The Scapeweed Goat

by Frank Schaefer

Book by Schaefer, Frank

200 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1989

About the author

b. 1936
Dallas writer Frank Schaefer is likely better known to readers as the author of several romance novels which he has published under various pseu­donyms.

Reviews

[Oleander · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Scapeweed Goat falls hard into the category of interesting - not an experience I would like to repeat, but interesting. There are two narratives intertwined together as the protagonist records the horrors that happened during his earlier years from the distant situation of his present. One is seething with cultish fanaticism, the other with creeping fatalism and isolation. The contents should be maddening, however, the protagonist seems almost eerily sane throughout the whole thing. He survives all circumstance, even going so far as to methodically cut his own hand off two inches above the wrist to prevent the spread of gangrene. There are exceptions, of course: he spends an abnormal amount of time talking to a mouse he calls Andrew, and makes dangerous decisions regarding two wolverines that have been hounding him all winter. But the element of dissociation present masks the moments of insanity. It was unnerving to read, but ultimately, it was very interesting and well executed, and I hardly put this book down. If you enjoy slow psychological stories that don't rely on thrilling elements to keep you interested and gradually become more and more fatalistic, you might like The Scapeweed Goat.

[The Book Eaters · Rating 4 out of 5]

The original review, and many other reviews and features, can be found at http://www.thebookeaters.co.uk

I love independent bookshops, and I picked this up when one of my local ones was having a sale. Second-hand books were being sold off for 2 for a pound! Well, obviously I couldn’t resist that and dived in to spend a happy half hour browsing. As usual my eyes wandered and I started browsing the books not on the sale shelf too…

The Scapeweed Goat with its bizarre cover picture couldn’t fail to catch my eye. It was first published in 1989 and the blurb quickly persuaded me it was worth a lot more than the princely sum of £1.00 that they were asking for it and soon it was on its way home with me, ready to share itself once more.

The first paragraph reminded me of Cold Mountain – a book that beguiled me with its poetic prose whilst assaulting me with the harshness of life. And in some respects The Scapeweed Goat does that too. However, this story covers the yearning of the human spirit to be looked after. Ironically it examines it through the eyes of a pioneer wishing to live in solitude with his new wife.

Written as a confessional journal of an old man, J tells the story of what happened in wilds of America back in 1899, when his idyllic life with his young wife was disturbed by the arrival of David. David has escaped from a nearby utopian community and is being pursued by guards desperate to get him back, the ramifications of this change J’s life forever.

It is an absorbing narrative and though parts of it are fantastical to our modern minds it is nevertheless utterly believable and authentic.

Frank Schaeffer is a fantastic writer and this should join the ranks of Lord of the Flies and To Kill A Mockingbird as a manuscript offered to our youngsters to stimulate their minds.

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