First published 2011
Robert Grainer works as a day laborer in the American West as the twentieth century begins. He cuts timber and builds bridges alongside other rough men carving civilization from wilderness. When tragedy strikes his family, Grainer must navigate his grief while the world changes around him at breakneck speed. The forests where he works give way to towns and railways. The wildlife he knows disappears as progress marches forward. Grainer watches his familiar way of life vanish as America rushes toward modernity. Denis Johnson follows one ordinary man through decades of personal loss and national transformation. This compact story captures both the intimate pain of losing loved ones and the broader melancholy of watching an entire culture fade away.
Genres: american-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, american
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, slice-of-life
Setting: America, American West
Period: 20th Century
116 pages · Hardcover · Farrar, Straus and Giroux