false 2306331 6 Amazon Significant Seven, April 2008: A gritty western couched in the easy storytelling style of a folk ballad (think <i>3:10 to Yuma</i> as sung by the Kingston Trio), Leif Enger's highly anticipated second novel (his first was <i>Peace Like a River</i>) tells the story of outlaw Glendon Hale's quest to right his past, as seen through the eyes of his unlikely companion Monte Becket. <i>So Brave, Young, and Handsome</i> begins with Becket, a struggling novelist bewildered by the success of his first book, who has pledged to his wife, son, and publisher to "write one thousand words a day until another book is finished." Four years and six unfinished novels later, Becket sits on the porch of his Minnesota farmhouse about to give up on number seven, when he spies a man standing up in his boat "rowing upstream through the ropy mists of the Cannon River." Eager to set aside his waning tale about handsome ranch hand Dan Roscoe, Becket calls out to the mysterious white-haired boatman and his life changes forever. At turns merry and wistful, romantic and tragic, <i>So Brave, Young, and Handsome</i> is as absorbing as a campfire tale, full of winking outlaws and relentless villains--the sort of story to keep you on the edge of your seat with hope in your heart. <i>--Daphne Durham</i> 3348922 22 4 2008 So Brave, Young and Handsome: A Novel total:1377|5:227|4:570|3:434|2:124|1:22| 1377 4987 2366 513 4 10 false false Sun Apr 13 09:29:46 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 24 19:57:04 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 13 09:27:37 -0700 2008 Peace Like a River, Enger's first novel, had simple, elegant writing and a believable, suspenseful plot that set the author loping comfortably between the literary buttes of Larry McMurtry and John Steinbeck. River felt like a classic before you were halfway through the book. So Brave, Young, and Ha...more...]]> 2 4 false false Mon May 12 21:03:42 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 04 14:34:05 -0700 2008
I did love Monte Beckett at the beginning--his angst over writing 1,000 words a day in order to turn out a foll...more...]]> 5 4 false false Thu Apr 10 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 09:35:40 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 09:36:22 -0700 2008
'That is ignorant. Most men are hero and devil. All men. That is what ruins it with wives.'

'She wanted just the hero?'

'Bad men or good she would've had me either way. ...more...]]> 3 5 false false Sat Apr 26 10:17:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 11 16:02:03 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 10:16:24 -0700 2008
I liked it in the end. It's no Peace, but it was a good story. I couldn't feel the characters as deeply as in Peace ... I wish we had more time with Redstart an...more...]]> 5 3 false false Sat Apr 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 15:09:33 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 26 15:36:59 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 3 false false Fri May 30 16:13:58 -0700 2008 Fri May 30 16:42:04 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 2 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 27 06:08:03 -0800 2008 Sun Jul 13 08:31:35 -0700 2008
Here's a link to my review in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, although I'm realizing my byline is missing in the online version, but my bio is at the bottom:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08160/887...]]> 4 1 false false Fri Jul 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 07:33:50 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 05:51:58 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Mar 15 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 08 09:31:22 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 08 09:37:01 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jun 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 24 17:08:04 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 30 14:20:10 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jun 22 20:03:38 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 22 20:05:23 -0700 2008
This appears to be a somewhat autobiographical novel about a writer na...more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Jun 09 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri May 23 06:55:16 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 17 06:23:03 -0700 2008 Peace Like a River is one of my favorite books. Of course, as with any second novel following a great debut, it did not meet my expectations. However, that being said, Enger is still a skilled novelist and storyteller. He creates charact...more...]]> 2 1 false false Sun Apr 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 10:44:55 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 05 10:47:03 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sat Apr 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 27 18:49:43 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 28 12:19:35 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 1 false false Fri May 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 16 19:35:54 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 06 14:00:02 -0700 2008 Have to say that I am about 1/3 into the book and am not nearly as enamored with the characters and storyline as Peace Like a River. Have actually taken a break and read three other books in-between....I will pick it up again later this summer to see if I can get back into the boo...more...]]> 2 1 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Apr 12 16:42:57 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 12 16:45:01 -0700 2009 5 1 false false Wed Jun 18 19:08:24 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 18 19:14:25 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Apr 14 21:00:39 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 21:01:33 -0700 2009 4 1 false false Fri Dec 19 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 01 14:46:44 -0800 2008 Fri Dec 19 15:15:35 -0800 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:56:36 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:56:36 -0800 2009 Enger's new novel has much in common with Peace Like a River—"its beset, first-person narrator, an earnestly colloquial sensibility, a religious faith in life's essential worth and muscular optimism about the fundamental decency of human nature" (Chicago Tribune). Critics considered it a...

more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=3311692