The Legend of Sander Grant

by Marc Phillips

Sander Grant is a giant. He comes from a long line of giant men—cattle ranchers in Dixon, Texas. These men have a tendency to marry small women who can bear only one child, always a son. And as Sander is soon to learn, he is one of the few remaining descendants of the angels mentioned in the Book of Genesis who procreated with women, thus souring their relationship with God. God would rather people forget all about these ill-begotten sons of his, so he’s taken to warning Sander by raining hurt on his mother and inflicting their cattle with BSE. She wrapped herself in a bathrobe and scarf, put her fluffy house slippers on, and walked out the front door. She eased it shut so Dalton didn’t look up and wonder at the foolishness of what she was doing. Snow began to fall. Shattery flakes lit in her red hair, covered freckles on her face and perched on her eyelashes. She walked far enough to allow some privacy, turned her head up and told God she’d come to talk. “You look here! You will step up and do Your job. Help my man. Are You listening to me?” Marc Phillips was born in Texas. He has won many awards for his short fiction (including the Fish Short Story Prize, the Raymond Carver Editor’s Choice, and USA Today ’s Notable Writer of the Year Award, as well as two nominations for the Pushcart Prize). He lives on Galveston Island, Texas.

Genres: Fiction

220 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2009

Reviews

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Marc Phillips and used to publish any short story he submitted to me. (he might remember it differently). So it was with great glee I read his first novel. Not a thing like his short stories, BUT the imagination of this writer absolutely dances across the pages and makes you wonder where in the world his Muse originated?! A story of a family of generational (male) giants ranching in Texas (where we know everything is bigger) but just when you think you've cozied into a little magical realism, along comes another whooshhhh and we're presented with some biblical passages & some alleged references to giant angels that God may NOT have created....and the fun is on! What looks like a yarn turns into a thought provoking and sinister examination of a whole lot of things! Not having any command of the Bible myself, I just went with it, and had a terrific time. Not sure if the ultra religious would enjoy it with quite as much glee as me. But if you're looking for a 'different'
read, (from the hand of a marvelous writer; check out the archives of Ink Pot ezine, if you don't believe me) you probably oughta get online and order it right now.

[Paola · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked reading this book. It was an interesting concept and very entertaining. I would have given it the fifth star if the ending actually had a full on conflict with God.

I recommend it :)

[Kate Gould · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every once in a while a book comes along that, almost without you realising, seeps into you until all you want to do is inhabit its world. Work is pointless, eating is an inconvenience, and sleep is but an intermission. The people between the covers are fictional, yes, but there’s something about them – an intensity, a keenness, and an unsettling quality to their lives that makes their reality, for those hours spent with them, more real than your own. The Legend of Sander Grant is one such book.

Ostensibly, the story of cattle ranchers in East Texas, it is the tale of Sander Grant and his parents, Dalton and Jo. Their lives revolve around the daily running of the ranch – breeding, branding, and rearing cattle to produce Grant beef, an industry passed from father to son in centuries-old tradition. The work of the ranch is present throughout the book, but that is as much as the story has in common with that of any other ranching family.

Giants, Grant men have always married small women. Ranchers for generations, they’re considered unremarkable – “Locals now remark on Sander Grant in the same way they do the August heat. Like a mother tells her kids Jesus is love. Sander is a giant.”

Unremarkable to the locals, perhaps, but their life is that of 50-stone men and a she-bear of a mother on speaking terms with god. Not exactly easy with human interaction, the Grant men are most eloquent sitting on the hill talking to their buried ancestors. While Jo remonstrates with god back home, they talk, mostly, of family legend and the running of the ranch.

But the men come from a time of Nephilim, vengeance, and a wrathful god. Sander’s investigations into his past inspire his art, feed a hunger for meaning and explanation of his ancestry, and are a fascinating exploration of a Nephilim past. But they anger god who, in a moment shocking in its violence, attacks Jo, her howl “that of a cornered panther; of pain so near madness that there was no difference”.

There is tremendous beauty and tenderness in the book and its rhythm is fairly gentle, making the sudden moments of violence and macabre imagery that break it – slaughtered cattle burning and the wedding dress of a dried corpse rotting under the red clay –all the more shocking.

It’s a book of subtle power. Reviews compared it to John Irving and talked about magical realism, but I don’t think it need be seen in relation to other books or as an example of a particular literary genre. It is a unique piece of writing: surprising, moving, provocative, funny, scholarly, thoughtful without ever being plodding, and captivating. The keenness of Phillips’ observations is felt and, with language that is lean and poetic, it draws you into the landscape of his characters and makes epic the ordinariness of their lives. Unselfconsciously extraordinary, it is a tale of ordinary lives with their joy at its most profound and the sorrow so raw it's palpable.

[Wiebke (1book1review) · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an interesting and imaginative story. It just keeps your attention from the first page to the last. The story flows and the characters are likeable and fascinating in their own way.
But what was that about the ending? I so didn't get (like) that!

[Heather]

I loved this book. A fast read, a great story, and a little mix of God vs. giant to keep it all interesting.

[Frank Garland · Rating 5 out of 5]

A soul searching Texas giant whose ancestry goes all the way back to the Nephilim has a mother who argues in the back yard with a vengeful Old Testament God. There is a dark biblical overcast to the whole tale as Sander joins up with a Unitarian preacher who is investigating God, taking religious non-conformism all the way to the top. There's also romance to keep the tale warm in this very original novel that made me read into all kinds of Old Testament mysteries as I went along.

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the exception of what I felt was an abrupt ending, I very much enjoyed this novel. Marc Phillips has written an entertaining, but in addition, a very thought provoking story. In a way, I was reminded of the novel titled Little World of Don Camillo. This is just the kind of eclectic fiction I enjoy, especially when the characters are so believably real.

[Frankie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel really bad handing out a 1 star. I really wanted to like it, I really felt its potential but it was just a dull read unfortunately.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

A curate's egg of a fable about descendants of Biblical giants who have become ranchers and can commune with their dead male ancestors. Rather spoiled by an obtrusive sub-plot about art, but all the stuff about bigness is very well-handled.

[Dorota · Rating 1 out of 5]

'poignant, funny and full of charm' - the description on the back cover of the book wasn't true - it was full of religion and giants (obviously)