle aged men who look nudie magazines, porn flicks, flirt with pretty waitresses, get involved with pretty waitresses at fishing resorts in the UP. Men who drive old cars, comment on the rich and their venality, the coolness of Mexican culture, books read and music listened to. Men who zoom around, offer up reminiscences of ex-wives who now have cancer, or her new husband who has cancer, think that all politicians are fiends, or how we f**ked over the American Indian, of how he cooked up a great fettuccine, spaghetti, chopped onion olive oil and morel mushroom, watched a TV show, claimed a favorite quote from a Buddhist somewheres; said middle aged man will think about his weeny, his boner, his wiener, his hard-on and lust for a waitress who as she bends over will jolt his nuts, ah, but she is divorced, beaten, brutalized on the run from an abusive husband boyfriend who has never been out of the UP but drives from Marquette to Munsey over to Detroit; he will get misty eyed and reflect how bad the Chippewa have gotten it and the Apaches and the Lakota Sioux, then drive across the United States and stop in at a roadside diner for biscuits and gravy and flirt with the waitress who will happen to take a liking to him and make him tear up thinking about his old lab, Sheriff, who he had to shoot by his favorite brook trout pond and who visits him in his dreams along with the waitress while he is watching porn in his underwear and she drops her cigarettes but he gets a peek at her a** and his wiener grows into a boner and then into a hard-on and he comes and it hurls him across the room and she freshens up and tells him about her abusive drug dealing former boyfriend and the scar he laid across her otherwise beautiful face and how she has never talked to a negro man before but how she always remembered the saying of her old alcoholic dad, to the effect that every five minutes someone gets a deep thought and how she tried to sew it into a sampler but her biker boyfriend didn't like it and gave her yet another scar across her face so now she has and X on her otherwise beautiful face and how her mom was a secretary at the car dealership in downtown Detroit and how(less)

like · see review

Jul 05, 2012 Motorcycle rated it 3 of 5 stars

I read this one after I saw an episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations that featured a bit of Harrison's writing. I'd read The Great Leader and not particularly enjoyed it, but thought I'd give him another go. I really quite liked this one though, and would have given it four stars, but for all the sex. I don't think I'm prudish, but he seems quite fixated. At least the character in this one seemed to have a slightly better attitude toward it than the character in the Great Leader.

All told...more

like · see review

Jun 11, 2012 Deidre Valentine rated it 4 of 5 stars

William Shakespeare affirms that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Few, if any, would venture to disagree. Nevertheless, venture Cliff does. Jim Harrison’s Cliff, narrator of The English Major, is a self-affirmed “noun person.” The once husband, farmer, and pet-owner has lost his wife, land, and dog. Needing to find meaning in life and name, Cliff leaves Michigan with a forty-eight piece United States puzzle and begins a project of renaming each “banal name[d]” state and its bird....more William Shakespeare affirms that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Few, if any, would venture to disagree. Nevertheless, venture Cliff does. Jim Harrison’s Cliff, narrator of The English Major, is a self-affirmed “noun person.” The once husband, farmer, and pet-owner has lost his wife, land, and dog. Needing to find meaning in life and name, Cliff leaves Michigan with a forty-eight piece United States puzzle and begins a project of renaming each “banal name[d]” state and its bird.

“Whatever you were you aren’t anymore” becomes the mantra of Cliff’s naysaying family, friends, and acquaintances throughout the novel. Like most new age “bullshit,” Cliff does not adopt that mantra; instead, his words and actions are akin to the cliché, “You can’t know where you’re going until you know where you’ve been.” Through Cliff’s systematic journaling, the reader comes to understand that his ironclad work ethics are those of his mother, a woman of “practicalities.” His “goofy” ways are an inheritance from his father, a man full of humor and idioms. Cliff’s zest for youth and his gift of seeing beauty in the simple things are a result of the loss of his brother, Teddy, and his dog, Lola, respectively. Caring for his “hefty,” overworked wife, Vivian, Cliff adopts the art of cooking. When wife becomes ex-, we learn that Cliff is also an escapist.

Cliff first escapes from the life of a farmer by obtaining a degree. He becomes an English and history teacher to the uninterested which leads him astray from his love of literature. Consequently, marrying Vivian ties him to his first escaped fate: farming. For twenty-five years, as Thoreau would say, Cliff was owned by the land. “Full of the day by day,” Cliff is shattered to pieces at the unexpected dissolution of marriage from his wife; thus, he is forced into an escapist road trip where Cliff is Harrison’s animate symbol of puzzlement.

In his backward crawl, the reader encounters the sexually enthralled “pussy trances,” as Cliff’s alcoholic doctor friend would call them, with various women; therefore, making female trysts the catalyst that moves the book forward. Cliff’s nostalgia and exploration allows him to discover himself and his purpose. What he was is exactly who he is. He is a man of high mind, ideals, and self-doubt. He is an observer and recorder. He is a man of story and telling. He is a man of solitude and nature. He is a man of endless questions and literary researched answers. He is a man who understands how the beginning affects the end. He is, by name, an English major.

I recommend this novel to all lovers of literature. It is a simple read. The construct is that of journal entries filled with descriptive landmarks along Cliff’s travel west. I had several moments of introspective pause while reading. Be that Cliff and I are English majors, I felt that I grew as he grew. It was nice to read about literature in literature, so to speak.
(less)

like · see review

May 18, 2012 William rated it 5 of 5 stars

I think you should be in your 60's and male to truly enjoy this book. I could not hold back from laughing out loud through much of this, and smiling through the rest, while often cringing with the pain this poor lead character faced. Here' the description from Amazon:
It used to be Cliff and Vivian and now it isn't." With these words, Jim Harrison sends his sixty-something protagonist, divorced and robbed of his farm by a late-blooming real estate shark of an ex-wife, on a road trip across Ameri...more

like · see review

Mar 13, 2012 Timothy Bazzett rated it 5 of 5 stars

A geezer cogitates the myriad mysteries of life. I tried hard to like this book, and I succeeded, at least partly. The title was an instant grabber since I too was an English major, forty years ago. Harrison (who was once, incidentally, like me, a Reed City Boy) has told interviewers that the book's title was spawned by the oft-asked question from his practical-minded and sometimes dim northern Michigan friends and relatives: "Why wouldja major in English when ya already know English?" Point tak...more A geezer cogitates the myriad mysteries of life. I tried hard to like this book, and I succeeded, at least partly. The title was an instant grabber since I too was an English major, forty years ago. Harrison (who was once, incidentally, like me, a Reed City Boy) has told interviewers that the book's title was spawned by the oft-asked question from his practical-minded and sometimes dim northern Michigan friends and relatives: "Why wouldja major in English when ya already know English?" Point taken, I suppose. The truth is that most English majors were/are people who love books and reading. But then those same people often end up as teachers; and some of them, like me, find out they don't really like teaching, just books. Anyway, ol' Cliff, the book's 60 yr-old protagonist, taught high school English for 10 yrs, then went back to farming, another job he didn't really like all that much, but got kinda used to over a 25 yr period. When his wife of nearly 40 yrs leaves him, his dog dies and he loses his farm, all practically at the same time, he is forced to re-examine his life and try to make a new one. So he goes on the road, fancying himself a kind of codger-Kerouac, perhaps. As is true in almost all of Harrison's books, women fling themselves at him and have their way with his tired ol' body, which begins to very much feel its age after too much vigorous sex. He seems to find more pleasure in frequent naps and food than he does in these adventures in the sack though. In point of fact, his descriptions of his meals, taken in various diners, bars and seedy restaurants, or self-prepared, as he travels west across the country from Michigan to California, and back to Montana, become rather tiresome, as do his frequent digressions on life and sex and just about everything else. The plot, if there indeed is one, is pretty thin. Having said all this however, I have to admit that I often found myself chuckling or even laughing out loud as I empathized with Cliff's revisionist ruminations on growing older and suffering the humiliations and pains of diminishing strenghth and waning sexual energy. His self-deprecating humor as he variously characterizes himself as a geezer, a codger, or an old Studebaker standing in the weeds, is quite contagious and I found myself rooting for the pore ol' fart. So the ending - which isn't exactly a "happily-ever-after" one, but wasn't really too awful either - seemed appropriate. And I'm pretty sure Cliff is correct about his future. He'll "do fine."(less)

like · see review

Nov 15, 2011 Stephanie Green rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved the first line of the book, “It used to be Cliff and Vivian and now it isn’t.” It is so simple yet immediately has you asking, well why not? What happened? You read on to discover the story of Cliff as his midlife crisis unfolds through the various states of America. Being an English major myself, I immediately liked the title of this book; it was the main reason why I chose to read it. Told from the perspective of sixty-something year old, divorced Cliff, ‘The English Major’ just sounde...more I loved the first line of the book, “It used to be Cliff and Vivian and now it isn’t.” It is so simple yet immediately has you asking, well why not? What happened? You read on to discover the story of Cliff as his midlife crisis unfolds through the various states of America. Being an English major myself, I immediately liked the title of this book; it was the main reason why I chose to read it. Told from the perspective of sixty-something year old, divorced Cliff, ‘The English Major’ just sounded different and intriguing, and sure enough, Jim Harrison proved me right. This book was the perfect blend of adventure, wit, a steamy romance and finally, self-discovery, well – sort of. Harrison ends the book with Cliff finding content, if not finding himself or his future. “This won’t be a bad life I thought happily. What there is left of it is undetermined but I’ll do fine…”

It seems as though his odd quest to change the dull names that ‘white men’ have given to the fifty states leads him on many different adventures. My favorite of these adventures was when he finds himself on the snake farm. In this particular section of the book, Cliff’s true character really shines through. As the story goes on, the reader grows to know and like Cliff’s character, even empathizing with him as he deals with the after-effects of his divorce and his ex-wife – the real-estate troublemaker. His straight-to-the-point personality is blunt, quirky, but most definitely likable.

Although this novel starts out to be sad, it takes a more positive turn when Cliff has the time of his life on his random road-trip through the states, with his childhood puzzle as his guide. At the beginning of this story, Cliff longs for Vivian back, and Vivian makes it clear that this will not happen after her wild frolicking with sleazy Fred at the High School reunion. Jim Harrison then goes on to give us more of an insight to Cliff’s life, why he married Vivian in the first place and what happened up until now. Reading the story from Cliff’s perspective makes it more personal and this is a writing technique that I admire Harrison for. I also like how he introduced the character of Fred and gave us readers a vivid image of the character in our minds with just a few introductory lines. Harrison successfully did this with Vivian’s character also, stating that Cliff “never expected” that his “fifty-eight year old wife would become wayward…” This gives us an insight to Vivian’s character in the past, and lets us know that her actions with Fred were unexpected and out of character. This shock causes Cliff to turn to the bottle, which he stops after accidentally running over his beloved dog Lola.

This story ended on a positive note and had a somewhat happy ending. It leaves you feeling content as you rest assured that Cliff is now feeling content. Perhaps he is even feeling the first signs of elation that he has felt in many years. In one way, it gives other middle-aged people a sense of hope to get them through their midlife crisis. It could even inspire them to take to the road and have an adventure of their own. Regardless, for anyone, reading this story is like sitting huddled around a fire and hearing Cliff himself tell it in his own words, simple yet exciting, blunt in parts but you always want to know what will happen next.
(less)

like · see review

Sep 12, 2011 William Young rated it 5 of 5 stars

Completely awesome book. It took me a while to get the hang of the loose semi-slang almost-run-on sentence breathlessness of the story telling, but once I did, the rhythm just clicked and made a certain kind of sense. The story is about a 60-year-old dude whose wife leaves him for another man, divorces him, sells his farm out from under him and the resultant "cross-country" drive the guy takes as a means to figure out his new life.

There are literally tons of little philosophical nuggets buried i...more

like · see review

Jul 27, 2011 John Pappas rated it 3 of 5 stars

Cliff, the protagonist of The English Major, is a nearly unlikable lecher who, after his wife begins an affair with a former high school classmate, begins a cross country trip on which he attempts to regain and relive the past. Ostensibly undertaking a project to rename the states and birds of North America, Cliff travels west, encountering people from his past and several new friends. Really, he attempt to remake and rebuild himself after he makes the realization that his adult life is crumblin...more

like · see review

Apr 16, 2011 Bill Krieger rated it 4 of 5 stars

Halfway through, this was as fun and as funny a book as I've ever read. And it was a great guy book, wonderfully inappropriate. Cha! "The English Major" was all set to join Bukowski's "Post Office" in my permanent vacation guy-reading rotation. I was getting "what's wrong with that dude" looks because I was laughing out loud reading this book over lunch.

Ah, the beginning. How's this for a hook? The protagonist is a 60 year-old cherry tree farmer in Michigan. Improbably, his similarly-aged wife h...more

like · see review

Mar 05, 2011 Laura added it

The English Major begins: "It used to be Cliff and Vivian and now it isn't." I was compelled by this first sentence, and the subtlety of the representation of the end of the main character's life as he knows it. Now that it "isn't" Cliff and Vivian, Cliff has decided to take a road trip across all fifty states. Cliff is a former English/history teacher, turned farmer. His wife cheats on him at their high school reunion, and since she is a realtor and the primary breadwinner in the house, he is l...more The English Major begins: "It used to be Cliff and Vivian and now it isn't." I was compelled by this first sentence, and the subtlety of the representation of the end of the main character's life as he knows it. Now that it "isn't" Cliff and Vivian, Cliff has decided to take a road trip across all fifty states. Cliff is a former English/history teacher, turned farmer. His wife cheats on him at their high school reunion, and since she is a realtor and the primary breadwinner in the house, he is left only with some cash from the sale of the farm, and his retirement from his years of teaching. He heads out with nothing much more than a United States puzzle with different colored states, which he throws out one by one as he travels through the state each piece represents. This puzzle and his ritualistic recitation of the bird, motto, nickname and flower of each state become the most common tropes in the book. Cliff picks up a former student, with whom he begins an affair, and visits his son in San Francisco, but other than that, there isn't much plot to the book. The narrative is Cliff's internal struggle with his identity in the wake of the dissolution of the marriage that defined him and with his aging self.

This is a remarkably masculine book. Now, I don't tend to gender stereotype books I read a lot of what some might call masculine fiction, but for me, there was no way into this book as a female. Cliff is part curmudgeon, part drunk, part Luddite, and part horny teenage boy. He uses words to refer to his anatomy that made me kind of uncomfortable, and does so frequently. Harrison is probably most well known for writing Legends of the Fall, which is clearly a masculine story, but I think that it tells us a bit more about humanity than this does. I had heard that Harrison can't write female characters (except perhaps in his novella Woman Lit by Fireflies, which I have not read), and I saw no evidence to dispute that here. Marybelle, Cliff's former student/lover, is totally crazy and wants to have sex all the time. As a reader, I found her irritating, but wanted her to be part of the narrative, because the book is better when Cliff is having sex. I think that this is exactly how Cliff felt about her. Cliff's only positive relationship with a female (or maybe anyone) in the book is with his dog, Lola.

Cliff eventually becomes obsessed with a project to rename all of the states. This is where his background in English/history comes into play. He wants to give them names to represent the original native inhabitants. This was slightly interesting to me, as it seems that Cliff is engaged in an act of reclaiming something that he lost in his divorce, and is also creating something (much like he was creating something when he was farming). Naming is also a God-like act, and Cliff's attempts to control his project are like the attempts to control his life that has spiraled out of his control in the months of drunkenness following his divorce.

Overall, I didn't hate reading this book. There were a few laughs and moments where the land becomes the main character, that I appreciated as a reader. What I really wanted from the book was a different Cliff. I wanted to see him change more in the book. I wanted to understand him better. And in that respect, I was disappointed. (less)

like · see review

Feb 06, 2011 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I'm new to Jim Harrison. I recently read & reviewed Just Before Dark, a collection of non-fiction essays I didn't much like, but I promised to give his fiction a go, hoping it would be better. Now I have, and will be back for more. This story reminds me of two others, Netherland by Joseph O'Neill and Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck. There's a good bit of Philip Roth in it as well. Netherland with regard to the painful winding down of a marriage; Travels with Charley for the road trip...more

like · see review

Sep 01, 2010 Kane Faucher rated it 3 of 5 stars

Highly acclaimed writer Jim Harrison, author of celebrated Legends of the Fall and Return to Earth, returns with a poignant salvo for those immersed in that critical position of being unmoored and having to restart life. Cliff is armed with little more than a hundred thousand dollars from the abrupt sale of his marital home, and on a cross-country journey to rename every state and state bird in an Adam-ic bid to take control of his own life. After having lost all bearing and meaning, Cliff retre...more Highly acclaimed writer Jim Harrison, author of celebrated Legends of the Fall and Return to Earth, returns with a poignant salvo for those immersed in that critical position of being unmoored and having to restart life. Cliff is armed with little more than a hundred thousand dollars from the abrupt sale of his marital home, and on a cross-country journey to rename every state and state bird in an Adam-ic bid to take control of his own life. After having lost all bearing and meaning, Cliff retreats into a happier past as a means of re-imagining the possibilities of the future. There is in Harrison's portrayal of the recently divorced and sixty-something narrator a sort of stoic humour, and although the circumstances that speed him along this journey could hardly be called risible, Cliff takes it in stride. There is nothing particularly joyous or maudlin in Cliff's sojourn, and this marks the novel from others of its kind that attempt to convey definitive triumph or defeat of the human spirit.
There is no Gonzo sensationalism in Cliff's travels, although there are plenty of uncanny moments. Despite Harrison's very approachable narrative style, there are occasional bouts of over-explanation, but not to the extent that it would be considered dithering. What a patient reader would have to understand in immersing his or herself into Cliff's interior monologue is the double bind he is facing; namely, in starting his life from scratch and yet still being laden with the many regrets of memory. The urge to rename each of the US states as well as their birds is not an innocuous fancy, but rather portrays Cliff's patent desire to launch himself into an act of almost biblical genesis. In Genesis, God granted Adam dominion over all the creatures of the earth through the act of naming them, so, in like fashion, Cliff has taken on a similar mantle. But instead of declaring dominion over the land and its avian delights, Cliff is on a mission to recover a lost dominion over himself.
This is a double travelogue: one a literal journey across a landscape Cliff is rediscovering and renaming, and the other an exploration of the self and its possibilities. Harrison provides us with a novel that is not lofty in its aspirations, and written in a light-spirited manner that carries with it the candour and self-effacement of Michel de Montaigne. What Harrison does admirably in the voice of Cliff is demonstrate that, after catastrophes of any stripe, there are many roads across the landscape that may lead to the reclamation of one's own life.(less)

like · see review

Feb 09, 2010 Dan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Go west, old man
The book is crude, let me tell you. Those of a delicate countenance are not going to find it readable. But for the rest of us, Harrison does crude better than anyone.

I’d add that “The English Major” is raucous, hilarious and peripatetic. But then I’m the same age as the old geezer at the center of the novel and consequently more partial to his sensibilities.

“The English Major” gathers up the ruminations of Cliff, a grizzled 60-year-old Michigan Upper Peninsula cherry farmer and...more

like · see review

Dec 20, 2009 Regina Mclaughlin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Festooned with guffaws and lousy with homely truths, the novel's first-person narration irritated me with its self-indulgence.

Oh it starts out promisingly enough with Cliff, a numb, over-the-hill farmer,talking out his troubles. Poor guy's split with his wife, his dog's dead, the farm's been sold. Worse still, his penis has become, uh, an unreliable friend. GONGGG!!! Yes boys and girls, it's time to take to the road. And we know what that means to English majors: a trip into one's own head. A lo...more

like 3 likes · see review

Oct 17, 2009 Stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Jim Harrison's latest novel is difficult for me to rate. It is a quick and enjoyable read. The book follows many of the formulas we western American males "of a certain age" embrace, albeit somewhat apologetically (at least in Eugene, Oregon). A sixty-year-old man gets divorced and decides that he will hit the road, traveling from state to state. Oh yes, to add to the angst his dog has just died (I'm not kidding). He has several projects: renaming each state with the name of an Indian tribe that...more Jim Harrison's latest novel is difficult for me to rate. It is a quick and enjoyable read. The book follows many of the formulas we western American males "of a certain age" embrace, albeit somewhat apologetically (at least in Eugene, Oregon). A sixty-year-old man gets divorced and decides that he will hit the road, traveling from state to state. Oh yes, to add to the angst his dog has just died (I'm not kidding). He has several projects: renaming each state with the name of an Indian tribe that originally occupied it (so "Oregon" becomes "Umatilla"--not bad!), giving birds more appropriate names (a "robin" becomes a "ruben," etc.), and throwing away the corresponding piece of a U.S. map jigsaw puzzle as he leaves each state. Along the way, he hooks up with a very hot forty-year-old woman (of course), fantasizes about a lot of waitresses (of course), drinks a lot of booze (of course), and thinks many ambivalent thoughts about his former wife (of course). He also does a lot of fishing, eats a lot of high colorie Mexican food, and hangs out with some fairly immature guys. Despite all this, he has his redeeming qualities. For one thing, he's smart . . . a former English major no less . . . and he does not hesitate to turn his considerable intelligence and cynicism against himself. So why was I tempted not only to give this novel not just three stars but four? Harrison writes like I wish I could: simple, gritty, and very funny. So I conclude this with several of a hundred or so gems:
"Farming had been pretty much a solo act and in decades of solitary thinking I can't say I came to any worthy conclusions" (p. 103). "I lit a cigarette and a passing lady looked at me like I had a dog turd in my mouth" (p. 139). "I stopped in Tombstone, the scene of gunfighter mayhem, for breakfast. Given the right tools, men will always murder each other" (p. 173). "I left Patagonia at dawn with a glad heart after the same wretched cup of motel room coffee that had been following me around the country. Coffee requires coffee in it" (p. 172). (Traveling through Salt Lake City on the freeway): "When a blue-haired lady passes you an inch away going eighty while talking on a cell phone you fear for the Republic. Was it for this that the seagulls devoured the grasshoppers and saved the Mormon crops?" (p. 184). Write another, Mr. Harrison, I'll happily read it! (less)

like · see review

Sep 06, 2009 Jean rated it 3 of 5 stars

The story starts and ends on a farm in northwest Michigan. (I never thought of Michigan as being farm country; shows what I know.) In between, Cliff, the narrator, drives toward San Francisco to visit his gay son, having recently been divorced (which includes losing his farm). On this road trip, Cliff contemplates his marriage, gives a former student a ride to where her anthropology-professor husband is on a dig, has an affair with said student (without apparent consequence to anyone involved),...more

like · see review

Jun 20, 2009 Marguerite rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

A manly book from a macho man, who from his author photo appears to have put the grizz in grizzled. This was such a refreshing change of pace and place (It starts in the Upper Midwest and meanders toward the left coast). Cliff, in his 60s, is divorced, homeless and dogless -- in the throes of a belated midlife crisis. He used to be a teacher, then a farmer. He used to be part of a couple. He used to have a dog that was always at his side. What to do? Hit the road in his trusty Taurus armed with...more A manly book from a macho man, who from his author photo appears to have put the grizz in grizzled. This was such a refreshing change of pace and place (It starts in the Upper Midwest and meanders toward the left coast). Cliff, in his 60s, is divorced, homeless and dogless -- in the throes of a belated midlife crisis. He used to be a teacher, then a farmer. He used to be part of a couple. He used to have a dog that was always at his side. What to do? Hit the road in his trusty Taurus armed with a children's puzzle of the U.S., a lot of liquor, and a hot mama of a former student and ponder till things make sense. Is this every man's fantasy? Well, Jim Harrison issues some hilarious reality checks. This book is laugh-aloud funny at times, poignant at others. It moves along at a decent pace for a road trip. The states and birds project was a semi-interesting sidebar. The male characters had more depth than the women. Viv, the voracious real-estate agent who'd sell the condo out from under her granny, comes off as cartoonish, though she resembles some women I've known in that field. I'd rather Harrison use a few more commas -- the lack of them sent me on my own road trip a few times -- but it's his book. I'll look for more of them.

"This last day was especially hard because Viv was not a liberal democrat like myself and made no attempt at fairness while she was splitting up our mutual possessions. She even took a beautiful antique clock my mother's rich employers had given her and I had inherited. She said, "You'll never set this clock," which was true. During summer heat waves when we were sprinkling the yard so it wouldn't turn brown, Viv made no attempt when moving the sprinkler to make sure each patch of yard got its fair share of water. Liberal democrats, like me, are careful about such things."

"A professor had said that what saved writers is that they, like politicians, had the illusion of destiny, which allowed them to overcome obstacles no matter how nominal their work."(less)

like · see review

May 24, 2009 FrankH rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Old-Guy English Majors (from the school of Garrison Keilor), recently divorced

Not sure this one quite lived up to its advanced billing, but somewhere in the middle of the read, the quirky discursive style started to work for me. The narrator is more a farmer than an English Major, though he still wants to lead a reflective life, even if too many painful ideas intrude. The meat of the book lies in the interplay of the slowing, geezer traditonalist looking inward and the two women, Viv and Marybele, who can still summon the energy to try to change their lives, albeit in way...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 78 79 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (15)

More editions...

Genres

Novels

9 users

Contemporary

4 users

Adult Fiction

4 users

Humor

4 users

Literature

3 users

Literature > American

2 users

Book Club

2 users

Humor > Funny

2 users

Travel

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Jim Harrison

Jim Harrison was born in Grayling, Michigan, to Winfield Sprague Harrison, a county agricultural agent, and Norma Olivia (Wahlgren) Harrison, both avid readers. He married Linda King in 1959 with whom he has two daughters.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

His awards include National Academy of Arts grants...more

More about Jim Harrison...

Books by Jim Harrison

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The English Major

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The English Major

“Dad said I would always be "high minded and low waged" from reading too much Ralph Waldo Emerson. Maybe he was right.” — 13 people liked it

“One thing that has gone wrong in America is the general acceptance of bad ham” — 4 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The English Major
avg rating	preview: The English Major Goodreads rating: 3.46 (1425 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://gr-assets.com/book/show/3102444-the-english-major?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328823935l/3102444.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://gr-assets.com/book/show/3102444-the-english-major?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The English Major by Jim Harrison[/url]

The English Major

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website