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Driftless
The few hundred souls who inhabit Words, Wisconsin, are an extraordinary cast of characters. The middle-aged couple who zealously guards their farm from a scheming milk cooperative. The lifelong invalid, crippled by conflicting emotions about her sister. A cantankerous retiree, haunted by childhood memories after discovering a cougar in his haymow. The former drifter who forever alters the ties that bind a community. In his first novel in 30 years, David Rhodes offers a vivid and unforgettable look at life in small-town America.
431 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2008
830 people are currently reading
4015 people want to read
About the author
David Rhodes
70 books147 followersAs a young man, David Rhodes worked in fields, hospitals, and factories across Iowa. After receiving an MFA in Writing from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1971, he published three acclaimed novels: The Last Fair Deal Going Down (1972), The Easter House (1974), and Rock Island Line (1975). In 1976, a motorcycle accident left him partially paralyzed. In 2008, Rhodes returned to the literary scene with Driftless, a novel that was hailed as "the best work of fiction to come out of the Midwest in many years" (Alan Cheuse). Following the publication of Driftless, Rhodes was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2010, to support the writing of Jewelweed, his newest novel. He lives with his wife, Edna, in Wisconsin.
“Rhodes proves that there is still vigorous life in the dark Gothic roots of great American novels.”
—Peter W. Jordan, The Tennessean
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 917 reviews
October 19, 2009
Saw David Rhoades at the Wisconsin Book Festival. He said a several of wonderful things that helped my understanding of the book.
First the title is obviously about the interesting area of Wisconsin (& other states) where I live. But it is also about July finally stopping his drifting from the previous books and settling in Words. That sure makes me want to read "Rock Island Line".
Second "Words" is his comment on the post modern theory that fiction is about words and not the narrative. Readers are supposed to make up the stories. I love this irony.
Finally, the book grew out of the personal experience of losing a longtime friend to a PTO farm accident. Rhoades thought he knew the person and his friends. But then he attended his funeral and there were more than 200 people all with different stories but all see his friend as the same warm, caring, good friend.
And I loved this book. The characters are strong and well developed. The pace starts by shorter chapters introducing each new person. And it helps to pace the book right from the start. While perhaps the characters might be cute to some they each have their own issues and flaws. They all have their struggles. The book is very funny at times. At the reading Rhoades read the scene where Olive & Wade try t evade the police while retrieving the purse. It read like a comedy routine in his hands.
The fact that this is Rhoades first book since a crippling motorcycle accident 20 years ago does have some bearing on the book. Rhoades' hard earned perspective certainly gave some depth and feeling to several characters.
I'd recommend this book to anyone. It is a easy read with all the parts that make it a wonderful novel.
First the title is obviously about the interesting area of Wisconsin (& other states) where I live. But it is also about July finally stopping his drifting from the previous books and settling in Words. That sure makes me want to read "Rock Island Line".
Second "Words" is his comment on the post modern theory that fiction is about words and not the narrative. Readers are supposed to make up the stories. I love this irony.
Finally, the book grew out of the personal experience of losing a longtime friend to a PTO farm accident. Rhoades thought he knew the person and his friends. But then he attended his funeral and there were more than 200 people all with different stories but all see his friend as the same warm, caring, good friend.
And I loved this book. The characters are strong and well developed. The pace starts by shorter chapters introducing each new person. And it helps to pace the book right from the start. While perhaps the characters might be cute to some they each have their own issues and flaws. They all have their struggles. The book is very funny at times. At the reading Rhoades read the scene where Olive & Wade try t evade the police while retrieving the purse. It read like a comedy routine in his hands.
The fact that this is Rhoades first book since a crippling motorcycle accident 20 years ago does have some bearing on the book. Rhoades' hard earned perspective certainly gave some depth and feeling to several characters.
I'd recommend this book to anyone. It is a easy read with all the parts that make it a wonderful novel.
December 5, 2011
I was helping a woman in her 70's at the library figure out the next book her book club should read. She was making me laugh because she had read almost everything out there, and had some sort of critical one-liner for almost every popular book. Before she left, she told me, "Read Driftless by David Rhodes. You won't regret it, it's a gem." I believed her, and I agree with her.
The story behind the story is interesting; the author wrote critically acclaimed fiction in the 70's, winning many fiction awards. Then he was paralyzed from the chest down in an accident and this book came almost 30 years later.
It's not a perfect book; the dialogue wasn't its strong point and the plot has moments where it seems contrived. And Gail Shotwell should have been a much better written character, she's by far the least compelling. The author seemed afraid to take that story where it had the potential to go. In spite of those things, the poetic writing and the fantastic characterization completely cancel out what it lacked. All the way through, I felt like I understood what Rhodes was trying to say about life, about our society, about the current state of our government. Right down to the profoundly simple last sentence of the book, which brought me to tears. There are so many paragraphs in this book that are the kind you go back to read again because they feel so true. Stories of rural, Midwestern life have been a favorite of mine recently, and this one is at the top of the list. It also makes me want to read more books from Milkweed Editions, who publishes "with the intention of making a humane impact on society, in the belief that good writing can transform the human heart and spirit." That's a perfect description of what this book did for me.
The story behind the story is interesting; the author wrote critically acclaimed fiction in the 70's, winning many fiction awards. Then he was paralyzed from the chest down in an accident and this book came almost 30 years later.
It's not a perfect book; the dialogue wasn't its strong point and the plot has moments where it seems contrived. And Gail Shotwell should have been a much better written character, she's by far the least compelling. The author seemed afraid to take that story where it had the potential to go. In spite of those things, the poetic writing and the fantastic characterization completely cancel out what it lacked. All the way through, I felt like I understood what Rhodes was trying to say about life, about our society, about the current state of our government. Right down to the profoundly simple last sentence of the book, which brought me to tears. There are so many paragraphs in this book that are the kind you go back to read again because they feel so true. Stories of rural, Midwestern life have been a favorite of mine recently, and this one is at the top of the list. It also makes me want to read more books from Milkweed Editions, who publishes "with the intention of making a humane impact on society, in the belief that good writing can transform the human heart and spirit." That's a perfect description of what this book did for me.
June 12, 2021
The book tells the story of a handful of persons living in a small town in Wisconsin. Farmers, a musician, an invalid, a protestant pastor, a mechanic - their lives, their pasts and future are woven together as only the shared lives of a small community can be. There's no glorification of Midwest virtue here. Virtue definitely exists in small gestures of kindness and in subtle acts of daily courage, but it is not glorified. But neither is this a book intent on showing us the seedy sides of human nature, as if we weren't acquainted with them already. If I were to pick a word that best describes this writing it would be: honesty. But there's something else about this book that is unusual, I believe, for American literature. The author is willing to write about matters of the spirit, about questions of belief and faith. I think too often authors shy away from talking about religious experiences (where these also include moments of deep doubt) for fear of seeming as if they are pushing a particular belief. But in this book, the spiritual experiences of the characters are fully ingrained in the personality presented and the only thing you can tell about the author's own religious beliefs is that these are matters of deep concern to him. He is willing to explore in this book the spiritual part of human experience as part of that "honesty" that I mentioned before. Because to be honest is to look at the whole and the spirit, that which is felt but not seen, longed for but never grasped, is part of the whole.
April 5, 2020
From Wiki:
"The Driftless Area is located in the American Midwest including southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and northwestern Illinois. The area is noted by the deeply carved river valleys after having escaped glaciation in the last glacial period. While this area was never touched by glaciers, it is well known for its beautifully sculpted topography. The Driftless Area is an outdoorsman’s dream…..There is an abundance of wildlife and wildflowers that thrive in this area with the forests, prairie remnants, wetlands, and grasslands."
This book is set in the “Driftless” area of southwestern Wisconsin, in modern times. I thought by picking up this book I would get a feel for the area. I didn’t. This book could be set in any rural farming area in America. Problem number one.
Problem number two. Right at the start, a huge cast of characters are thrown at the reader. Around fifteen or more! Characters are not introduced slowly, a few at a time. They became a total jumble. You must take notes to keep track of who is who. The book has a hero. He is too good to be true! is his name. It is through his actions the other stories tie together. I failed to relate to any of the characters.
Each character has a background to be discovered and a present-day story to be told. Each one’s background story is revealed little by little. Around ten different present-day stories run parallel. Each story has its own theme--a wild cougar up in a barn, the Amish people, repair of a house, marital problems, mourning of a dead wife, a music band, an armed militia group a tractor accident, a religious epiphany and a farming co-op that is cheating its members. The diverse stories come together to deliver a message, to drive home a point. That message is heartwarming and nice but not extraordinary. Either you agree with the message or you don’t. In any case, the book will not change your point of view. People . This is what the book says. Maybe it says something about religion that I didn’t get. In my view, the parallel stories do not help the tale; they divide and confuse.
The religious content was too exaggerated for me. If you are not comfortable with a book where religious beliefs play a central role, skip this book.
The book is too long. It needs to be tightened, pulled together.
The prose style is where the book failed me most. The writing is chock full of metaphors, bad metaphors, metaphors that do not make sense. The author uses complicated ways of expressing simple ideas. Many of the characters are simple country folk--farmers, repairmen, local musicians for example. The ideas and thoughts the author puts in their heads feel foreign there, they do not belong there! Over and over again, I kept thinking what a peculiar way of expressing that idea! Many times, every other paragraph or so, I was bothered by this. I am just saying that I personally do not like the prose style; it’s too complicated, too fancy, too overdone. This is just not how these people would think! This is what I disliked most about the whole book, not that I liked the other things mentioned either.
The audiobook is narrated by Lloyd James. He varies his intonation to fit the different characters. He does this very well. This is not easy given that there is such a wide range of characters. Four stars to the narration.
The book itself, I do not like and so have given it one star. I got more and more annoyed as a listened. I was mad at myself for not dumping the book sooner, before wasting so much time. I was aware right from the start that the prose style bothered me. This book has won prizes, but I don’t like it.
"The Driftless Area is located in the American Midwest including southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and northwestern Illinois. The area is noted by the deeply carved river valleys after having escaped glaciation in the last glacial period. While this area was never touched by glaciers, it is well known for its beautifully sculpted topography. The Driftless Area is an outdoorsman’s dream…..There is an abundance of wildlife and wildflowers that thrive in this area with the forests, prairie remnants, wetlands, and grasslands."
This book is set in the “Driftless” area of southwestern Wisconsin, in modern times. I thought by picking up this book I would get a feel for the area. I didn’t. This book could be set in any rural farming area in America. Problem number one.
Problem number two. Right at the start, a huge cast of characters are thrown at the reader. Around fifteen or more! Characters are not introduced slowly, a few at a time. They became a total jumble. You must take notes to keep track of who is who. The book has a hero. He is too good to be true! is his name. It is through his actions the other stories tie together. I failed to relate to any of the characters.
Each character has a background to be discovered and a present-day story to be told. Each one’s background story is revealed little by little. Around ten different present-day stories run parallel. Each story has its own theme--a wild cougar up in a barn, the Amish people, repair of a house, marital problems, mourning of a dead wife, a music band, an armed militia group a tractor accident, a religious epiphany and a farming co-op that is cheating its members. The diverse stories come together to deliver a message, to drive home a point. That message is heartwarming and nice but not extraordinary. Either you agree with the message or you don’t. In any case, the book will not change your point of view. People . This is what the book says. Maybe it says something about religion that I didn’t get. In my view, the parallel stories do not help the tale; they divide and confuse.
The religious content was too exaggerated for me. If you are not comfortable with a book where religious beliefs play a central role, skip this book.
The book is too long. It needs to be tightened, pulled together.
The prose style is where the book failed me most. The writing is chock full of metaphors, bad metaphors, metaphors that do not make sense. The author uses complicated ways of expressing simple ideas. Many of the characters are simple country folk--farmers, repairmen, local musicians for example. The ideas and thoughts the author puts in their heads feel foreign there, they do not belong there! Over and over again, I kept thinking what a peculiar way of expressing that idea! Many times, every other paragraph or so, I was bothered by this. I am just saying that I personally do not like the prose style; it’s too complicated, too fancy, too overdone. This is just not how these people would think! This is what I disliked most about the whole book, not that I liked the other things mentioned either.
The audiobook is narrated by Lloyd James. He varies his intonation to fit the different characters. He does this very well. This is not easy given that there is such a wide range of characters. Four stars to the narration.
The book itself, I do not like and so have given it one star. I got more and more annoyed as a listened. I was mad at myself for not dumping the book sooner, before wasting so much time. I was aware right from the start that the prose style bothered me. This book has won prizes, but I don’t like it.
September 23, 2012
I'm reading this book for my senior seminar in english studies and, in my (almost) professional opinion: HOLY CRAP. It's nothing short of amazing. The characters are real and easy to relate to. The fictional town of Words, Wisconsin is so like the town I grew up in, in the same state. Rhodes has the most beautiful way with words. I can't even properly describe this novel to you, you just have to read it.
December 2, 2010
What is to be done when, in rural Wisconsin, a young farm family runs afoul of a corrupt and dangerous agribusiness corporation? Worry, too, about that cougar prowling the nearby farms, and the quirky woman preacher at the Quaker church having mystical visions in the woods, and the militia men skulking about the countryside with their machine guns.
Early on I fell in love with Driftless but eventually traded that for mere fondness. It was one of those rare first acquaintances with an author that make me say: some of his other books must be really, really good. I don't often mark passages in modern novels, but I did it several times in this ambitious book. Rhodes writes with insight and enthusiasm, and he touches on many social topics and points of philosophy. Unfortunately, he throws a bit too much into the pot. There are a few too many buried coincidences, two or three subplots where credibility was strained, and--especially off-putting--a couple of moments where Social Statements were unnecessarily thrown at the reader. Still, while reading this I realized how rare it is that an author has both the skill and depth of feeling to leave you sensing that you got truly close to him over the course of the novel--intimately close.
Early on I fell in love with Driftless but eventually traded that for mere fondness. It was one of those rare first acquaintances with an author that make me say: some of his other books must be really, really good. I don't often mark passages in modern novels, but I did it several times in this ambitious book. Rhodes writes with insight and enthusiasm, and he touches on many social topics and points of philosophy. Unfortunately, he throws a bit too much into the pot. There are a few too many buried coincidences, two or three subplots where credibility was strained, and--especially off-putting--a couple of moments where Social Statements were unnecessarily thrown at the reader. Still, while reading this I realized how rare it is that an author has both the skill and depth of feeling to leave you sensing that you got truly close to him over the course of the novel--intimately close.
February 27, 2009
I really, really, really wanted to like this book. Based on the summary, this by all means could have been my favorite book. Rising against agribusiness, esoteric theological musings, the Driftless Area? That's pretty much my life.
The characters were believable (for the most part), but the dialogue was not. The descriptive passages did nothing to bring the geography and the intricate nature of the coulees and ridges of southwest Wisconsin to life. The author suffers a tendency to over-describe perfectly useless objects and glosses over the ones that might actually do the book justice.
Again, with the characters: too many of them in too short of a span, and most were indistinguishable. I spent the first 100 pages confused as to what the hell they were all doing and why their presence was essential to the plot.
And while I can appreciate magical realism in literature in life, this just came across as cheesy.
Disappointing. What a waste of good concept.
The characters were believable (for the most part), but the dialogue was not. The descriptive passages did nothing to bring the geography and the intricate nature of the coulees and ridges of southwest Wisconsin to life. The author suffers a tendency to over-describe perfectly useless objects and glosses over the ones that might actually do the book justice.
Again, with the characters: too many of them in too short of a span, and most were indistinguishable. I spent the first 100 pages confused as to what the hell they were all doing and why their presence was essential to the plot.
And while I can appreciate magical realism in literature in life, this just came across as cheesy.
Disappointing. What a waste of good concept.
March 8, 2010
4 1/2 stars, really. In the author interview at the back of this edition, Rhodes explains how the geography of place defines the characters, who they are, what they do, and what they believe. I live not too far from where this novel takes place, and though I feel I'd make lots of different choices from the ones his characters make, their choices are true. This is bible belt country, but this region also harbors many skeptics, and Rhodes invites both, all, views of faith -- in God, god, and humanity. It's the inner drive towards faith at all that Rhodes scrutinizes. It seems almost a waste of time to delineate some of the nagging minor issues that troubled me --a neat ending, some easy solutions, a character or two who's actions don't necessarily match their characterizations -- but who cares when you so regularly stagger into jaw-dropping, exquisite prose. Rhodes has invented a million ways for the sentimentally-handicapped Midwesterner to say I love you. And every character says it, somehow. And it's that love, bound by place, inspired by, in spite of, devoted to, place, that creates identity, and makes it worth knowing.
Read
July 27, 2010When The Color Purple came out in 1982, a reviewer noted how uncommon it was for a characters in a book to get happier as the story went on. Stories need conflict, and this usually involves characters suffering. This year’s All Iowa Reads selection, Driftless, is another book where, people’s lives improve, often in surprising ways, like the very religious invalid who finds herself on a date with a hoodlum at a dogfight.
Rhodes gets so much right, starting with these characters, who change and grow before our eyes. You know people like this, just from living around here. His prose is pretty great, too, as when he describes the small town of Words, Wisconsin. “The town stood in its own shadow of better times, when families depended on agriculture for their livelihood, on work for exercise, on common sense for intelligence, on each other for entertainment, and on faith for health.”
Rhodes’s personal story is also pretty compelling. Nice choice, All Iowa Reads. --John
From ICPL Staff Picks Blog
Rhodes gets so much right, starting with these characters, who change and grow before our eyes. You know people like this, just from living around here. His prose is pretty great, too, as when he describes the small town of Words, Wisconsin. “The town stood in its own shadow of better times, when families depended on agriculture for their livelihood, on work for exercise, on common sense for intelligence, on each other for entertainment, and on faith for health.”
Rhodes’s personal story is also pretty compelling. Nice choice, All Iowa Reads. --John
From ICPL Staff Picks Blog
March 22, 2009
As good a storyteller as Eudora Welty and as true to the Upper Midwest as she was to the South. Not to be missed by anyone who still wonders what feeds the rural mind in the 21st Century.
May 3, 2022
Beautifully written saga of people of the rural Midwest, specifically Wisconsin.
March 7, 2011
3/7/2011 3:25 PM
BOOK REPORT
DRIFTLESS
BY
DAVID RHODES
Driftless is Rhodes' first published novel in 30 years. He was paralyzed from the chest down in a motorcycle accident. He was able to write during this period but the works he submitted were not published. Rhodes and his wife live in Wonewoc, Juneau County, Wisconsin. The county's population is 783.
Driftless is an area in southwest Wisconsin not touched by Pleistocene era glaciers. Fictional Thistlewaite County covers the Driftless area and also includes the village of Words. State maps no longer include Words; even people in nearby Grange do not know where Words is.
Rhodes is a beautiful writer. The Epiphany chapter is especially poetic. He weaves together the stories of several Words residents. Violet and Olivia are sisters. Olivia is handicapped and older sister Violet is her caretaker. Winiford or Winnie is the young pastor of the Friends of Jesus Christ, and Jacob is the local repairman. Several characters, Cora & Gram; Rusty and Minnie; and July Montgomery are farmers.
Cora and Gram have two children, Grace and Seth. Cora works as a bookkeeper at the American Milk co-op to which Gram sells milk. She discovers that management is engaged in fraud and tries to bring them to justice. Whether she succeeds provides much, but not all, of Driftess' narrative drive.
Rusty has bad knees and no longer can farm. Minnie's mother and sister will soon arrive for a visit and the house needs several repairs that Rusty can not perform.
July was a wanderer who settles in Words and becomes a very successful farmer.
Rhodes makes these characters extremely creditable. Cora and Gram want to describe the American Milk fraud in a letter to the editor. The newspaper limits the length of such letters. Gram wants to write at length about how this is America and a co-op should be controlled by its farmer members. His remarks greatly exceed the paper's limitations. He becomes frustrated and lets Cora write the letter.
Rusty is under the gun to complete the repairs before his in-laws arrive. He tries to employ local handymen but they are too busy. The only alternative is to hire an Amish carpenter. This is a problem because Rusty is very prejudicial toward Amish.
I know guys like Gram and Rusty.
Rhodes is a strong narrator and this provides him with an opportunity to explore several themes. Outsiders are buying land and houses in Thistlewaite County. They bring money but sit around and loiter. Rusty believes they are unwittingly engaged in something immoral.
Moe, head of the local militia, tells Jacob, "More and more men realize it won't be long before someone must take a stand for the principles this country was founded on." But July replies that he believes everything Moe says is true but the problem is joining him. July adds Moe believes he can fix these wrongs, "but most of live without trying to change anything "We're content with more important things, private things."
Winnie experiences an epiphany that changes her view of traditional Christianity to something far more spiritual.
Wisconsin settings can't escape weather. Winters are very long and harsh. Cora and Gram almost lose their children in a blizzard.
Driftless is a very well written and readable novel to which this Midwesterner can relate.
BOOK REPORT
DRIFTLESS
BY
DAVID RHODES
Driftless is Rhodes' first published novel in 30 years. He was paralyzed from the chest down in a motorcycle accident. He was able to write during this period but the works he submitted were not published. Rhodes and his wife live in Wonewoc, Juneau County, Wisconsin. The county's population is 783.
Driftless is an area in southwest Wisconsin not touched by Pleistocene era glaciers. Fictional Thistlewaite County covers the Driftless area and also includes the village of Words. State maps no longer include Words; even people in nearby Grange do not know where Words is.
Rhodes is a beautiful writer. The Epiphany chapter is especially poetic. He weaves together the stories of several Words residents. Violet and Olivia are sisters. Olivia is handicapped and older sister Violet is her caretaker. Winiford or Winnie is the young pastor of the Friends of Jesus Christ, and Jacob is the local repairman. Several characters, Cora & Gram; Rusty and Minnie; and July Montgomery are farmers.
Cora and Gram have two children, Grace and Seth. Cora works as a bookkeeper at the American Milk co-op to which Gram sells milk. She discovers that management is engaged in fraud and tries to bring them to justice. Whether she succeeds provides much, but not all, of Driftess' narrative drive.
Rusty has bad knees and no longer can farm. Minnie's mother and sister will soon arrive for a visit and the house needs several repairs that Rusty can not perform.
July was a wanderer who settles in Words and becomes a very successful farmer.
Rhodes makes these characters extremely creditable. Cora and Gram want to describe the American Milk fraud in a letter to the editor. The newspaper limits the length of such letters. Gram wants to write at length about how this is America and a co-op should be controlled by its farmer members. His remarks greatly exceed the paper's limitations. He becomes frustrated and lets Cora write the letter.
Rusty is under the gun to complete the repairs before his in-laws arrive. He tries to employ local handymen but they are too busy. The only alternative is to hire an Amish carpenter. This is a problem because Rusty is very prejudicial toward Amish.
I know guys like Gram and Rusty.
Rhodes is a strong narrator and this provides him with an opportunity to explore several themes. Outsiders are buying land and houses in Thistlewaite County. They bring money but sit around and loiter. Rusty believes they are unwittingly engaged in something immoral.
Moe, head of the local militia, tells Jacob, "More and more men realize it won't be long before someone must take a stand for the principles this country was founded on." But July replies that he believes everything Moe says is true but the problem is joining him. July adds Moe believes he can fix these wrongs, "but most of live without trying to change anything "We're content with more important things, private things."
Winnie experiences an epiphany that changes her view of traditional Christianity to something far more spiritual.
Wisconsin settings can't escape weather. Winters are very long and harsh. Cora and Gram almost lose their children in a blizzard.
Driftless is a very well written and readable novel to which this Midwesterner can relate.
February 28, 2021
I am not sure how this wonderful novel escaped me when it was first published in 2008 but I am glad I finally caught notice of it. Plenty of good reviews of this one, so I will just say is READ IT and enjoy!
October 11, 2009
David Rhodes named his book, Driftless, after the Driftless Area, which comprises Southwestern Wisconsin, Northwestern Illinois, Northeastern Iowa, and Southeastern Minnesota, and is bereft of sediment or glacial drift left behind as the last ice age’s glaciers receded into Canada. And both the novel’s topography and that of its characters reflect this.
The book portrays the forgotten, driftless (and fictitious) town of Words, Wisconsin, which has been left behind by all of the technological and societal advancements the United States have made in the last fifty years. They are a rustic, reclusive people. They are Rusty Smith, whose dilapidated house he needs to repair before his wife’s family visits, and the Amish men he hires begrudgingly to help him; they are Grahm and Cora Shotwell, who run a small dairy farm in cooperation with American Milk until Cora finds evidence that A. M. sells tainted, watered-down, and biogenetically “enhanced” product and they are forced to decide between dignity and prosperity; they are the spinster Violet Brasso and her physically handicapped sister, Olivia, devout Christians in an insincere and unbelieving world. They are the rural separatist militia, who test their guns daily and warn of the U.S. government’s imminent demise. And they are July Montgomery, the man who connects them all, a man who all but materialized out of a cornfield one day and decided, hey, why not here?
This novel shows how rural people deal with a world they can’t quite control; it echoes the late 19th century’s Naturalism, in that sense. It’s a beautiful novel that captures the essence of the Midwest perfectly.
The book portrays the forgotten, driftless (and fictitious) town of Words, Wisconsin, which has been left behind by all of the technological and societal advancements the United States have made in the last fifty years. They are a rustic, reclusive people. They are Rusty Smith, whose dilapidated house he needs to repair before his wife’s family visits, and the Amish men he hires begrudgingly to help him; they are Grahm and Cora Shotwell, who run a small dairy farm in cooperation with American Milk until Cora finds evidence that A. M. sells tainted, watered-down, and biogenetically “enhanced” product and they are forced to decide between dignity and prosperity; they are the spinster Violet Brasso and her physically handicapped sister, Olivia, devout Christians in an insincere and unbelieving world. They are the rural separatist militia, who test their guns daily and warn of the U.S. government’s imminent demise. And they are July Montgomery, the man who connects them all, a man who all but materialized out of a cornfield one day and decided, hey, why not here?
This novel shows how rural people deal with a world they can’t quite control; it echoes the late 19th century’s Naturalism, in that sense. It’s a beautiful novel that captures the essence of the Midwest perfectly.
June 30, 2018
If you live, or have ever lived, in the Midwest (especially Wisconsin) you should read this novel. You know people like these characters and are probably related to many of them, for better or worse. In the author Q&A he said the place came first, then he got to know the characters, then wrote the action. The setting and characters are very strong, as is the quality of the writing. I would enjoy a 10-year update sequel; imagine these folks in the 2018 world...
October 23, 2013
The writing is absolutely beautiful. It's a book that is meant to be read slowly in order to truly appreciate the beauty in the author's descriptions of not just the driftless area of Wisconsin but the people that call it home. I highly recommend it.
July 25, 2024
This book won’t be for all my Goodreads friends but it really hit all the feels for this girl who grew up on a small dairy farm in Wisconsin!
August 9, 2017
I’m on a bit of a Driftless kick recently, having read this book and one called “Going Driftless”
, as well as listening to a community radio station over the internet from the Driftless called, appropriately, WDRT. (I had read Tom Drury’s “The Driftless Area”
a few years back.) I’m originally from a small town downriver from this area, and I found these books portraying some of the more unique individuals of the Driftless to be similar to the residents I grew up with. I’ve run across these folks in real life, and here they are in this book:
- the religious folks where something is causing them to rethink their view of the world,
- the militia leaders who are itching for a fight but more focused on getting followers (more focused than the religious folks here),
- the folks who do the right thing but go about it in an incredibly naïve way and who you know will pay an unexpected-to-them high price,
- the caretakers and their charges who have a hidden life
- the conservative who decides it’s time to take a chance to make a better life, and gambles everything at the local, small-town casino, and comes back with nothing,
- the singer who’s drink and talent with an instrument detract from their incredible capabilities in songwriting,
- families broken apart by bad deeds, and brought back together to help understand the past,
- the young rowdy just out of prison, focused on cars, and willing to look beyond the obvious for love and companionship
- the wise farmer, generally silent, always available to solve problems, and victim of sudden tragedy revealing his value.
I really enjoyed this book overall. I didn’t like the storyline of the dairy farmers taking on the coop, because you could tell nothing good would come of it for them, and as with most good people that act with the conviction of right against a powerful wrong, bad things were in store. I most enjoyed the gradual exposure of farmer July Montgomery as that strong character central to the lives of many of the residents of Words, Wisconsin. I appreciated how Rhodes built July up as a sturdy character, but then allowed his thoughts on life to come out at a public event If it seems a lot happens in this book, it does, and maybe it’s too ambitious. I found it very readable once I got a quarter of the way through and past many of the introductions, and I will look for others by Rhodes.
, as well as listening to a community radio station over the internet from the Driftless called, appropriately, WDRT. (I had read Tom Drury’s “The Driftless Area”
a few years back.) I’m originally from a small town downriver from this area, and I found these books portraying some of the more unique individuals of the Driftless to be similar to the residents I grew up with. I’ve run across these folks in real life, and here they are in this book:- the religious folks where something is causing them to rethink their view of the world,
- the militia leaders who are itching for a fight but more focused on getting followers (more focused than the religious folks here),
- the folks who do the right thing but go about it in an incredibly naïve way and who you know will pay an unexpected-to-them high price,
- the caretakers and their charges who have a hidden life
- the conservative who decides it’s time to take a chance to make a better life, and gambles everything at the local, small-town casino, and comes back with nothing,
- the singer who’s drink and talent with an instrument detract from their incredible capabilities in songwriting,
- families broken apart by bad deeds, and brought back together to help understand the past,
- the young rowdy just out of prison, focused on cars, and willing to look beyond the obvious for love and companionship
- the wise farmer, generally silent, always available to solve problems, and victim of sudden tragedy revealing his value.
I really enjoyed this book overall. I didn’t like the storyline of the dairy farmers taking on the coop, because you could tell nothing good would come of it for them, and as with most good people that act with the conviction of right against a powerful wrong, bad things were in store. I most enjoyed the gradual exposure of farmer July Montgomery as that strong character central to the lives of many of the residents of Words, Wisconsin. I appreciated how Rhodes built July up as a sturdy character, but then allowed his thoughts on life to come out at a public event If it seems a lot happens in this book, it does, and maybe it’s too ambitious. I found it very readable once I got a quarter of the way through and past many of the introductions, and I will look for others by Rhodes.
August 29, 2012
The strength of this novel is in the author's development of a character menagerie. With compact and sparse prose Rhodes not only describes these folks but puts you inside their heads. I grew up close to the area Rhodes describes and his descriptions of these rural people, particularly their socially inept conversations, created vivid and specific images. While the plot lacks the drive and speed of a Conroy or Rowling best-seller, the patient reader is rewarded for staying the course.
As a writer I was most taken by the empathy of the author's prose. I confess left to my own devices and "context," had I met the folks living in this novel in the flesh I doubt I would have had much sympathy. Yet, the author's patient story telling brought me to a sympathy and even identification with their struggles and suffering.
This is not a sentimental novel nor a book that will occupy elevated rank among book sellers and surely not a book that preaches. But, it is a book that quietly confronts suffering and asks questions of God. I think grace moves in the Driftless world, a world populated by "small" people that the modern world chooses not to see, in elegant yet barely perceptible ways. This is a grace revealing itself in small steps and common things. It is a grace that rejoices in the person's smallest turn away from the self's desires and torments and toward love. The empathy Rhodes induces is because his characters, despite not "looking" like me or having a vocation or life I like or would follow, have my same difficulties loving.
As a writer I was most taken by the empathy of the author's prose. I confess left to my own devices and "context," had I met the folks living in this novel in the flesh I doubt I would have had much sympathy. Yet, the author's patient story telling brought me to a sympathy and even identification with their struggles and suffering.
This is not a sentimental novel nor a book that will occupy elevated rank among book sellers and surely not a book that preaches. But, it is a book that quietly confronts suffering and asks questions of God. I think grace moves in the Driftless world, a world populated by "small" people that the modern world chooses not to see, in elegant yet barely perceptible ways. This is a grace revealing itself in small steps and common things. It is a grace that rejoices in the person's smallest turn away from the self's desires and torments and toward love. The empathy Rhodes induces is because his characters, despite not "looking" like me or having a vocation or life I like or would follow, have my same difficulties loving.
May 13, 2015
I enjoyed Driftless by David Rhodes very much, and found it to be similar to Olive Kitteridge in that the chapters are interwoven narrative threads following various characters in a small town – in this case, located in the driftless region of southwestern Wisconsin. I was a little worried that Driftless was going to be too wordy or boring, but the characters and their stories drew me in immediately. In fact, I think the introduction to the characters was a stronger literary accomplishment than some of the plots that unfold as the book progresses. Rhodes obviously strove to create distinct voices in his characters, and I think he was generally successful, with realistic, ordinary-seeming Midwestern folk as varied as a female minister, a young man on probation who enjoys illegal dog fighting and a farm couple battling big-money diary to name a few, all of whom experience very human struggles. (There were a couple male characters – July and Jacob – whose voices seemed similar to me.)
Criticisms would be that I think a few situations wrapped up too tidily or were too convenient (Olivia’s improvement on the dog’s medicine comes to mind). There were a lot of characters to keep separate initially, although that got easier as the book progressed. For the most part I loved Rhodes’s descriptive prose, but every now and then it got a little clumsy.
Overall a well-written, engaging novel that I highly recommend, especially to those who also liked Olive Kitteridge.
Criticisms would be that I think a few situations wrapped up too tidily or were too convenient (Olivia’s improvement on the dog’s medicine comes to mind). There were a lot of characters to keep separate initially, although that got easier as the book progressed. For the most part I loved Rhodes’s descriptive prose, but every now and then it got a little clumsy.
Overall a well-written, engaging novel that I highly recommend, especially to those who also liked Olive Kitteridge.
October 25, 2011
Bravo to David Rhodes! It has been a long time since I so thoroughly enjoyed a novel. Driftless is set in the unglaciated ("driftless") area of southwestern Wisconsin. Rhodes lives in rural Wisconsin and is pitch perfect in how he captures the sense of place and the types of characters who inhabit rural Wisconsin. I felt like I knew these people -- they are for the most part decent, hard working folk who don't make too many demands on others and want to live their lives in peace. Most of the main characters experience some type of epiphany that enriches their lives. Underlying the lives of these characters is a sense of grace or goodness that I think draws many people to rural communities.
I also love the quality of writing in this book. I found myself laughing out loud at some of Rhode's sentences. He manages to capture a idea and end with a surprising twist. Here's one example: "The compulsion to protect children from physical and psychological damage provided the cornerstone upon which all civilization had been built, one guilt-ridden decision at a time". (p.101)
This book was published in 2008, 30 years after Rhode's first three novels. His career was interrupted by a motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. I know I'll be looking for his earlier works and hope that he continues to write such splendid novels.
I also love the quality of writing in this book. I found myself laughing out loud at some of Rhode's sentences. He manages to capture a idea and end with a surprising twist. Here's one example: "The compulsion to protect children from physical and psychological damage provided the cornerstone upon which all civilization had been built, one guilt-ridden decision at a time". (p.101)
This book was published in 2008, 30 years after Rhode's first three novels. His career was interrupted by a motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. I know I'll be looking for his earlier works and hope that he continues to write such splendid novels.
July 1, 2013
So many subplots with no real focus and a host of characters who all seemed to run together in a disjointed story sometimes made the reading quite painful. I liked some of the characters, but I really struggled with Winnie, the pastor of the local church. Her immaturity and behavior belied that of someone reaching out to others and there were many times I thought "this girl needs some serious counseling." When asked what gave her the right to judge, her response that Jesus gave her the right, pretty much goes against any religious teaching I am aware of. Her insecurities made her weak and not a sympathetic figure at all. I did like July, the strong, silent type hiding a painful past and never quite letting anyone into his world. The characters were all one note and interchangeable. The author also took the opportunity to preach and opine on many social issues, homosexuality, gun rights, corporate America, gambling, religion, social status and sometimes it read like a manifesto. Wish the story had been pared down to nothing more than life in a rural small town with the focus on a few interesting characters who had been developed fully with distinct personalities and maybe it would have been more interesting. But then again, it would have been a different book.
March 7, 2014
08/2012
Will read. Read first story and enjoyed it. Fiction has failed me or I have failed it. Regardless, I am taking a hiatus from fiction (with the possible exception of 100 Years of Solitude).
---Update 3/2014
Wow.
I have beloved, trusted friends who could not finish and those who loved this book. I am firmly in the latter. I am so glad that I returned to it and started anew. Brilliantly and beautifully written. It makes me pine for this area of Wisconsin that I have visited (to stay with dear friends) only a couple of times, but cherish. Rhodes captures so much of what (admittedly little) I know about the region and the people therein. Wonderful book. Rhodes is definitely on my radar now.
Will read. Read first story and enjoyed it. Fiction has failed me or I have failed it. Regardless, I am taking a hiatus from fiction (with the possible exception of 100 Years of Solitude).
---Update 3/2014
Wow.
I have beloved, trusted friends who could not finish and those who loved this book. I am firmly in the latter. I am so glad that I returned to it and started anew. Brilliantly and beautifully written. It makes me pine for this area of Wisconsin that I have visited (to stay with dear friends) only a couple of times, but cherish. Rhodes captures so much of what (admittedly little) I know about the region and the people therein. Wonderful book. Rhodes is definitely on my radar now.
March 19, 2025
I really enjoyed this. Made me think a lot. Especially about home
August 26, 2015
I read Winesburg, Ohio so long ago I can't remember anything about it except that it was a hybrid, a cross between a collection of short stories and a novel. The traditional novel has a hero or heroine, Huck Finn or Jane Eyre, for instance. In Winesburg, the reader has a window on a whole community. That's the case in David Rhodes' novel. The story starts with July Montgomery's return to Words, a town in an area of Wisconsin known as Driftless. Grahm Shotwell is a farmer barely hanging onto the land his family has owned for generations. His wife Cora is an assistant bookkeeper at a dairy co-op where she discovers that her employers are stealing. The beautiful and sensuous Gail Shotwell plays a bass guitar for a local band and works, unhappily, for a plastics factory. Pastor Winifred Smith serves her parishioners but dreams of having a child. Viola Brasso looks after her wheelchair-bound sister Olivia, and Olivia chafes at her imprisonment in her own body. Jacob Helm fixes machines and still grieves for his dead wife. There are other characters, and one thing Rhodes does really well in this novel is connect them all. The plot of this book is a little like that of a modern t.v. series that introduces multiple characters and multiple storylines over weeks of watching. All this is just the "mechanics" of novel writing, however. What I really like is Rhodes' characters. They are fully human, flawed yes, but wonderful too, just trying to make it through life like all the rest of us in the best way they can. Rhodes has some "word magic" for sure. I'm not religious in the traditional sense. I don't believe in a biblical, Old Testament God. I don't go to church. Nevertheless, I was captivated by Rhodes' description of Pastor Winifred Smith's encounter with God, with the life force all around us. It might sound like an LSD trip to some, but it's beautiful in any case: "She held this feeling for a moment and then realized something very uncommon was happening. The grasses in the ditch appeared to be glowing. The red, cone-shaped sumac tops burned like incandescent lamps in a bluish light unlike any she had ever seen yet instinctively recognized.... She looked at her hands and they seemed to be lit from inside, her fingers almost transparent. The light glowing within the grasses and the sumac glowed within her, within everything. They sang with her through the light, jubilantly, compassionately, timelessly connecting to her past, present, and future. Boundaries did not exist. Where she left off and something else began could not be established. Everything breathed." If Winifred encounters the sacred, other characters experience the profane--as when Wade Armbuster takes Olivia to a dogfight--but whatever Rhode's characters are doing, it's interesting. If you like this kind of story, a story that doesn't focus on a "main" character but on the interwoven lives of a group of characters, you might also enjoy Shelagh Shapiro's Shape of the Sky which takes place in small town in northern Vermont. Enjoy!
June 14, 2011
This novel is really a collection of short stories about a group of people living in a rural Wisconsin town called "Words". One of the major characters, and to me, one of the most likeable, is a farmer named July Montgomery who lives a lonely life after tragedy took his wife from him, but he fills that gap by becoming something of a touchstone to his neighbors. Apparently, this character has appeared in the author's previous books, written decades ago, quite acclaimed and, I'm afraid I haven't read those.
The backdrop of this book is a dying town, it is the Wisconsin weather--sulky summer heat or bitter blizzards, it is the idea of nature awakening, ready to take back the land from the inhabitants, a lone mountain lion prowling the area. The story begins slowly enough, a sighting of the mountain lion, the humdrum existances of a woman pastor, spinster sisters living as caregiver and cripple, married farmers who are living stale on their dairy farm, an alcoholic singer yearning for someone to notice her music.
In fact, the book began so slowly that I couldn't stop yawning. I had that weird feeling I sometimes get when watching a very well done independant film, kind of bored but also still wondering where these characters are going to end up. The dialogue got a bit stilted and clunky at times, the prose could overflow excessively in describing a moment, fervantly hammering at you that a character was FEELING something and we all had to FEEL it with them. At moments like those I felt as if someone was talking louder and louder in my face in an effort to get me to understand their foreign tongue.
The characters, however, unfolded quite nicely, blossoming with their own stories that were quite far-fetched at times, stretching all sorts of believability and bringing a sense of magic and miracle to a dusty old piece of Americana. Some characters experience magical solutions to their problems, fall into a nest of new ones, and other characters suffer tragedy or misfortune. There are clashes with big corporations, militia groups, there are dogfights, miracles, children in danger, family secrets, all events that intertwine the characters around each other, creating a fraying rope to dangle in the center of Words, Wisconsin.
I did thoroughly enjoy this novel by the end of it and was glad that I was patient enough to stick with it. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to cut their teeth in it.
The backdrop of this book is a dying town, it is the Wisconsin weather--sulky summer heat or bitter blizzards, it is the idea of nature awakening, ready to take back the land from the inhabitants, a lone mountain lion prowling the area. The story begins slowly enough, a sighting of the mountain lion, the humdrum existances of a woman pastor, spinster sisters living as caregiver and cripple, married farmers who are living stale on their dairy farm, an alcoholic singer yearning for someone to notice her music.
In fact, the book began so slowly that I couldn't stop yawning. I had that weird feeling I sometimes get when watching a very well done independant film, kind of bored but also still wondering where these characters are going to end up. The dialogue got a bit stilted and clunky at times, the prose could overflow excessively in describing a moment, fervantly hammering at you that a character was FEELING something and we all had to FEEL it with them. At moments like those I felt as if someone was talking louder and louder in my face in an effort to get me to understand their foreign tongue.
The characters, however, unfolded quite nicely, blossoming with their own stories that were quite far-fetched at times, stretching all sorts of believability and bringing a sense of magic and miracle to a dusty old piece of Americana. Some characters experience magical solutions to their problems, fall into a nest of new ones, and other characters suffer tragedy or misfortune. There are clashes with big corporations, militia groups, there are dogfights, miracles, children in danger, family secrets, all events that intertwine the characters around each other, creating a fraying rope to dangle in the center of Words, Wisconsin.
I did thoroughly enjoy this novel by the end of it and was glad that I was patient enough to stick with it. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to cut their teeth in it.
July 15, 2010
If you want to understand the make up of a small, dying, mid-western town this wouldn't be a bad place to start. In the prologue Rhodes writes that it took him ten years to write this book because it took him that long to get to know some of his characters. And that is sort of the way it is in a small town where many of the most interesting folks are the hardest to get to know, or at least know well.
This isn't a book you want to hurry through and in that way the pace of the book is a bit like a small town as well, where life just seems to move a bit slower. Though they may seem crusty and hard, the characters Rhodes creates are enjoyable. The Amish character is one of the more realistic portrayals of an Amish man I've read. The guy is not overly pious and the work habits (taking time off to take his wife to a chiropractor in a neighboring state) are characteristic of the Amish in this area.
As part of the story Rhodes looks at the decline of the small family farm and the conflicts which exist with agribusiness. His characters suspicions of government and big business would likely make them candidates to join the tea party movement, except they are too busy eking out a living on their farms.
Rhodes also makes some interesting observations about religion and the role it plays in peoples lives and in a small town. If you have ever been part of a small rural and dying church, you will recognize the characters. The person who stands up and says in the midst of an argument, "I care more about this church than the people in it" describes any number of people I've met. The funeral chapter should dispel the notion that everyone in a small town is a church goer. In a humorous way, Rhodes shows the subtle divisions between the pious and not so pious along with some of the assumptions often made about the other.
I enjoyed the book and would recommend it highly, though I am sure there are those who would think it moves much too slowly.
This isn't a book you want to hurry through and in that way the pace of the book is a bit like a small town as well, where life just seems to move a bit slower. Though they may seem crusty and hard, the characters Rhodes creates are enjoyable. The Amish character is one of the more realistic portrayals of an Amish man I've read. The guy is not overly pious and the work habits (taking time off to take his wife to a chiropractor in a neighboring state) are characteristic of the Amish in this area.
As part of the story Rhodes looks at the decline of the small family farm and the conflicts which exist with agribusiness. His characters suspicions of government and big business would likely make them candidates to join the tea party movement, except they are too busy eking out a living on their farms.
Rhodes also makes some interesting observations about religion and the role it plays in peoples lives and in a small town. If you have ever been part of a small rural and dying church, you will recognize the characters. The person who stands up and says in the midst of an argument, "I care more about this church than the people in it" describes any number of people I've met. The funeral chapter should dispel the notion that everyone in a small town is a church goer. In a humorous way, Rhodes shows the subtle divisions between the pious and not so pious along with some of the assumptions often made about the other.
I enjoyed the book and would recommend it highly, though I am sure there are those who would think it moves much too slowly.
Read
July 21, 2010I keep my eyes open for books set in the midwest which is why I was drawn to the most recent winner of the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, Driftless by David Rhodes. I got more than I was looking for. First of all, a very intriguing author story. David Rhodes is a 1971 UI Writers Workshop grad. He published three books between 1972 and 1975. In 1977 he was injured in a motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. This is his first book published in thirty years.
And, then, there’s the book. Set in a rural area of southwestern Wisconsin, the story revolves around the residents in and around the small town of Words, Wisconsin. July Montgomery is back from the 1975 novel, Rock Island Line. He is joined by dairy farmer Graham and his wife Cora who blows the whistle on a large agribusiness enterprise for which their family bears the consequences (think contaminated milk, loss of job and benefits, threats); Olivia Brasso, a wheelchair bound invalid who loses her savings at a casino and is rescued by parolee Wade Armbuster, and new pastor Winifred Smith who experiences an epiphany. These are just few of the wonderful characters of Driftless.
As I write this on a ten degree day with snow falling outside, I think every midwesterner can identify with the sense of place portrayed in this book. “Sometimes in the theater of winter, a day willl appear with such spectacular mildness that it seems the season can almsot be forgiven for all its inappropriate hostility, inconveniences, and even physical assaults….. to feel warm, one must remember cold; to experience joy one must have known sorrow.” --Susan
From ICPL Staff Picks Blog
And, then, there’s the book. Set in a rural area of southwestern Wisconsin, the story revolves around the residents in and around the small town of Words, Wisconsin. July Montgomery is back from the 1975 novel, Rock Island Line. He is joined by dairy farmer Graham and his wife Cora who blows the whistle on a large agribusiness enterprise for which their family bears the consequences (think contaminated milk, loss of job and benefits, threats); Olivia Brasso, a wheelchair bound invalid who loses her savings at a casino and is rescued by parolee Wade Armbuster, and new pastor Winifred Smith who experiences an epiphany. These are just few of the wonderful characters of Driftless.
As I write this on a ten degree day with snow falling outside, I think every midwesterner can identify with the sense of place portrayed in this book. “Sometimes in the theater of winter, a day willl appear with such spectacular mildness that it seems the season can almsot be forgiven for all its inappropriate hostility, inconveniences, and even physical assaults….. to feel warm, one must remember cold; to experience joy one must have known sorrow.” --Susan
From ICPL Staff Picks Blog
April 5, 2017
Eh. This book started out so well. I really like the character development, as it brought the regionalism of Kent Haruf, Jim Harrison, and Richard Russo to mind. Then, in the middle, it just sort of got boring. It ended up as one of these "small town where everyone loves everybody, (as well as being, um, related to everybody), and they all lived everly happy after, (well, except for one character, who dies horribly and brings the whole town, I mean county, no, state, to the funeral-God, he was such a GREAT guy. Who knew?)" feel good sappy summer read lightweight novels.
Here is what I think happened: Rhodes was an up and coming writer. he wrote Rock Island Line to much acclaim and fanfare (I may actually read that). He started Driftless, got halfway through, took thirty seven years off, and the phone rang. It was his publisher asking if he was ever going to finish this book. That's how different the first and second half of this book is. One half written with great care, insight and skill, the second finished in two days to avoid having to pay back the advance from the publisher.
Here is what I think happened: Rhodes was an up and coming writer. he wrote Rock Island Line to much acclaim and fanfare (I may actually read that). He started Driftless, got halfway through, took thirty seven years off, and the phone rang. It was his publisher asking if he was ever going to finish this book. That's how different the first and second half of this book is. One half written with great care, insight and skill, the second finished in two days to avoid having to pay back the advance from the publisher.
May 15, 2018
A beautifully written book with vibrant characters who stand out as unique but believable. For those of us who grew up in small towns, we know each of these characters and their stories. It is the story of a people in rural Wisconsin, trying to keep the breath moving in their small town. This is the book to read if you want to understand rural populism and the rampant distrust there is for industrialized agriculture.
The independence of rural people as well as their frustrations and stubbornness are described without being harsh or mean. There is a balance between extremes here that should be noted and valued.
Rhodes has written a book that tells me he knows this area of Wisconsin and he loves it. The terms he uses to describe this area are so poetic my husband and I have decided to take a vacation to that region.
Driftless' title comes from the region where it is set - an area of SE MN, SW WI and NE Iowa that was untouched by the glaciers thousands of years ago. It is a unique area which stands out from the surrounding region.
I resisted reading this book for too long. Don't make the same mistake as I did.
The independence of rural people as well as their frustrations and stubbornness are described without being harsh or mean. There is a balance between extremes here that should be noted and valued.
Rhodes has written a book that tells me he knows this area of Wisconsin and he loves it. The terms he uses to describe this area are so poetic my husband and I have decided to take a vacation to that region.
Driftless' title comes from the region where it is set - an area of SE MN, SW WI and NE Iowa that was untouched by the glaciers thousands of years ago. It is a unique area which stands out from the surrounding region.
I resisted reading this book for too long. Don't make the same mistake as I did.
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