Virgil Wander
Leif Enger first came to fame when he published PEACE LIKE A RIVER in the early 2000's. It was a about a dad and his daughter who loved Robert Service's Alaska poems and tried to write her own. She was a great character. He has since published two more novels, VIRGIL WANDER being the third.
This book is mostly character-driven. Virgil, the narrator, runs a run-down movie theater in Greenstone, Minnesota, on the shores of Lake Superior. He's just been involved in a car accident, driving off a cliff into the lake. A good Samaritan happened to see his car fly through the air and splash down and save him.
The plot, such as it is, starts with the disappearance of Alec Sandstrom, a Mark Fidrych like character whose erratic fastball, he called the Mad Mouse was good enough to throw a perfect game for the Duluth Superior Dukes. Alec disappeared when he flew a small plane over the lake and never returned, leaving behind a wife, Nadine, and a small son, Bjorn.
So we want to know what happened to Alec and we want to know about the weirdo Adam Leer, who was once a Hollywood producer, but only produced one hit movie. The book is also about kites. A character named Rune shows up in Greenstone; he just happens to be Alec's father, although he didn't know about it until it was too late. Now he's a master kite builder and flyer who makes these amazing flying machines, one of which is a big dog.
Virgil hires Bjorn to work at the theater; in no time at all he becomes a better projectionist than Virgil and also brings in new movie-goers with his charming pre-movie pitches. Virgil has a thing for Bjorn's mother, although she's a lot younger. Virgil also has an illegal stash of old movies, one of which, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” was Alec's favorite movie. Bjorn loves it. Virgil didn't steal the movies, and he's looking for a way to send them back to the studios without being blamed for stealing them. He's not the original owner.
There are a few twists later on in the novel, but they don't amount to much. This is about Virgil, Nadine, Bjorn, Rune and a few other minor characters who live in the seemingly dying town of Greenstone, which has lost its taconite mine. But they're a sturdy bunch and fun to hang out with for the time it takes to read 300 quality paperback pages.
This book is mostly character-driven. Virgil, the narrator, runs a run-down movie theater in Greenstone, Minnesota, on the shores of Lake Superior. He's just been involved in a car accident, driving off a cliff into the lake. A good Samaritan happened to see his car fly through the air and splash down and save him.
The plot, such as it is, starts with the disappearance of Alec Sandstrom, a Mark Fidrych like character whose erratic fastball, he called the Mad Mouse was good enough to throw a perfect game for the Duluth Superior Dukes. Alec disappeared when he flew a small plane over the lake and never returned, leaving behind a wife, Nadine, and a small son, Bjorn.
So we want to know what happened to Alec and we want to know about the weirdo Adam Leer, who was once a Hollywood producer, but only produced one hit movie. The book is also about kites. A character named Rune shows up in Greenstone; he just happens to be Alec's father, although he didn't know about it until it was too late. Now he's a master kite builder and flyer who makes these amazing flying machines, one of which is a big dog.
Virgil hires Bjorn to work at the theater; in no time at all he becomes a better projectionist than Virgil and also brings in new movie-goers with his charming pre-movie pitches. Virgil has a thing for Bjorn's mother, although she's a lot younger. Virgil also has an illegal stash of old movies, one of which, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” was Alec's favorite movie. Bjorn loves it. Virgil didn't steal the movies, and he's looking for a way to send them back to the studios without being blamed for stealing them. He's not the original owner.
There are a few twists later on in the novel, but they don't amount to much. This is about Virgil, Nadine, Bjorn, Rune and a few other minor characters who live in the seemingly dying town of Greenstone, which has lost its taconite mine. But they're a sturdy bunch and fun to hang out with for the time it takes to read 300 quality paperback pages.
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