Fourth of july creek by smith henderson the new york times. This study guide consists of approximately 54 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of fourth of july creek. Fourth of july creek cannot possibly be smith hendersons first book. Philipp meyer, new york times bestselling author of the son after trying to help benjamin pearl, an undernourished, nearly feral elevenyearold boy continue reading. In this shattering and iconic american novel, pen prizewin. Fourth of july creek smith henderson a favorite of my book club, debut novel fourth of july creek is the story of two fathers in 1980s montana. Smith hendersons fourth of july creek the new york times. If you are looking for a serious, engrossing book with which to start your summer, fourth of july creek is where you should begin. This uneven debut, set in 1980 montana, isnt always able to sustain the interest of its opening sections. If you cannot speak truth at a beheading, when can you speak it. Our waterstones book club choice this week is fourth of july creek, smith hendersons dark and powerful debut novel set in the hardscrabble american heartlands.
On a gamble that seems sure to pay off, his publisher is releasing. Reddit gives you the best of the internet in one place. How to make a book page wreath the shabby creek cottage. Fourth of july creek unfolds in 1980, starting just before the reagancarter presidential election. The cop flicked his cigarette to the dirtandgravel road in front of. The first chapter introduces us to social worker pete snow, who has been called by the police to defuse a domestic dispute between a 15yearold boy, who has been in trouble with the law repeatedly, and his speedaddicted mother. Goodreads members who liked fourth of july creek also liked. This is one of those novels where the setting is as much of a character as any of the individuals featured. To this i will add a sixth, a book which escaped me at the time it was published this past summer. In smith hendersons fourth of july creek, pete snow is a social worker in rural northwest montana. It is the latter that is of primary concern to snow when he is called to the local school to tend to the needs of an 11yearold boy. They are wretched and disenfranchised, victims who in turn victimize the most vulnerable. In this shattering and iconic american novel, pen prizewinning writer, smith henderson explores the complexities of freedom, community, grace, suspicion and.
Buy fourth of july creek by smith henderson online at alibris. This summary of fourth of july creek includes a complete plot overview. Fourth of july creek smith hendersonsmith henderson. By tenderly portraying horrible family secrets, henderson is able to illuminate the richness and possibility in even the most painful lives. Fourth of july creek by smith henderson, paperback.
Yet the wonder here, to parrot prescotts assessment of the orchard keeper, is that fourth of july creek is also an impressive book. Fourth of july creek fojc was in my audible wish list for 8 months before i pulled the triggered and made the purchase. Icicle ridge via fourth of july creek washington trails. Find books like fourth of july creek from the worlds largest community of readers. Itll be hard to forget this intense earphones award winner, which is skillfully read by dual narrators. A riveting story written in a seductive and relentlessly authentic rural american vernacular, this is the kind of novel i wish id written. Go hiking hiking guide icicle ridge via fourth of july creek. Yet the wonder here, to parrot prescotts assessment of the orchard keeper, is that fourth of july creek is also an impressive book deeply so. Smith henderson taps montana roots for critically acclaimed. The montana setting is gorgeous and vividly rendered. Of wide open spaces and lives narrowly, desperately lived at the bitter ends of dirt and gravel roads.
Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading fourth of july creek. Fourth of july creek is an unforgettable, unflinching debut that marks the arrival of a major literary talent. The spur of the rockies at the northwestern corner of montana is as hard and remote a stretch of country as any in the lower 48, good reason why a person might want to disappear into it. Fourth of july creek, a novel written by hellgate high school and university of montana graduate smith henderson, has won the 2014 montana book award. Fourth of july creek is a masterful achievement and smith henderson is certain to end up a household name.
But when his own family troubles erupt, his work hits right at home esquire promises, this is a hell of a great book. Search for this book in the dublin city library encore system and arrange a suitable location for loaning it. Fourth of july creek international dublin literary award. Search encore for fourth of july creek this search result is offered as a helping hand to find books in the library ireland encore system. If you like 1 month unlimited audiobook listening 12. Even the books title is a bit misleading, referring less to a. After trying to help benjamin pearl, an undernourished, nearly feral elevenyearold boy living in the montana wilderness, social worker pete snow comes. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. In this shattering and iconic american novel, pen prize win. Now comes smith henderson with his debut novel fourth of july creek.
Buy a cheap copy of fourth of july creek book by smith henderson. Fourth of july creek is an extremely dark book, but hendersons lyrical sentences lend an. The storys protagonist, a family social worker named pete snow, puts it best. Poverty and its terrible side effectsviolence, drugs, various strains of fanaticismplague his clients. But during that time, henderson who was born and raised in montana and now. By tenderly portraying horrible family secrets, henderson is able to illuminate the richness and possibility. Philipp meyer, new york times bestselling author of the son an impressive book deeply so. Henderson has set his novel, the government isnt ordinarily of. Cormac mccarthys shadow may loom heavy across the prose, but the story this prose conveys, and the manner in which henderson unfurls it. Smith hendersons first novel, fourth of july creek, the story of a number of messy and. Fourth of july creek, by smith henderson the washington post. His first novel, fourth of july creek, is the best book ive read so far this year.
And since the setting is the forests of montana, the book has those qualities that define much of that regions literature. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read fourth of july creek. According to the washington post, this richly plotted novel is another sign, if any were needed, that new fiction writers are still telling. Fourth of july creek took henderson nearly a decade to write a coons age in the annals of birthing a novel. Fourth of july creek smith henderson, 2014 harpercollins 480 pp. Fourth of july creek is a gritty, disturbing, evocative. Fourth of july creek wins montana book award books. April 2015 fourth of july creek by smith henderson. In this shattering and iconic novel, smith henderson explores the complexities of freedom, community, grace, suspicion and anarchy, brilliantly depicting americas disquieting and violent contradictions. Fourth of july creek is an extremely dark book, but hendersons lyrical sentences lend an elegancean importanceto the lives of his fictional children. Number two on kurt vonneguts famous eightitem todo list.
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