The Willow Man

by Duff Brenna

Fiction. Duff Brenna's fifth novel, THE WILLOW MAN, hurtles along in breathless pursuit of a notorious 18-year-old car thief, Triple E, as he violates Minnesota probation and breaks for Alaska. On the road north Triple E adopts the homeless 14-year-old Mercy Jones. In Yukon Territory they themselves are stranded in Whitehorse. There Triple E locks in mortal struggle with a powerful, half-crazed sourdough named John Brown who mistakes Mercy for his long-lost daughter Mamie. Brown kidnaps Mercy to the Tombstone Mountains and the hunted fugitive Triple E becomes the hunter, charging into the teeth of Yukon winter to track down Brown and Mercy. On the surface this is the tale of a rugged manhunt; beneath the surface run currents of sexual longing, social injustice, and a young man's quest for personal redemption.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

DUFF BRENNA is the author of nine books, including The Book of Mamie, which won the AWP Award for Best Novel; The Holy Book of the Beard, named “an underground classic” by The New York Times; Too Cool, a New York Times Noteworthy Book; The Altar of the Body, given the Editors Prize Favorite Book of the Year Award, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and also received a San Diego Writers Association Award for Best Novel 2002. He is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts award, Milwaukee Magazine’s Best Short Story of the Year Award, and a Pushcart Prize Honorable Mention. His book Minnesota Memoirs was awarded Best Short Story Collection at the 2013 Next Generation Indie Awards in New York City. His memoir, Murdering the Mom, was a Finalist for Best Non-Fiction at the same Independent Publishers Awards.His work has been translated into six languages.

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duff Brenna writes about the disenfranchised with authenticity, power and humor.