The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole

by Stephanie Doyon

Cedar Hole is a foggy little town where only the grass seems able to thrive. Enter Robert J. Cutler, enigmatic, confident and relentlessly cheerful. Robert seems to be heading for great things - more than this town of hopeless washouts can offer him, certainly. However, he is devoted to Cedar Hole and determines to become its school's best student. Now meet Francis 'Spud' Pinkham, who is trying to stay as invisible as Robert is brilliant. Spud's nine terrifying elder sisters make his life a daily battle and he slips easily and willingly into the role of the school bully. It seems that these boys' lives have been mapped out already. But destiny has other the colourful residents of Cedar Hole will be forced to acknowledge that a great man can come in many guises.

Genres: Fiction, Drama, Coming Of Age, Novels

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[K.D. Absolutely · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have 4 Goodreads friends who are authors, i.e., have published books under their names.

Two of them became my friends here in GR because when I added their books, I saw that their names have asterisk, denoting that they are Goodreads authors, and so I sent them invite to be my friends. Who wouldn’t want to be friends with an author?

It was in 2008 when this happened to me and Author #1. Up to now, I haven’t read her book. She was nice to me. She even liked my review of Jorge Luis Borges’ Ficciones. Imagine, an author liking my review? *honored* I thanked her and said that I would read her book soon. Unfortunately, almost 3 years have passed and I did not make good of that promise. Her book is still there in my bookshelf unread. I think the reason is that if I find the book not to my taste, I will not be able to control myself. If you read my reviews regularly, you should know that sometimes I turn into this nasty monster reviewer. I would not want to destroy our “friendship.” Ha ha

Then last month came Author #2: Stephanie Doyon the author of The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole . When I added her book, her name showed up. Asterisk. Clicked the name. Wow. Pretty face. 7 friends. 3 fans. 50 books. No reviews. Hi. I just brought your book tonight. I did not know anything about you (pardon me) but I thought what is written on the blurbs are good. I thought it would be cool to be your Goodreads friend. Hope you accept.. Clicked closed. Slept. The following morning. Thanks for finding my book--I hope you enjoy it. I'm not very active on Goodreads (too busy writing) but I'll still add you as a friend. Happy reading.

Too busy writing! Hah, if I read her book she will not even have time to read my review. Grabbed the book. Started reading on February 2. Finished reading on February 9.

The book is awesome! From page 1 up to the last page, for 7 days, it kept me my interest high. Stephanie, you know how to tell a great story about simple ambition-less American people in a laidback sleeping fictional town of Cedar Hole! I never knew that a story about simple people can be as interesting as this!

You know what I really liked about your storytelling style? You are unpredictable. When I thought you would make a swift turn right, you make a swervy left. Example of this is when Spud is born, I expect that he will become the favorite of the family, his elder 9 sisters and his parents. Many people would have thought so but you made his life as hell and even made his eldest sister, Jackie to be the novel’s main villain! Then of course, the title of the “greatest” should easily go to Robert, the good man, but you killed him in the middle of the book and made Spud, the loser, as the new good man and then you kept the suspense in the end whether he will be successful in his business and turn out to be the “greatest” man. Last night, on the last page, I was expecting this to happen but you chose to close the story by describing about a grass or something.

Totally unpredictable but definitely believable, that is what I like about this book. And your writing: wry, imaginative, detailed, witty and sometimes funny. Where have you been all these years, Stephanie? And you (who is reading this review), make yourself a favor. Read Doyon. She is being compared with Anne Tyler of Breathing Lessons and won the 2005 Maine Literary Award for Fiction. Breath of fresh air this young new author. She studied writing under Richard Russo.

Stephanie, yes keep busy with your writing. And I will keep myself busy waiting for your product.

[GoldGato · Rating 4 out of 5]

...the town seemed to exist almost by default. It was five miles of negative space...

Such is the small town of Cedar Hole, which is the real star of this story. Existing somewhere in smalltown USA, neither North nor South, neither East nor West, it is there to symbolize the strangling universes in which each of us exist. From the very first page of the book, we learn quickly that this is a town of comfort-zoners, where one doesn't try to step outside the circle.

We quickly get introduced to the town and its denizens from the very first page. We learn that Cedar Hole has the largest number of severed toes per capita, chiefly because the residents have to mow their lawns three times a week due to fast-growing grass. The adults each get their own characterizations, such as the town slag who is also the town teacher. The dedicated town librarian who yearns for a bigger library. The local cop who doesn't really like being a lawman. It's like Facebook.

But in Cedar Hole, when a person rose above the lot, everyone else looked around and thought they were sinking.

There is a protagonist and an antagonist, and we learn about them as they go about their fourth grade lives. Their families are not what we expect and there is a twist halfway through the story that threw me for a loop, one I had to adjust to as I didn't want that twist to occur. The reader is left to wonder just to whom the title is referring, as roles get switched. Young boys grow up, get married, have children, and life continues in the unloved town.

It was the time when despair tapped you on the shoulder in the middle of the night and the future alternated between a blank concrete wall and a vast, lonely desert.

I loved this book and I even loved the characters, loathsome though some of them be. The end wraps up too many plot lines, though I simply wanted it all to continue (me selfish). The idea that we are where we are and can only see our sphere is a universal tugalong. It's like mowing, I suppose, where the grass is clipped with no stalk higher than the other.

Book Season = Summer (snapshots of life)

[Jack · Rating 2 out of 5]

This first "adult" novel by former young adult writer Stephanie Doton had a lot of promise. Interestingly enough the two lead characters start out the book as fourth graders and the story looks at their parallel lives in small town Cedar Hole. Unfortunately the book just ends without much fanfare. It seems like the author as strung together a bunch or good plot line ideas but then leaves us hanging. The ending is "huh?" And the plot lines while interesting sort of just fizzle out as well. I also thought that one of the main characters died way too early. I was thinking that here was where the big payoff was coming. I was wrong. Looking back on it in the light of day, it was a bit depressing ( I finished it at 1:30am). None of the character's dreams, ambitions, or relationships are ever fulfilled or if so, not for long! But I still can't help that there is a great novel here that was never realized.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Efter att ha läst The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole inser jag att jag inte alls var beredd på vad boken faktiskt skulle handla om. Det enda jag visste om boken innan var vad som stod i baksidestexten men den gör inte handlingen rätt, vill jag påstå. Boken tog flera oväntade svängar i helt andra riktningar än vad baksidestexten påstod. Inte för att det är något negativt. Jag vill inte avslöja för mycket men kan ändå säga att vi får följa både Roberts och Francis liv på ett eller annat sätt från början till slut. Genom barndomen, tonåren och vuxenlivet – själva eller tillsammans med familj och vänner. Det var ett passande upplägg, trots att jag egentligen var mest intresserad av deras barndom, och det var intressant att följa deras uppväxter. Jag tror att upplägget gav mig större förståelse för karaktärerna och varför de agerade som de gjorde. Jag kunde aldrig lära mig att acceptera Roberts eller Francis familjer i deras försummelse av Robert och Francis. Trots att pojkarna hade olika förutsättningar så blev båda utsatta för samma fördomar, förtal och lidande. Det var bara annan nyans på vad som sades.

Därför tycker jag också att titeln är speciellt intressant. Vem är egentligen ”the greatest man in Cedar Hole”? Vad betyder titeln? Jag tror inte att svaret är så lätt som man först kan tro. Det är nog lätt att direkt svara Robert på frågan eftersom han har bra betyg, är företagsam och energisk. Men Francis då? Är inte han en bra människa också? Trots att han fick en sämre start i livet som den tionde medlemmen i den ökände Pinkham-familjen och att han tagit an rollen som skolans mobbare är han ingen dålig människa. Det är uppenbart att han är en snäll människa innerst inne och att han egentligen bara är rädd för att själv bli mobbad. Med det rykte som familjen har är det egentligen bara ett naturligt val för honom. Enligt honom har han ingen annan roll att axla. Både Robert och Francis växer till slut upp till sunda människor och skaffar egna familjer och jobb. Det går bra för båda men trots det kan staden Cedar Hole inte riktigt släppa sina fördomar om de två. Francis får egentligen aldrig den cred han förtjänar och hamnar alltid i skymundan för Robert. Han låter det däremot aldrig överta honom och kanske är det faktiskt han som är ”the greatest man in Cedar Hole”? Vad vet jag.

Det enda jag inte förstår är varför ingen har gjort detta till en film än. Upplägget och handlingen riktigt skriker filmadaption. Jag skulle absolut vilja se den filmen i alla fall…

[Fee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this book. It's full of the kind of people you meet everyday. Annoying people, successful people, underdogs, bullies, losers, people who dream big, and people who don't dream at all.

Now gather all of those people in a small town, add their individual struggles--from the day they were born and follow through their adulthood. See how some people don't change at all, and note the effects of what childhood memories can bring. The Greatest Man of Cedar Hole will tell you all of these stories in such a witty manner. Occasionally it's hard not to feel so annoyed with the characters and events. But that's how it is in a small town where everyone knows everyone. I love how Stephanie Doyon created the characters in this book. They may sound like typical, normal people but that makes this book so interesting.

The ending was a bit disappointing even though I understand that the story seems to be like real life--you can't just wrap it all up and give a definitive ending while the characters are still young and alive, but it shows as if none of them have actually gained anything at all. And since I did not expect how the ending turned out to be, I must say that despite the disappointment, I actually enjoyed the story and the message it carries.

Please read this book if you have the chance. I love it more than some other bestsellers out there.

[Bronwyn Rykiert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting enough story. I ask a question who was the greatest man in Cedar Hole was it Robert or Francis? Neither of them seem great to me and I was rather disappointed when Robert died at such a young age, really before he had a chance to become the greatest man anywhere, except maybe for Kitty the librarian.

Robert certainly was not the greatest man for his wife who was a very strange person anyway. Maybe it was because he was always happy which was a feat considering his home life with a father who was never home and who drank too much and a mother who would not lift a finger to do anything and who would not get out bed even?

Francis on the other hand seemed to have a reasonable relationship with his wife Anita and his boys seemed rather fine. Poor Francis needs points just for surviving his childhood with all his sisters who seemed to be all tomboys.

It was a different story and I did enjoy listening to it.

[Shauna Ruske · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is amazing, but the reason I don't give it 5 stars is that it's a little hard, sometimes, to get through some of the poor-white-trash chapters. Many of the characters are so low in values and integrity that it gets a little tiring. But, the overall message is one that lasts. I learned that some people can never escape negative stigma no matter how hard they try and how much good they do. Even with the best of intentions, there are those who will never "add up" in the eyes of society. LOVE the message.

[Claire O'Brien · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not surprised to learn that Richard Russo is a mentor to this author, as her style is so similar and I'd definitely recommend it to fans of his. The characters are incredibly well drawn and developed. I loved the first half when the boys were kids and teenagers, and the bit with the mailbox just broke my heart. I wish she'd ended it there though, as the latter section with the boys as adults is just not nearly as good. It doesn't ruin the book, it would have just been better without it.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

One would probably call this a "coming of age" novel, as the two main characters are followed from boyhood to adulthood. Life in a small town, with all its ups and downs! That pretty much sums up the plot....but the writing is excellent, and the setting is so realistic that I feel like I have been to Cedar Hole. A very enjoyable read!

[Book2Dragon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Knew nothing of this book or author, but picked it up at a book sale and finally (after a year or more) picked it up to read. I have shelves full of books waiting patiently to be read, and thought it was time to read the unread. I loved this book. Good writer, interesting tale, and characters you feel about. Recommended.

[Carl Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I was slightly disappointed with this book. When I picked it up and read the blurb I thought it might lead to an underdog type of story. One where a main character defied the odds, this wasn't that.
The style of prose was good but unyielding, there were moments in the story where I felt a big event could have been dealt with in a more open manner. It felt blunt and didn't yield much to the story.
Some of the characters were dreary and bothersome, whilst the one I thought would be the underdog didn't actually amount to much. The story fawned over one character who wasn't even in the story for very long.

I still have this a three star because I felt it was decent even though it lacked what I felt could have improved it.

[Thomas McDade · Rating 5 out of 5]

"You don't slip much past Stephanie Doyon, whose wry, wicked, sympathetic intelligence informs every page of her winning, hilarious novel."
--Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls

One might not be able to tell a book by its cover but Russo blurb a sure thing.

[Kirstin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So glad I picked this up after bookfrogster's recommendations. Indeed a wonderful gem of a novel. I just loved all the characters - Spud and his rowdy sisters, Bernie and Nadine, Kitty and Herm - a snippet of small town America. Just loved it !!

[Gayatri Arifin · Rating 4 out of 5]

the story is very casual....I usually finish a book in days, this one took me nearly two months...upon finishing, I feel that this book has a very sweet and modest tone.. I sincerely love it despite the fact that the flow is one pretty slow plot.

[Caroline Bartels · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t find this all that humorous, as the reviews all imply, just mostly depressing.

[Angie Coulombe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book but the ending was disappointingly underwhelming.

[Kelly Callaghan · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

Half way through and stopped. Unappealing characters in a dreadful town.

[Ronnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

There’s no point of anything in this book, just a series of descriptions of things that happen in different people’s lives in a small town, decade after decade.

[Lauren Malpass · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 🌟

[Devika Menon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book. Has a nice moral, but it has a lot of bad words in it. Not recommended for younger readers

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm often drawn to books about small town life, probably because I pine for the community that existed when I was younger where, for better or worse, everyone knew everything about everybody. Cedar Hole is such a town, isolated by geography and their own insular interests, it is place where people are born and die.

With deft characterisation, Doyon introduces us to Robert J Cutler and Francis 'Spud' Pinkham, who are just six at the time. As the youngest of nine children, and the only boy, Francis is already bowed by the expectations of the community. The wild reputation of his sisters precedes him and he is treated according to their behaviour. As an only child of a reclusive mother and quiet father, Robert J Cutler escapes the preconceptions of the town and his individual personality, very different to that of his classmates, is encouraged. While Robert is oblivious to the inequality, Francis is both baffled by, and envious of, Robert's optimistic nature and the advantages that are afforded him.
Doyen follows the lives of these two boys through their childhood and into adulthood, and it's a fascinating character study of two men who are born of, and remain in, similar circumstances whose lives take different paths. It is also partly an examination of the nature versus nurture debate, how much of who we are and what we do is innate behaviour, and what effect does expectation have on the choices we make.
As with many small town novels there are a number of supporting characters that never the less have their own distinct personalities, from the disgruntled school teacher who drinks too much to the Sheriff who is woefully unprepared for anything involving real police work. The town of Cedar Hole is almost a character in it's own right, with it's tiny stores, unpaved roads and abandoned rail way tracks.

The pace of the novel is slow, very little happens in Cedar Hole, but it is a place you visit for the people not the scenery. I kept turning the pages because I wanted to know how the lives of Robert and Francis would turn out, and who, when all was said and done, the greatest man in Cedar Hole.

The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole is a story of ordinary people doing their best in an ordinary town. Wry, entertaining and bittersweet, this is a novel of growing up and growing old.

[Karissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I really liked this book. So much so that if I ever find it in a book sale I will pick it up no questions asked.

The book takes place in Cedar Hole, a small town where everyone knows each other and no one is expected to make much of themselves. It starts off with a fourth grade classroom. The teacher, who for some reason the name escapes me right now, is a rude woman who obviously doesn't like teaching. She goes down the row of students, picking out which ones will be failures (all of them), and speaking with new students, trying to figure out all their stories. Then she meets Robert J. Cutler, assuming he is a new student. But he isn't. He's lived in the town all his life. Which, looking at how clean he looks and how bright eyed and bushy tailed he is, it seems wrong somehow. Next she runs into Francis "Spud" Pinkham and knows automatically that he will be trouble.

The book flips between Robert's life and Spud's, showing how they all intersect. You occasionally get the point of view of other people in the town, the teacher for instance, and the librarian, Kitty that Robert befriends, and Robert's wife and daughter.

The book spans throughout their lives, from fourth grade to being teenagers to becoming adults and having families of their own. Spud feels that he must always compete with Robert, until of course the man dies. But even then he sometimes feels that he must compete with the man.

In the end, Spud is a good man with a loving family, and though his water selling business may not have panned out, well, they'll figure things out, won't they?

I really enjoyed hearing about Spud's childhood. His father wanted a boy so badly that they tried 10 times. 10! Spud had 9 older sisters that may have well be boys, none of which married, at least one being a lesbian. Poor Spud was tortured by his older sisters as a kid, and even earned his nickname thanks to them. When they all lived under one roof, he had to sleep in the pantry. One day one of his sisters had to get some potatoes, and she left them sitting precariously on a shelf. Throughout the night the potatoes moved, all landing on a sleeping Francis "Spud".

There may have been what people called "no point" to the book, but it was sweet. I really enjoyed it. I hope to find the book soon so I can have my own copy.

[S.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gentle satire of people in a fictional small, nondescript American town named Cedar Hole. Once you are there it is next to impossible to leave, and those who try to better themselves or their surroundings are put down by everyone else. Around the town are better, more prosperous places, but the people in Cedar Hole are discouraged by general apathy from improving their own lot. Kind of like real life - how easy it is to avoid taking risks, to criticize from the vantage point of one's own threadbare comfy chair, to be judgemental, to say "I told you so" or "I knew it!" or "you shouldna..." This is the kind of book that really makes you think, if you look at it that way instead of just getting frustrated at the characters and wondering why they can't do any better or are too trusting. "We have met the enemy and he is us."

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've owned this for some time but never really got into it then I picked it up cheap on my Kindle and following my kindle rule read it through. I thoroughly enjoyed it. A perfect description of small town America. Small town anywhere in fact. How rumours spread, how assumptions are made, how reputations are acquired whether or not they are earned and the judgements that are dished out when there is nothing to talk about other than your neighbours and all outsiders are mistrusted.

Yet it is at the same time kind of optimistic. There is a sense in which being content and taking things as they come is rewarded. Spud does okay, he is faithful, good with his family, he rises above things without really trying simply by being true to himself.

Altogether well worth the effort.

[Bookmarks Magazine]

An author and ghostwriter of novels for teenagers makes her well-received adult fiction debut with an immensely entertaining, superbly written tale that is difficult to categorize. The characters are entirely realistic, and the small town of Cedar Hole is rendered well enough to be a character in its own right. Many critics compare Doyon's writing style to that of John Irving or Richard Russo. The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole is never unbelievable, although one critic thought that its ending was predictable.

This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine.

[D.A. Cairns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating idea to tell the story of a character through the eyes of others during his life and especially after his death. I wasn't sure at times if the author wanted me to believe that Spud Pinkham was actually the greatest man and not Robert J. Cutler. Didn't like the ending although it seemed fitting for the type of person Spud was and the kind of life he had lived. Some of the satellite characters were interesting. Despite nothing much happening in the story, it still held my interest, mainly because I was interested in Spud's fate. I didn't like Robert and its funny to think of how such a "good" person can annoy people, even disgust them. Well worth a read, this one.

[Pat · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am SO glad I got this off a clearance table for $2. As it is, I overpaid. Someone should pay you LOTs to endure this book.

If this is small town America, then kill me now! The characters range from vicious, violent and stupid to downright passive and pathetic. And that's just one sister and brother. The lazy teacher, leering butcher, neglectful parents (en masse, not just one family!)...

A mean-spirited depiction of a town you'd never want to live in and people you'd never want to meet. I can't believe I read the whole thing. What a waste of eyepower. The best thing about it is the cover art and the front flap.

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see what Stephanie Doyon is doing here, but there's something about the tone of this novel that doesn't sit right with me, though I wouldn't be surprised if many readers felt differently. Here the author presents a sort of a shit-hole small town nestled between better towns, and the generally amusingly mean-spirited people who populate the former. Doyon is trying to make many of these people nasty but funny while still making us care and occasionally tugging our heartstrings. It is funny, but I wasn't that involved; I didn't care enough.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really thought provoking book I just plucked off the library shelf last week. It takes place in a small town and is about 2 families over 3 generations as well as their friends and enemies. Author Stephanie Doyon explores what it is that makes a person "great" in the eyes of others. It's a rich character study that has so much truth about how people behave in any size community when faced with difficulties and their own mistakes. There's lessons here for every reader!

[Nic · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the beginning of this book. Maybe the whole first half. It's not that nothing ever happens, because it does - it's more that the pace of the book seems uneven. Also, the characters are much less interesting as adults. But the beginning is pretty good and I did enjoy reading the book. Mostly.