Nine Below Zero

by Kevin Canty

From the acclaimed author of A Stranger in this World and Into the Great Wide Open comes a novel that explores reckless love and penetrates the unrelenting winter landscape of the American West.

Marvin Deernose, a Native American carpenter and recovering alcoholic, has just returned to his Montana hometown with hopes of finding a new start.  Early one snowy morning, Marvin notices an overturned Cadillac down an embankment.  After rescuing the elderly Senator Henry Neihart, who has just suffered a stroke,  Marvin is invited to the Senator's estate where he is immediately drawn to Justine Gallego, the Senator's wayward, unhappily married granddaughter.  As these tarnished souls recognize their profound, shared attraction, they dive headlong into a dangerous and intense affair that forever alters the course of their lives.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Kevin Canty writes novels and short stories. He is a faculty member in the English department at the University of Montana at Missoula, where he currently resides. He received his Masters degree in English from the University of Florida in 1990, and M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of Arizona in 1993.

Reviews

[Lis Anna-Langston · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant book about difficult people who stacked up a lot of poor choices along the way. Canty is a master craftsman and this book is deep with passages of love and remorse, wonder and redemption. This is a classic literary tome. A frozen gothic landscape riddled with some of the best characters I've ever read. Not likeable characters either. I loved this book so much I bought a hard copy since I read on the kindle.

[Juliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crisp and spare, snow on the plains. The relationships are what is expected, but carefully & sharply sketched. A stark, crystalline book that watches its characters honestly, full of sympathy & judgment. Scattered through with those little moments or phrases that catch your breath in your throat for just a second. A book that's all winter.

-------

"...little messy bird's nest of a face."

"She looked at her hands like a book in a foreign language."

"Forty-foot Indian Jesus comes rolling down the alleyway, careful not to step on the cars, garages, leaving footprints as big as fishing boats behind him. A little tipsy, a little trouble. A suddent attack of tenderness, a feeling welling up in his chest of loss and sorrow and love for the tiny people asleep in their tiny houses, snug in their beds with Jesus watching over them outside, trying not to crush the carport. My people, Jesus thinks, my little people."

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books don't need a happy ending to be good. Gut wrenching, emotional, darkly humorous, stark, cold, and bleak. I've read this before. The back page of my copy is filled with quotes and page numbers, the book is worn, dog eared, marked-up and underlined like a textbook. This book doesn't get a high rating here and I get why. Exceptionally well written. However, the characters aren't the typical characters you root for in a book, most of the characters (while well written) are deeply flawed, not the sort of people you cheer for. Depressing but delicious.

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm seldom sorry when I read a Montana author, especially a UM professor. However, this book pulled me in initially and then beat me up with trite dialog and idiotic characters. I actually found myself wishing for their suicides. Not an author I'll seek out again.

[Fran · Rating 3 out of 5]

I never did get to like the characters in this novel. Although the writing is good, the female protagonist, Justine, is suffering from severe depression after the death of her child. She lives in Oregon, but heads to the snowy west (Montana?) because her grandfather is dying. Her grandfather, a wealthy rancher, is a tough old bird with little sympathy for Justine. He thinks she should just get over the death of the child and move on. Instead, Justine starts an affair with a Native American carpenter, Marvin Deernose, even though she is ostensibly there to care for her sick relative. Her family, of course, looks very askance at this. When her husband Neil arrives to be with Justine, thinks really go south. The Justine character is reckless and self-absorbed. Her behavior results in damage to everyone around her, especially poor Marvin. I ended up agreeing with her grandfather - get over it and behave like a grownup.

[Reilly Windsor-Daly · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has an extremely bleak view of humanity. It is a book centred around the lives of some horrible people, and one incredibly vile self centred woman. I think it paints such a bleak idea of people, it suggest when one tragedy strikes the whole world turns to shit, and even though that is true for a while I think that is a very bleak world view. However, most annoyingly this book had no point, I wanted all this awfulness to mean something, and even though that might be reflective of some areas of life it just made me miserable.

The only reason I gave it 2 stars was I did not hate reading it, I just hated the meaningless misery of the story, but not as much as I hated the female protagonist

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hated this book. The characters were all unlikable (even a mother whose 4-year-old son had died), the dialog was not believable, the unlikable characters were all flat and stereotypical. As I read the book, I wondered whether I'd give it 1 or 2 stars, and then bam! the ending was such a surprise and so interesting.

[Melany Heger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kevin, I really appreciated how human you made Martin Deernose’s struggle — being half-Indian and searching for meaning in that identity. It resonated with me deeply, as I’m also trying to make peace with my Chinoy heritage. Different race, same internal tangle. It’s hard to find words and images for that kind of journey, but you got it pegged.

[Jeanette Lukowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Montana parts are what linger for me...

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amazing writer. Story a bit sluggish but what a vivid landscape. Read it during a heatwave and pined for snow!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story...in the beginning. However, it seemed to unravel. Dragged on a little. What as a question repeatedly and in some text difficult to follow; where I needed to reread.

[Meghan Palmer · Rating 2 out of 5]

The last 75 pages I skimmed because the dialogue felt forced and no it’s not apparent what happen to Marvin and Justine in the end. Had no sympathy for anyone- could have cared less.

[Newt Taylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unnecessary dialogue, senseless sex, and the plot reminded me of a dog chasing its tail.

[JBP · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Canty...great writing...downer of a story. Don't expect laughs and happy times from any of the characters. Do expect some of the best fiction writing from any novelist writing today. Clean, spare, fluid sentences. Canty blows me away with his succinct writing style.

Unfortunately, the damaged people on display grew very repetive and frustrating by the end and I never really bought into the semi-love story at the center of the novel--damaged as it was.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was hugely disappointing, especially since Winslow in Love is the best book I've read this year. Too much was taken for granted. The characters are said to love and hate and resent one another, but they just aren't substantial enough for these exaggerated emotions to be credible or engaging. Canty is brilliant at exploring the exquisite tragedy of wasted lives and epic failure. Given the recklessness of the characters (and the writing), this was mere farce.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

author canty has a spare, disjointed style that maybe many readers loath. i love it. this particular story builds and builds to a crescendo of bad decisions dumping it's shit storm on your/their head. just like you knew it would. i like Canty's characters, they know good from bad decisions, but many times (ALL the time?) pick the bad, for that just-a-chance chance to make the pain go away, for a bit.

[Tina Cunningham · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half on this book was gripping. A powerful Senator, saved from death in an early morning automobile accident in snowy Montana by Marvin Deernose,an American Indian; a granddaughter comes to care for her grandfather, and finds companionship with Marvin. She is emotionally damaged from the death of her four-year-old son. There are plenty of elements here to keep interest but the narrative turns into soap opera halfway through, ending unsatisfactorily. A disappointment.

[Ben Fowlkes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most fun you can have being really depressed about everything. I loved the shit out of this book. Just go home and sit in bed and read it and feel sad. But not during the spring or summer. It ain't that kind of party.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

As usual, I can never wait until Canty's next book comes out in paperback so I paid the 30 bucks or whatever for this one. It was pretty good, not bad, better than a great many other authors' best works. Two stars from me, though, because I don't think it's Canty's best.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let me summarize this book for you:
"I'm sorry."
"What?"
"I'm f***ed up."
"Nevermind."
etc, etc.

This seems to be a pattern with Canty's books so I think this will be my last of his for a while.

[Vicki Foster · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really f'd up characters, but like how the author allowed you into their thoughts and psyches.
We all have, or do we all have, some crazy thoughts at times. Most of them never escape our mouths.
This book sure made mine feel normal!

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't slightly compare with his short fiction. Should I take another stab at it? My last was about seven years ago...

[Nicholas marshall · Rating 1 out of 5]

i enjoyed his short stories, but couldn't wait for this one to be over. disappointing.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really powerfull passages but doesn't work out as a whole. Read Into the Great Wide Open instead.

[Rvparks Parks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I <3 adultery.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love him as a short story author, not so much as a novelist...

[David K · Rating 1 out of 5]

Could not get into this

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pointless nonsense

Don't waste your time. Unlikable characters & meaningless dialogue. This book went nowhere & resolved nothing in the end. Blah.

[Jo · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I am not a fan of this book. It is negative and depressing, and I really disliked the characters and their life choices. It was not particularly gripping at all - the book relied heavily on characters rather than plot and I cared nothing about the characters so I cared nothing about the book.

Would not recommend.