Nothing but Blue Skies

by Thomas McGuane

A ruefully funny novel of embattled manhood, set in Big Sky Country—by the highly acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts , with writing “so dazzlingly acute and seemingly effortless that it infuses Nothing but Blue Skies with exuberance and wit."— Chicago Tribune

This high-spirited and fiercely lyrical novel chronicles the fall and rise of Frank Copenhaver, a man so unhinged by his wife's departure that he finds himself ruining his business, falling in love with the wrong women, and wandering the lawns of his neighborhood, desperate for the merest glimpse of normalcy. The result is a Montana where cowboys slug it out with speculators, a cattleman's best friend may be his insurance broker, and love and fishing are the only consolations that last.
 
"Vibrant with the pleasures of ironic language, play and chase, and quick with broken-hearted humor."— Los Angeles Times Book Review

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Westerns, Sexuality, Drugs, Literary Fiction, Contemporary

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1992

About the author

Thomas Francis McGuane III is an American writer. His work includes ten novels, short fiction and screenplays, as well as three collections of essays devoted to his life in the outdoors. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Cutting Horse Association Members Hall of Fame and the Fly-Fishing Hall of Fame.

McGuane's early novels were noted for a comic appreciation for the irrational core of many human endeavors, multiple takes on the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s. His later writing reflected an increasing devotion to family relationships and relationships with the natural world in the changing American West, primarily Montana, where he has made his home since 1968, and where his last five novels and many of his essays are set. He has three children, Annie, Maggie and Thomas.

Reviews

[João Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

No final dos anos 90 li dois livros de Thomas McGuane (n. 1939) - “ Piano Devastado” – romance - (1971) (Editora De Soto) e “ Como Esfolar Um Gato” – contos - (1986) (Editora Fragmentos) ambos editados em 1988, únicas traduções na época, de um dos mais originais escritores norte-americano.
Em 2012 a editora Quetzal regressa a Thomas McGuane com dois livros “ Um Céu Sempre Azul” (1992) e “ Por Um Fio” (2010).

Contém Alguns Spoilers

Em “Um Céu Sempre Azul” encontramos Frank Copenhaver, com quarenta e quatro anos, um especulador imobiliário e fazendeiro no Montana, a ir levar a sua mulher Gracie ao aeroporto. Ao espreitar pelo espelho retrovisor compreende que Gracie já é a sua ex-mulher.
Frank, um ex-hippie, filho do rock-and-roll, um ex-vagabundo, rejeitado pelo seu pai, que acaba por regressar a Deadrock, Montana, como um empresário de sucesso e que tem na pesca, tal como o próprio McGuane, um hobby e um vício que lhe alivia o stress e que lhe permite o contacto com a natureza.
Num mundo rural dominado pelos homens e pelos cowboys, Frank é um homem só, um “voyeur”, que não encontra respostas para as suas perguntas e para as suas angústias, sem perspectivas para o presente e para o futuro, vai construindo artificialmente incidentes, numa génese maioritariamente absurda, com um comportamento errático, dominado pelo consumo excessivo de álcool, das brigas ocasionais, dos encontros sexuais esporádicos; acabando mesmo por se envolver com Lucy, a agente de viagens, a melhor amiga da sua ex-mulher; desiludindo-se com a sua adorada filha Holly; pretendendo desesperadamente ajustar-se emocionalmente à sua “nova” vida e lutando à sua maneira pela preservação da sua sanidade mental, dos seus imóveis e das suas propriedades.
Em "Um Céu Sempre Azul", Thomas McGuane, utiliza uma linguagem emocional, impregnada de amargura e sexualidade, num retrato melancólico e amargo de Frank, um homem que perdeu a ambição; numa tragicomédia, onde a ironia e o humor negro dominam.
Thomas McGuane é um dos meus escritores norte-americano favorito e " Por Um Fio" vai ser um dos livros a ler em 2017.

[Snakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically about a man in his early 40s in the middle of a midlife crisis and a divorce from the wife for whom he still has feelings. Quite funny and thoughtful. A man trying desperately to improve himself and sort of failing miserably at it. I’ve found a few of McGuane’s books pretty good and some a little inaccessible; this one was certainly in the former category. Probably not one of the best books I’ve ever read, but certainly one of the best books I’ve read this year. I’d pass it on to a friend.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although certain tropes are repetitive (female hitchhikers smelling like sagebrush, many fishing scenes) and I think the main character receives too much of a pass at the end, the book is laugh-out-loud funny in places. McGuane rambles at times but he has a great gift for dialogue and comic timing. I particularly liked the bit where our hero found himself riding a pig. Another character's description of a porn film was funny as well. Not perfect, but a fun read.

[Bob White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Thomas McGuane! This is an older book that I have read several times, but it never fails to be fun and thought-provoking. McGuane consistently blends comedy and a strange sense of impending disaster with an element of hysteria (these themes are present in all of his books). If you are new to McGuane read this one, 92 in the Shade, The Sporting Club, The Bushwhacked Piano and Panama for sure. He is right up there with our best American authors. His essays on the outdoors and fishing are also top notch.

[Mary Dayhoff · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good writer. Like it best when he is not talking about sex and women. Enjoy his descriptions of Montana landscapes.

[Elliot Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd go 4.5 if I could. The protagonist fumbles his way through a mid-life crisis post-divorce. And it was an enjoyable read, which I think speaks to McGuane's writing.

[Charles Miller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. it was a divorced guy fantasy novel, lots of random, low effort sex, some funny scenes for sure but everything turns out alright without the protagonist really having to do anything or learn much except "damn I miss my wife". it was fine, the fly fishing scenes were good but also mcguane has fly fishing books for that.

[Shelly Brander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top 10 Books

[Joe Vess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somehow, I both enjoyed this book and really don't feel like I understood what was going on at all.

[Jerry Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I had difficulty identifying the plot of the story, I kept reading to see what would happen next. I enjoyed the dialogue. When I got to the last page, I was glad that I read the book.

[Tim O'Leary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though not having read his more seriously-minded precursor "Nobody's Angel" except for its reviews, "Nothing but Blue Skies" published 12 years later (1994) seems to exemplify a similar contemporary Western gothic theme in McGuane's beloved state of Montana, where the central character (a hero/anti-hero) is trying to cope with personal and business matters that, along with the failures and miscues of society in general, are no longer predictably within his control. Unlike the former novel, however, this one deals with the foibles and humorous, impulsive (usually alcohol-induced) hijinks of Frank Copenhaver; a 43 year-old trout-fishing aficionado and family man who is forced suddenly to cope with the "blossoming of shadows" in what is his comedic downfall and a full-blown midlife crisis. His marriage to Gracie, whom he still loves but is ill-equipped with which to reconcile, is but one of the first casualties of a former-hippie-turned-self-obsessed-businessman whose fortunes and small-town status are homegrown, set, but then conspicuously reversed. McGuane's storylines, in this and other novels of his genre, are typically inhabited by a somewhat-flawed male role model (a man's man) whose encounters with women are, if not conflicted, less understood than say his intimate knowledge of fly fishing and the species, horsemanship, ranching and animal husbandry, the flora and fauna of native landscapes, or even something as specialized as hot-wiring a 20-ton logging grappler/skidder. Such a character construct appeals moreso, I'm guessing, to men of a certain age like myself (old school) who can empathize and identify with fleeting, fickle casual affairs; the testosterone-hopped pursuit of objectified stereotypes; serial dating and its attendant history of frustrated expectations after falling into the same trap of seizing the moment before the "rules of engagement" (read that: obligations) are mutually agreed upon in advance. While McGuane frames his highly sexualized narrative from a predominantly male perspective, "why can't sex be as simple as a handshake?" women are given an equal measure of totemic respect (if you can call it that) for their power to subjugate the dumb, oblivious, needful manchild to their purposes (long-term prospects need not apply). All in all, "Nothing but Blue Skies" along with his other books including "The Bushwacked Piano", "Ninety-two in the Shade", "Cloudbursts: New and Collected Stories", McGuane's humor and writing of a period that admittedly dates itself are consistently much above the mainstream level of craft that passes for so much best-sellers listed fiction anymore. It's not Pulitzer prize-winning literature. But would certainly place him foremost among my "go-to" authors for an easy and enjoyable read that entertains without demanding too much of my attentiveness. Will look for "Nobody's Angel" next. Though it may lack the element of tragi-comedy I'm usually drawn to, laughing and whistling in the dark at the leading man's expense, will consider it a study in contrasts.

[Rui · Rating 3 out of 5]

História de um empresário/empreendedor americano típico no interior dos EUA. A escrita é bastante acessível, e tem alguns rasgos de humor. É uma história simples de um homem um pouco perdido em todos os sentidos. Nota-se bem nesta historia a importância dos investimentos de risco nos EUA. A ideia de investir para ganhar dinheiro. Vários tipos de investimento, só por isso é interessante para conhecer um pouco do perfil de um americano médio.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recovered from a disastrously bad first 20 pages to hit mediocrity before regressing toward the end. Kind of a divorced guy fantasy novel. Fall ass backwards into sex while your businesses fall apart, but no worry, something will come along to fix that problem! The only thing that separates it from a thousand other books like this is that this one is set in small-town Montana rather than a big city.

[Jay Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a story about a man who suffers a mid-life crisis. There is a lot of truth in this book, but this guy is crazier than most. I think that is why I didn't like it as much. Also, he expressed a rather strange group of conservatives, not an accurate picture. Well, most trout guys are liberal and a little loony. I saw someone say something about the sex. I lost my first wife and getting into the rotation was sexually strange. I can buy that part.

[Dianelw · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and bawdy novel with some outrageous storytelling about a Montana businessman who spirals down as his marriage breaks up and he makes bad business choices. He's his own worst enemy but it results in outlandish situations and somehow McGuane taps into testosterone-laced midlife crises with a very unique voice. Got this off my mother's shelf.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thirty pages into this very well-written, narrative-heavy book a thought suddenly popped into my head:

"Is there a story in here somewhere?"

Yeah, kinda, buried in a whole lot of exposition. This is the way over-indulgent writers of eras past once wrote.

Now it simply doesn't move, the characters are flat and lack the qualities that draw a reader's empathy.

I was done by page 31.

[Elizabet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the very American-ness of the book, I thought it was witty and sometimes bizarre in a way I like. So it was a very entertaining read, (or listen, I should say) but I wouldn't quickly choose another book by the same author.

[Scott Buchanan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rich Montana divorced guy trying to make sense out of his life, reunites with his daughter who moves back to the home town with her jerk of older bf, wandering storyline with a somewhat happy ending.

[Vince Crain · Rating 5 out of 5]

very entertaining

[Glenn Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

So so modern day cowboy story of success and failure along with a too sweet denouement.

[PATRICE PRIVAT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it in French, probably his best one so far (I read 5 of his novels). One of my most recent "feel good" books. Superior by far to Jim Harrison's end of career novels.

[Brad Erickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has some of the funniest scenes I have read in a long time!

[Otto · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://fipsfoto.wordpress.com/2021/0...

[Lee Wainwright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Babbitt for the 1990s. Hardly a twentieth-century classic, but I liked it. It's about what's really important in life.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Midas Touch of a Montana businessman begins to fail with the dissolution of his marriage; other hijinks ensue.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just the book I needed at this point in my life. Life spiralling out of control after his wife leaves him and he nearly ruins his businesses because of it, Frank tries to come to his senses. I didn't want it to end. Included in the book is one of the best fly fishing catches ever put to paper.

'love and fishing are the only consolations that last.'

re-read this year and it is just as lush as my first reading. truly a masterpiece. The taste of its bawdiness lingers. The anti-hero can be such a lout and a lech - but I can't help but cheer for him to find his way through it. The ending leaves me wanting more - but I understand why he finished it the way we did.

`The only things that undermine my happiness are things I can't lay hands on,' [he tells his daughter].

`Like what?' said Holly.

`Oh, I don't know.'

`Just give me an example.'

`I can't.'

`Is regret one of them?'

`Sure.'

`Do you ever get lonely?'

`Of course. That's a bad one. It's not like other things that strengthen you. Loneliness makes you weaker, makes you worse. I'm guessing that enough of it makes you cruel.'

`Two more pale morning duns and we can call it quits,' said Holly [referring to the dry flies used in trout fishing]. She turned and looked at her father in thought. She smiled. He shrugged. She laughed, reached over and squeezed his nose. `Poor little friend,' she said."

Life is a trip, might as well enjoy the ride.

[Andy Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there is some great Montana writing with some interesting characters and plot, I ended up being put off by Thomas McGuane's continued going overboard in exploring the depths of the central character's depression and slide and caricature of too many characters.

The story is set in a Montana town and follows Frank Copenhaver, a successful businessman with a nice family, good friends and healthy hobbies, especially fly fishing in the nearby rivers. However, his business and personal life slide with the departure of his wife. And this would be great plot and theme if McGuane didn't too much--he is a peeping Tom to his estranged wife's best friend as she dresses at night, picks a bar fight with cowboys leading to his arrest, fires his hired hand and is later caught on the hired hand's property while drunk with three women, steals a truck from a man who is on a date with one of Copenhaver's "women" leading to a cross state chase, disrupts a pig auction by punching another farmer's pig causing a melee, assaults a right wing activist at a "Montana First" rally--and that's not all. Some of these incidents would make the point but taken together, it just became too much and I think took away from McGuane's theme of redemption and monogamous love

[Colin Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ol Patrick hubey doobey doo threw a list my way. He put this guy on top and to this title he said "The main character of "Nothing but Blue Skies" starts his downward spiral after his wife leaves him, so you might want to start there (or not). It also includes the best car chase I've ever read." so after my flight east today, I may know how it ends.
So far it's a bit vonnegut.
Now that I've finished this book, it was definitely a good journey, an enjoyable story that I longed to return to. But the visceral experience was lacking by far and it really just remained an entertaining read. As with lots of contemporary writing it chose one of the two popular endings. Instead of rambling on, this book simply ended. If their was a profound intention in it's ending, it failed to come through, similarly if their was an existential intention that as well lacked. It seemed as though the author just need to stop writing and did.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of McGuane's best. The story line is about a traditionally successful man-of-the-American-West falls into decline after his wife leaves him. The middle of the novel has its frustrations for the reader, as you keep wanting the main character, Frank, to grow up and get on with his life. It was getting too Richard-Russo like (remember Russo's "The Risk Pool"? The worst of many of Russo's novels about helpless, defeated men who lacked self-awareness and were awful to everyone around them). But, in the last third of the book, McGuane pulls it together, slowly, but effectively. The characters are finely drawn, complex and real, the language is sharp (although TOO self-aware or self-referential at times). Too much of the book gets into the specific cast-by-cast joys of fresh water fishing, but the guy knows how to paint a scene.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I 'll be lazy here:

Tom McGuane essentially writes the same book over and over again, but you know what? Fuck you, that's what. His prose is fucking sick. Even if his novels ramble in odd directions sometimes it ain't no matter, he does good business with language.

Things I guarantee from any McGuane Novel:

Male protagonist (except for one)
Third person narrator (except for one)
Weird-o sex scenes (more than once per novel)
Landscape descriptions working on multiple levels
Horses
Female hips
Pooping
Sex (regular, backseat of car sex)
Words you need to look up
Men who are confused about what their purpose in life is
Women who help/appear to hinder these men
Sweet Dialogue
Montana