Ivan Doig is the author of ten previous novels, most recently Work Song, and three works of nonfiction, including his classic first book, This House of Sky. He lives in Seattle.
"The perfect book for your bedside table. Pick it up, lose yourself
in the past and remember what it was like to be twelve years old,
when your world and all the people who entered into it felt as
fresh as the Montana mountain air." -"Associated Press"
"[The] rewards of "The Bartender's Tale"--a subtle and engaging
narrative, characters who behave the way real people behave, the
joys of careful and loving observation--remain very great and
extremely rare." -"The Washington Post
"
"Doig cranks into motion a dense valentine of a novel about a
father and a small town at the start of the 1960s... Doig writes
the tenderness between Rusty and his father vividly, and his
facility with natural, vernacular dialogue is often hypnotizing...
"The Bartender's Tale" is thoroughly engaging, and the book's soft
focus of nostalgia is in itself a kind of pleasure." -NPR
"Doig is at his best with coming-of-age stories. And he is
masterful at exploring the emotional complexities of family and
community through the eyes of a precocious youth... [He] has
fashioned a moving tale of tolerance, self-discovery and
forgiveness in which a child comes to terms with his own origins
and in the process opens a new door to his future." -"The Seattle
Times
"
"With this expert novel, [Doig] sets himself a larger canvas and
fills it with a diverse cast... Fact and fiction are skillfully
fused to document a boy's last days of youth and a history his
father can't leave behind... Rusty's youthful adventures are
enchanting, but Doig does something more--he punctuates them with
the colorful local idiom of his father's grizzled punters."
-"Newsweek/Daily Beast
""Essential reading for anyone who cares about western literature."
-"Booklist "(starred review)
"Doig expertly spins out [the] various narrative threads with his
usual gift for bringing history alive in the odysseys of
marvelously thorny characters... Possibly the best novel yet by one
of America's premier storytellers." -"Kirkus "(starred review)
"Highly textured and evocative... Doig gives us a poignant saga of
a boy becoming a man alongside a town and a bygone way of life
inching into the modern era. " -"Publishers Weekly "(starred
review)
"[An] enjoyable, old-fashioned, warmhearted story about fathers and
sons, growing up, and big life changes." -"Library Journal"
"Doig cranks into motion a dense valentine of a novel about a
father and a small town at the start of the 1960s...Doig writes the
tenderness between Rusty and his father vividly, and his facility
with natural, vernacular dialogue is often hypnotizing...."The
Bartender's Tale "is thoroughly engaging, and the book's soft focus
of nostalgia is in itself a kind of pleasure." - "NPR"
"With this expert novel, [Doig] sets himself a larger canvas and
fills it with a diverse cast... Fact and fiction are skillfully
fused to document a boy's last days of youth and a history his
father can't leave behind...Rusty's youthful adventures are
enchanting, but Doig does something more--he punctuates them with
the colorful local idiom of his father's grizzled punters." -
"Newsweek/Daily Beast
"
"Highly textured and evocative ...Doig gives us a poignant saga of
a boy becoming a man alongside a town and a bygone way of life
inching into the modern era. " - "Publishers Weekly "(Starred
Review)
"Doig expertly spins out [the] various narrative threads with his
usual gift for bringing history alive in the odysseys of
marvelously thorny characters...Possibly the best novel yet by one
of America's premier storytellers." -"Kirkus "(Starred Review)
"[An] enjoyable, old-fashioned, warmhearted story about fathers and
sons, growing up, and big life changes." - "Library Journal"
"Essential reading for anyone who cares about western literature."
- "Booklist "(Starred Review) PRAISE FOR" WORK SONG
"
"As enjoyable and subtly thought-provoking a piece of fiction as
you're likely to pick up this summer. It's a book that can be
appreciated just for the quality of the prose and the author's
adherence to the sturdy conventions of old-fashioned narrative or
for Doig's sly gloss on Western genre fiction and unforced
evocation of our current condition -- or, better yet, for all those
things...A pleasure to read." - "The Los Angeles Times"
"Highly textured and evocative ...Doig gives us a poignant saga of
a boy becoming a man alongside a town and a bygone way of life
inching into the modern era. " - "Publishers Weekly "(Starred
Review)
"Doig expertly spins out [the] various narrative threads with his
usual gift for bringing history alive in the odysseys of
marvelously thorny characters...Possibly the best novel yet by one
of America's premier storytellers." -"Kirkus "(Starred Review)
"[An] enjoyable, old-fashioned, warmhearted story about fathers and
sons, growing up, and big life changes." - "Library Journal"
"Essential reading for anyone who cares about western literature."
- "Booklist "(Starred Review) PRAISE FOR" WORK SONG
"
"As enjoyable and subtly thought-provoking a piece of fiction as
you're likely to pick up this summer. It's a book that can be
appreciated just for the quality of the prose and the author's
adherence to the sturdy conventions of old-fashioned narrative or
for Doig's sly gloss on Western genre fiction and unforced
evocation of our current condition -- or, better yet, for all those
things...A pleasure to read." - "The Los Angeles Times" "Not one
stitch unravels in this intricately threaded narrative ...
infectious." -"The New York Times Book Review "
"If you were looking for a novel that best expresses the American
spirit, you'd have to ride past a lot of fence posts before finding
anything as worthy as Work Song." --"Chicago Tribune"
"Doig has delivered another compelling tale about America, epic as
an Old West saga but as fresh and contemporary as the news." -
"Seattle Times
"
"Richly imagined and beautifully paced." --"Associated Press "(also
ran in San Francisco Chronicle and elsewhere)
"A classic tale from the heyday of American capitalism by the king
of the Western novel." ---The Daily Beast (Hot Reads)
PRAISE FOR THE WHISTLING SEASON
PRAISE FOR"THE BARTENDER'S TALE "
"Highly textured and evocative ...Doig gives us a poignant saga of
a boy becoming a man alongside a town and a bygone way of life
inching into the modern era. " - "Publishers Weekly "(Starred
Review)
"[An] enjoyable, old-fashioned, warmhearted story about fathers and
sons, growing up, and big life changes." - Library Journal"
"PRAISE FOR "WORK SONG "
"As enjoyable and subtly thought-provoking a piece of fiction as
you're likely to pick up this summer. It's a book that can be
appreciated just for the quality of the prose and the author's
adherence to the sturdy conventions of old-fashioned narrative or
for Doig's sly gloss on Western genre fiction and unforced
evocation of our current condition -- or, better yet, for all those
things...A pleasure to read." - "The Los Angeles Times"
"Not one stitch unravels in this intricately threaded narrative ...
infectious." -"The New York Times Book Review "
"If you were looking for a novel that best expresses the American
spirit, you'd have to ride past a lot of fence posts before finding
anything as worthy as "Work Song."" --"Chicago"" Tribune "
"Doig has delivered another compelling tale about America, epic as
an Old West saga but as fresh and contemporary as the news." -
"Seattle"" Times
"
"Richly imagined and beautifully paced." --"Associated Press ("also
ran in" San Francisco Chronicle "and elsewhere)
"A classic tale from the heyday of American capitalism by the king
of the Western novel." ---"The Daily Beast""(Hot Reads)
"
PRAISE FOR "THE WHISTLING SEASON"
"Along with his much praised, incantatory gifts for evoking
quintessentially American prairie life and history, the National
Book Award finalist brings ... a bushel and peck of irresistible
characters, each so full of spunk, wit, ambition or sheer
orneriness that not one of them will lie down on the page and sleep
for a mom
An easy-paced memory of Americana, childhood, dreams, and reality set in Montana in the late 1950s is revealed through Doig's excellent writing and David Baker's equally high-quality narration. Through the viewpoint of Rusty from ages seven to 12, the reader is introduced to a variety of exotic characters starting with the boy's father, with whom he has had scant contact up to the beginning of the story. As Rusty's only visible parent, Tom Harry, the owner and bartender of the Medicine Lodge, takes over the care and feeding of his son. Baker's crusty interpretation of Tom contrasts wonderfully with Rusty's childlike though not childish voice. -VERDICT As open and simple as the prairie sky, as deep and complicated as the rushing waters of the rivers, this is a book for a multitude of readers. ["Recommended for fans of old-fashioned, big-hearted, feel-good novels," read the review of the New York Times best-selling Riverhead: Penguin hc, LJ 7/12.-Ed.]-J. Sara Paulk, Wythe-Grayson Regional Lib., Independence, VA (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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