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Free Bird
In a beautifully written, unforgettable first novel, Greg Garrett takes readers along on one man's cross-country pilgrimage from North Carolina to New Mexico, from the depths of despair to a glimmer of hope gleaned from the last place he ever expected to find redemption....
With a beautiful wife, a sweet young son, and a position as one of the most promising associates in one of DC's largest firms, Clay Forester had it all. But that was a decade ago, before a tragic accident claimed his family s lives, sending Clay on a downward emotional spiral from which he has no desire to recover....
Ensconced once again in his mother s house in his tiny southern hometown, wallowing in guilt, Clay has no responsibilities, no schedules, nobody to be accountable to. He has nothing but his haunting memories, and a half-hearted relationship with a high school flame. Nothing but his music, crooning cover tunes with a childhood friend in smoky redneck bars. Nothing but a yellow 1961 Triumph convertible that refuses to start-Clay's one memento of the father who abandoned him. As far as Clay s concerned, he s hit rock bottom....
Then comes the shocking phone call: Steve Forrester, the father Clay always assumed was dead, really is but only since yesterday. Unmoved by the news that he died with Clay's name on his lips, Clay only wants to forget the man ever existed. But when the Triumph's engine mysteriously turns over that very day, he can't ignore the strange coincidence. Reluctantly, Clay sets out in his father's car, headed to Santa Fe for the funeral of a virtual stranger.
It s to be a solo journey, but Clay is soon joined by an irresistible three-legged flatulent dog and, at various stops along the way, by an assortment of down-and-out strangers whose shared hopes and dreams give new purpose to his own pilgrimage.
As he closes in on his destination, Clay is forced to confront not just the ghost of the father he never knew, but the ghost of the man he himself once was. As murky, long-buried details tumble into the bright southwestern sunlight, Clay begins to understand, at last, that a man's priorities can become muddled along the way; that a man who should have had everything can suddenly find himself alone. And that only if he finds it in his heart to forgive his father's sins can he ever begin to forgive his own....
With a beautiful wife, a sweet young son, and a position as one of the most promising associates in one of DC's largest firms, Clay Forester had it all. But that was a decade ago, before a tragic accident claimed his family s lives, sending Clay on a downward emotional spiral from which he has no desire to recover....
Ensconced once again in his mother s house in his tiny southern hometown, wallowing in guilt, Clay has no responsibilities, no schedules, nobody to be accountable to. He has nothing but his haunting memories, and a half-hearted relationship with a high school flame. Nothing but his music, crooning cover tunes with a childhood friend in smoky redneck bars. Nothing but a yellow 1961 Triumph convertible that refuses to start-Clay's one memento of the father who abandoned him. As far as Clay s concerned, he s hit rock bottom....
Then comes the shocking phone call: Steve Forrester, the father Clay always assumed was dead, really is but only since yesterday. Unmoved by the news that he died with Clay's name on his lips, Clay only wants to forget the man ever existed. But when the Triumph's engine mysteriously turns over that very day, he can't ignore the strange coincidence. Reluctantly, Clay sets out in his father's car, headed to Santa Fe for the funeral of a virtual stranger.
It s to be a solo journey, but Clay is soon joined by an irresistible three-legged flatulent dog and, at various stops along the way, by an assortment of down-and-out strangers whose shared hopes and dreams give new purpose to his own pilgrimage.
As he closes in on his destination, Clay is forced to confront not just the ghost of the father he never knew, but the ghost of the man he himself once was. As murky, long-buried details tumble into the bright southwestern sunlight, Clay begins to understand, at last, that a man's priorities can become muddled along the way; that a man who should have had everything can suddenly find himself alone. And that only if he finds it in his heart to forgive his father's sins can he ever begin to forgive his own....
- GenresFiction
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
15 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Greg Garrett
46 books77 followersGreg Garrett is the Austin, Texas author of two dozen books of fiction, nonfiction, memoir, and translation. Like his literary heroes James Baldwin and Marilynne Robinson, Greg moves fluidly from fiction to nonfiction exploring the big human questions, and in his books, hoping to help his readers discover some answers of their own. Among his latest books are a book of conversation with his friend Rowan Williams, the past Archbishop of Canterbury (In Conversation), a lead trade title from Oxford University Press exploring our post-9/11 obsession with the zombie apocalypse (Living with the Living Dead, Starred Review in Library Journal), the tenth-anniversary edition of his searing yet hopeful memoir of depression and faith (Crossing Myself, featured on FOX News), and a novel retelling one of our great archetypal stories in the modern world of 24/7 news and social media (The Prodigal, Starred Review in Publishers Weekly). Greg's debut novel, Free Bird, was chosen by Publishers Weekly as a First Fiction feature, and the Denver Rocky Mountain News named it one of the best first novels of 2002. His other novels are Cycling and Shame. All have been critically acclaimed.
Greg is perhaps best known for his writing on faith, culture, race, politics, and narrative. BBC Radio has called Greg "one of America's leading voices on religion and culture," and he has written on topics ranging from spirituality and suffering to film and pop culture, written on U2, Harry Potter, American politics, and contemporary faith and practice. Greg's nonfiction work has been covered by The New Yorker, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail, FOX News Radio, The Christian Science Monitor, BBC Radio, BBC Scotland, National Public Radio, CBS Radio, msnbc.com, DublinTalk Radio, The New Statesman, The National Review, Commonweal, Christianity Today, Vice, Playboy, Mens Health, and many other broadcast, print, and web media sources. Greg has written for Salon.com, The Washington Post, The Daily Mirror, Patheos, FOX News, The Huffington Post, The Spectator, Reform, The Tablet, and other print and web publications in the US and UK, and has spoken across the US and Europe, including appearances at the Edinburgh Festival of Books, the American Library in Paris, Cambridge University, Kings College London, Villanova University, Amerika Haus in Munich, the Greenbelt Festival in the UK, Google London, South by Southwest, Amerika Days in Stuttgart, and the Washington National Cathedral. Greg's current projects are a literary novel set in Paris against the backdrop of international terrorism, a book on race, film, and reconciliation for Oxford University Press, and a book on the wisdom of James Baldwin.
Greg is an award-winning Professor of English at Baylor University, Theologian in Residence at the American Cathedral in Paris, and an elected member of the Texas Institute of Letters. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife Jeanie and their daughters Lily and Sophia.
Greg is perhaps best known for his writing on faith, culture, race, politics, and narrative. BBC Radio has called Greg "one of America's leading voices on religion and culture," and he has written on topics ranging from spirituality and suffering to film and pop culture, written on U2, Harry Potter, American politics, and contemporary faith and practice. Greg's nonfiction work has been covered by The New Yorker, USA Today, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail, FOX News Radio, The Christian Science Monitor, BBC Radio, BBC Scotland, National Public Radio, CBS Radio, msnbc.com, DublinTalk Radio, The New Statesman, The National Review, Commonweal, Christianity Today, Vice, Playboy, Mens Health, and many other broadcast, print, and web media sources. Greg has written for Salon.com, The Washington Post, The Daily Mirror, Patheos, FOX News, The Huffington Post, The Spectator, Reform, The Tablet, and other print and web publications in the US and UK, and has spoken across the US and Europe, including appearances at the Edinburgh Festival of Books, the American Library in Paris, Cambridge University, Kings College London, Villanova University, Amerika Haus in Munich, the Greenbelt Festival in the UK, Google London, South by Southwest, Amerika Days in Stuttgart, and the Washington National Cathedral. Greg's current projects are a literary novel set in Paris against the backdrop of international terrorism, a book on race, film, and reconciliation for Oxford University Press, and a book on the wisdom of James Baldwin.
Greg is an award-winning Professor of English at Baylor University, Theologian in Residence at the American Cathedral in Paris, and an elected member of the Texas Institute of Letters. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife Jeanie and their daughters Lily and Sophia.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 18, 2017
A book to read again
Very glad this book is now available on amazon kindle. The humor is relevant to music and current events happening during the time period of the story and it is sharp and funny. Yes, the main character is depressed but the story does not get mired in the mood of the spiritual journey. I highly recommend this book and also his other fictional work, Shame.
Very glad this book is now available on amazon kindle. The humor is relevant to music and current events happening during the time period of the story and it is sharp and funny. Yes, the main character is depressed but the story does not get mired in the mood of the spiritual journey. I highly recommend this book and also his other fictional work, Shame.
August 19, 2017
Fairly good book about a man's travels to the funeral of the father he never knew.
January 18, 2015
A journey to forgiveness...self-forgiveness. And, oh, how we beat ourselves up along the way. If guilt is ever deserved, then certainly Clay Forester has reaped what he sowed. He neglected his wife, put his career ahead of their relationship, barely acquainted himself with his son, and in his drive to make partner at this renowned law firm, Clay worshiped at the altar of the corporate legal eagle. He took a case sure to clash with his wife's idealistic environmental protection values. Clay was part of the team defending Exxon in the Valdez settlement case. And...Clay never talked to his wife about taking the case.
They didn't talk much about anything and in the dying of a marriage, tragedy intervened. Clay, inebriated, did not see the garbage truck coming...the truck that plowed into the family's Volvo, killing Clay's wife and baby son. Yes, Clay Forester had many reasons to spend ten years punish himself.
How I relate to Clay's self-hatred. But it was troubling to see the destructive behaviors in someone else: the sarcasm, the lack of connection to others, the anger, the drinking (while driving).
Free Bird tells the story of finding your way out of the destruction. Thankfully, wise people along Clay's journey--even a wise dead daddy whom Clay never knew--care enough to call him accountable. And drunk confession before a priest in a bar--before getting the $#i% kicked out of him started the clarity. Yes, the guilt is resolved and re-channeled and while some thought it was predictable, I didn't see it coming.
They didn't talk much about anything and in the dying of a marriage, tragedy intervened. Clay, inebriated, did not see the garbage truck coming...the truck that plowed into the family's Volvo, killing Clay's wife and baby son. Yes, Clay Forester had many reasons to spend ten years punish himself.
How I relate to Clay's self-hatred. But it was troubling to see the destructive behaviors in someone else: the sarcasm, the lack of connection to others, the anger, the drinking (while driving).
Free Bird tells the story of finding your way out of the destruction. Thankfully, wise people along Clay's journey--even a wise dead daddy whom Clay never knew--care enough to call him accountable. And drunk confession before a priest in a bar--before getting the $#i% kicked out of him started the clarity. Yes, the guilt is resolved and re-channeled and while some thought it was predictable, I didn't see it coming.
February 10, 2010
Mostly a sad story, chronicling the metamorphasis of a man guilt-ridden by his past while on a cross country road-trip to discover a father he never knew. A dark sort of narrative humor frequents the story and, at times will have you laughing through the pervasive sadness. Although the ending was predictable, I wasn't sure, even after going through the story, that the transition was smooth, or believable. I could, however, appreciate Mr. Garrett's talent in creating this story, and it's array of characters, who were, in fact, very much believeable. ;-)
September 10, 2009
A personal tragedy followed by 10 years of living with the guilt and sorrow can only be resolved by a road trip. And what a trip! This journey is hilarious and heartbreaking, and is filled with intriguing characters whose own stories lend balance and insight that heal a broken spirit. I enjoyed this book very much.
December 26, 2010
An enjoyable read. Free Bird is the dark road trip of a broken man, a musician named Clay Forester. On a quest to find himself by attending the funeral of his lost father, Clay meets and helps people along the way. It's a spiritual journey, funny at times, harrowing, and uplifting. Wonderful settings, believable characters.
March 19, 2015
I saw this in a used bookstore. Not familiar with the author, gave it a try anyway. This was a surprise for me; a wonderful story about a guy trying to move forward after tragedy. Loved, loved this book! I passed it on to someone else to read, then saw another copy at Goodwill. Bought it again, to keep as it provides good memories.
April 15, 2016
Great book! Read for ICC book club, and I loved it! Covered guilt, redemption, forgiveness of yourself and others, and so much more. I was happy to see the main character Clay was able to finally forgive himself for the car wreck that killed his wife and baby son, and was able to move on to happiness and live a life that helped others as well.
March 4, 2010
I enjoyed this book and thought the author did a terrific job of spinning the tale, especially since this is his first book. However, I did reduce my star rating because there was so much cursing in the book. The story is a good one...the cursing is mostly unecessary to the story.
April 27, 2010
Loved the progression of change and unexpected events. Wish it wasn't such a cookie cutter ending, but other then that I enjoyed the un-predictable turns. Very descriptive and writes with a very open imagination!
February 16, 2016
A quick read. The story about a man haunted about his past. He takes a week long road trip across country, meeting odd charactors along the way, and in return he starts living his life again. Religious undertones. I liked it.
December 31, 2008
I loved this!
January 4, 2011
unexpected goodness
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews