First published 1989
Nicholas Payne makes a terrible boyfriend and an even worse citizen. When his upper-class girlfriend Ann Fitzgerald dumps him, most men would accept defeat. Nicholas decides to pursue her from Michigan all the way to Montana instead. His obsessive courtship mission turns into a wild adventure across the American West. Along the way he encounters a dangerous bronco that nearly kills him and meets an eccentric inventor building the world's first skyscraper designed specifically for bats. Thomas McGuane follows Nicholas through each ridiculous mishap with sharp humor and vivid prose. The chase becomes a comedy of errors that reveals both the desperation of unrequited love and the absurdity of American life. Nicholas's relentless pursuit of Ann forces him to confront what he really wants and who he actually is.
Genres: american-fiction, adventure, contemporary, comedy
Vibes: fast-paced, thought-provoking, whimsical
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, obsessive-pursuit
Setting: Michigan, Montana
Period: 20th-century
224 pages · Paperback · Methuen Publishing Ltd