Loved it from start to finish. The first Richard Ford thing I read was the Sportswriter and I loved that too, went out and bought Independence Day... and didn't click with it at all. Felt a bit let down with it (maybe because it's such a highly-praised book), and it put me off picking up any more Ford books.

But then this got such great reviews that i couldn't resist, and i'm glad I didn't, because it's magnificent. He manages to paint a very poetic picture of the characters and the landscape they exist in, as well as their inner lives - all using his very sparse and clipped prose that just bounces along carrying you from one moment to the next effortlessly.

It's not flawless - he seems to have a bit of trouble balancing the view point of a 11 year old boy along with the viewpoint of the older man who's actually supposed to be relating that boy's story - and I think that felt a bit muddles at times, and there's some plot points which jar ( I won't mention to avoid spoilers), but overall it's a fantastic book that you can just fall into and enjoy for its own sake.