Driving to Vernonia

by George Byron Wright

Edmund Joyce Kirby-Smith s life is in ruins. He thinks the way back from his rage and despair is to find Dick Vic a man who used to have answers. Driving to Vernonia is a penetrating story of deprivation, laced with love and anger, violence and self-discovery.

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

George Byron Wright was born in The Dalles, Oregon. Along with his mother and brother, he migrated to three other small Oregon towns as his father pursued the life of a mortician. Living in Baker City, Tillamook and Roseburg endowed him with a lifelong fondness for small places.

Following a lengthy career in the not-for-profit sector, during which time he wrote professionally, publishing books on management and board development, George returned to his love of fiction. In 1996 he began work on what has become his “Oregon Trio”, three novels set in the small towns of his youth. Baker City 1948 was published in 2005, followed by Tillamook 1952 in 2006, and now Roseburg 1959, completes this unique body of work.

George lives with his wife and first reader, Betsy, in Portland, Oregon.

website: www.c3publications.com

Reviews

[Mark Schofer]

I found this book waltzing through the Vancouver public library and it was a joyride. A bit much on coincidence, yet the characters were likable and others perfectly hatable. We all go through major crisis in life and character is getting through them with grace and irreverence. I nice anthem for starting anew and exploring the old. Vernonia is a perfect place to start.

[Jenny]

Quick read, likable characters, location of Portland, Oregon and surrounding area, and by an Oregon writer - all combine for a sweet story.

[Christie B]

Yet again a book that was so good that, having reached the last page, I re-opened the first page and read it again to make sure I didn't miss anything. And then went out and ordered everything else the author has written.
Really interesting, non touchy-feely exploration of someone finding himself. No sap, but still strong sentiment and you develop a real connection to the main character.
I've been to Vernonia and Banks and Manning. The detail took me back to those places in the fairly rural parts of Western Oregon.

[Phil]

Starts out as a train wreck of a life. A quest helps shake life out and a happy ending of sorts is found. Not without a price but happy nonetheless.

[Emily Bean]

This book reminds me a lot of other good books I have read, mainly "Tuesday's With Morrie." If you have liked that book you will probably enjoy "Driving to Vernonia." One of the main things I really enjoyed about this book was that it showed how a person who has been through a lot of difficulties that life presents, can recover and get back on his feet. It also shows that sometimes help can be found in unlikely places. I found it very appropriate for today, as many of us are facing difficult times and learning to start over again. Admittedly I was also pleased with the fact that this book is written from a "male" perspective. Just from my own experience, there seem to be more books written from a "female" perspective,and these books are also great, but it is nice that this book helps to "balance out" what we often find in popular fiction.
Being a native Oregonian, I really enjoyed the depictions of Vernonia, Manning, and Forest Grove. If you are from this area, you may recognize some of the places mentioned in the story, and relate to personalities depicted of people in these towns. I look forward to reading more from Mr. Wright!

[Susan Cackler]

I really enjoyed reading this novel. I picked it up because of the title and I knew I would enjoy reading about my neighborhood, but I also enjoyed the writing and the pacing of the story. The main character is a bit of a jerk sometimes, but so are people.

[Kimberly]

I read this a while ago, but I completely forgot to rate/review it. There are some interesting characters in the novel, and I liked the premise of searching for a long lost mentor.