The unforgettable story of a hero who goes from Michigan to Montana on a demented mission of courtship—from the acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts, a “writer of the first magnitude.... The preternatural force, grace, and self-control of his prose recall Faulkner" (The New York Times Book Review).
As a citizen, Nicholas Payne is not in the least solid. As a boyfriend, he is nothing short of disastrous, and his latest flame, the patrician Ann Fitzgerald, has done a wise thing by dropping him. But Ann isn't counting on Nicholas's wild persistence, or on the slapstick lyricism of Thomas McGuane—highlights include a ride on a homicidal bronco and an apprenticeship to the inventor of the world's first highrise for bats. The result is a tour de force of American Dubious.
"The work of a writer of the first magnitude. His sheer writing skill is nothing short of amazing. The preternatural force, grace, and self-control of his prose recall Faulkner.... McGuane is a virtuoso." —The New York Times Book Review
"McGuane shares with Celine a genius for seeing the profuse, disparate materials of everyday life as a highly organized nightmare." —The New Yorker
"A novel of wisecracks and puns and ordinary objects invested with legendary potency." —Newsweek
The unforgettable story of a hero who goes from Michigan to Montana on a demented mission of courtship—from the acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts, a “writer of the first magnitude.... The preternatural force, grace, and self-control of his prose recall Faulkner" (The New York Times Book Review).
As a citizen, Nicholas Payne is not in the least solid. As a boyfriend, he is nothing short of disastrous, and his latest flame, the patrician Ann Fitzgerald, has done a wise thing by dropping him. But Ann isn't counting on Nicholas's wild persistence, or on the slapstick lyricism of Thomas McGuane—highlights include a ride on a homicidal bronco and an apprenticeship to the inventor of the world's first highrise for bats. The result is a tour de force of American Dubious.
Praise
"The work of a writer of the first magnitude. His sheer writing skill is nothing short of amazing. The preternatural force, grace, and self-control of his prose recall Faulkner.... McGuane is a virtuoso." —The New York Times Book Review
"McGuane shares with Celine a genius for seeing the profuse, disparate materials of everyday life as a highly organized nightmare." —The New Yorker
"A novel of wisecracks and puns and ordinary objects invested with legendary potency." —Newsweek
