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August
'Callan Wink [...] reconfigures the landscape of the American West'the Irish Times on Dog Run MoonAugust is an average twelve year old - he likes dogs and fishing, and doesn't even mind early morning chores on his family's farm. When his parents' marriage falls apart and he has to start over in a new town, he tries hard to be an average teen - playing football and doing his homework - but he struggles to form friendships, and when a shocking act of violence pushes him off course once more, he flees to rural Montana. There, as he throws himself into work on a ranch, he comes to learn that even the smallest of communities have secrets and even the most broken of families have a bond.Beautifully written and unfolding against an epic American landscape, August is a compelling, authentic and poignant story of the joys and traumas that irrevocably shape us all.
Hardcover
First published March 31, 2020
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May 27, 2025
[4.75]
“Whether you like it or not, I created you to be a character in the novel of my life. Every child exists in part to further the narrative of the parent.”
An apt cliché here works for this story: it’s the journey, not the destination. But this journey, however quotidian, gripped me because of Callan Wink’s way with prose and characters. He could turn tax form instructions into a page-turner. The only reason I peeled myself away is because my daughter was about to have a baby and I was keenly distracted by that and my first grandchild’s birth! And what a perfect book for this time, as it has big themes of the protagonist’s—August’s--parenthood (PS I had a granddaughter).
It starts off in Grand Rapids, where August is born and raised until high school, and then went to Montana. He grew up on a ranch and then eventually worked on one, too.
I read Wink’s latest book, Beartooth, first, and was so enchanted with the way he builds a narrative that I had to go back and read this one. It’s a completely different story but his masterful prose and immaculate characterization gripped me from start to finish.
August is a guy who goes through the stuff of life and figures things out. Sometimes decisive, at other times obstinate. He can be thoughtful or thoughtless, intentional or reactive. Each experience, even the cursory (and humorous) phone calls with his father, leave a deep impression on where his life is going. His mother, the librarian, wants him to go to university. His dad supports hard work as a rancher or farmhand, or is unconcerned as long as August is content (but he wants August to inherit his mindset).
Don’t expect a tightly plotted book, yet for me it was uniquely suspenseful. I adored August, so everything that happened to him mattered to me. Wink is extraordinary at allowing the readers to have their own perspective; he reveals character without making pointed statements. Nuanced, no superfluity, with smooth language and subtle wisdom. It's an exquisite treatment of everyday life.
“Whether you like it or not, I created you to be a character in the novel of my life. Every child exists in part to further the narrative of the parent.”
An apt cliché here works for this story: it’s the journey, not the destination. But this journey, however quotidian, gripped me because of Callan Wink’s way with prose and characters. He could turn tax form instructions into a page-turner. The only reason I peeled myself away is because my daughter was about to have a baby and I was keenly distracted by that and my first grandchild’s birth! And what a perfect book for this time, as it has big themes of the protagonist’s—August’s--parenthood (PS I had a granddaughter).
It starts off in Grand Rapids, where August is born and raised until high school, and then went to Montana. He grew up on a ranch and then eventually worked on one, too.
I read Wink’s latest book, Beartooth, first, and was so enchanted with the way he builds a narrative that I had to go back and read this one. It’s a completely different story but his masterful prose and immaculate characterization gripped me from start to finish.
August is a guy who goes through the stuff of life and figures things out. Sometimes decisive, at other times obstinate. He can be thoughtful or thoughtless, intentional or reactive. Each experience, even the cursory (and humorous) phone calls with his father, leave a deep impression on where his life is going. His mother, the librarian, wants him to go to university. His dad supports hard work as a rancher or farmhand, or is unconcerned as long as August is content (but he wants August to inherit his mindset).
Don’t expect a tightly plotted book, yet for me it was uniquely suspenseful. I adored August, so everything that happened to him mattered to me. Wink is extraordinary at allowing the readers to have their own perspective; he reveals character without making pointed statements. Nuanced, no superfluity, with smooth language and subtle wisdom. It's an exquisite treatment of everyday life.
May 3, 2021
I enjoyed this novel about a boy's growth towards manhood under the expansive Montana sky with yearnings towards his Michigan childhood. The interesting thing was that given the relatively and almost imperceptible changes in the protagonist, August, the two father figures in the book both are far more transformed over the pages. I found the violence, particularly in the central scene at the end of Part 1, was well-written by being at the same time brutal and gruesome and yet ambiguous in terms of consequences.
I have never been to Montana, but the book definitely made me want to visit that country at the foot of the mountains for trout fishing, a Montana beef burger, and a buffalo fall.
Augie is a complex protagonist who at times we smile at but at times we want to slap him in the back of his head. He can be very frustrating. But, his friendship with Tim felt realistic and that was one of the better aspects of the novel. I was happy that Wink did not take shortcuts (particularly in the cafe at the end of the book) and look forward to see what never stories he comes up with.
I have never been to Montana, but the book definitely made me want to visit that country at the foot of the mountains for trout fishing, a Montana beef burger, and a buffalo fall.
Augie is a complex protagonist who at times we smile at but at times we want to slap him in the back of his head. He can be very frustrating. But, his friendship with Tim felt realistic and that was one of the better aspects of the novel. I was happy that Wink did not take shortcuts (particularly in the cafe at the end of the book) and look forward to see what never stories he comes up with.
March 28, 2022
Adulthood meant he wouldn't have to suffer anyone else's company unless he chose to. He could see it coming and he was ready.
Until adulthood rears its complicated head, young August will have to suffer the company of his quirky mother who's bound and determined to be a librarian, and his set-in-his-ways Michigan dairy farmer father. Their lifestyle choices have lead to a parting of the ways, so August and his mom head for Big Sky Country, where Mom will fulfill her destiny, and August will try to figure out what the heck the future holds for him.
I loved this one. Wink's first novel is a beautifully written slice of life, though be warned - animal lovers will find some scenes hard to take.
This is my favorite book of the year . . . so far.
"I'm your mother," she said. "Whether you like it or not, I created you to be a character in the novel of my life. Every child exists in part to further the narrative of the parent."
Until adulthood rears its complicated head, young August will have to suffer the company of his quirky mother who's bound and determined to be a librarian, and his set-in-his-ways Michigan dairy farmer father. Their lifestyle choices have lead to a parting of the ways, so August and his mom head for Big Sky Country, where Mom will fulfill her destiny, and August will try to figure out what the heck the future holds for him.
I loved this one. Wink's first novel is a beautifully written slice of life, though be warned - animal lovers will find some scenes hard to take.
This is my favorite book of the year . . . so far.
"I'm your mother," she said. "Whether you like it or not, I created you to be a character in the novel of my life. Every child exists in part to further the narrative of the parent."
May 1, 2020
This is a coming of age story of a boy, starting when was 12 on a Michigan dairy farm through his days on a Montana ranch. During this time August’s divorced parents had passages of their own. I wound up liking this book since I enjoyed the writing style which was simple but also contained some beautiful descriptions. I was also interested in the family dynamics. However, I almost abandoned the book in the first chapter when August’s father paid him to bash in the heads of cats and cut off their tails. I fast forwarded through that as fast as I could.
I don’t think I’m the ideal audience for this book since I really have a hard time relating to the hunting/fishing lifestyle and to the terrible or moronic things that males do. It wasn’t just the cat bashing, there was hunting and other casual animal killing, fishing, the joys of playing football, sex between teenagers and adults, a hit and run, various fights and gang rape. None of the criminal activity resulted in any consequences to the perpetrators by the way. So, the book was too rural and too male for me but I am rounding my 3.5 star rating up because of the parts of the book that I really liked.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
I don’t think I’m the ideal audience for this book since I really have a hard time relating to the hunting/fishing lifestyle and to the terrible or moronic things that males do. It wasn’t just the cat bashing, there was hunting and other casual animal killing, fishing, the joys of playing football, sex between teenagers and adults, a hit and run, various fights and gang rape. None of the criminal activity resulted in any consequences to the perpetrators by the way. So, the book was too rural and too male for me but I am rounding my 3.5 star rating up because of the parts of the book that I really liked.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
March 7, 2025
This book, although pretty well written so the words are easy to paint the picture, the story is flat. It reads like a drawn out short story with no real purpose.
You follow a male adolescent from 12-19 and as things happen along the way it’s more of like reading what’s going on in his life - no interesting points, no closure, no healing, no real purpose. It was just day in and day out for 7 years and underage sex scenes that are disturbing and should have a trigger warning.
You follow a male adolescent from 12-19 and as things happen along the way it’s more of like reading what’s going on in his life - no interesting points, no closure, no healing, no real purpose. It was just day in and day out for 7 years and underage sex scenes that are disturbing and should have a trigger warning.
June 22, 2020
I became a Callan Wink fan after reading his first book “Dog Run Moon,” a collection of short stories. Short stories are usually not one of my favorite reading categories, but those in “Dog Run Moon” really absorbed and impressed me. Wink is equally talented at writing full length fiction as “August” demonstrates. The book follows a teenage boy (August) from the family farm in Michigan to Montana in the company of his divorced mother. His father stays behind on the farm with his new girlfriend, a young woman he hired to help him milk cows. In Montana August adjusts to and comes to love the Montana mountains. “August realized that a landscape could shape your hopes and expectations for what life might possibly have to offer.”
During high school and even afterwards, August feels like an outsider and struggles with how to fit in and how to conduct his life. "He thought that if everyone in the world felt this way it wouldn’t be so bad, he could chalk it up as a reality of the human condition, but as far as he could tell, everyone else was fine and it was just him that couldn’t find a way to properly live. Most of the time he didn’t want to be in his own company, but he couldn’t think of any good way out of it.” Rather than go to college as his parents want, August takes a job on a remote cattle ranch and begins to approach adulthood and plan his future.
Wink’s descriptions of the landscape are realistic and magnificent, and may draw visitors to Montana just as Brad Pitt did. (Wink includes a funny passage about Pitt and Montana.) The characters are so authentic that they feel like people you know. Although August experiences some of the same adolescent growing pains that are typically represented in coming of age novels, the environment, the type of work he does, his parents, and the people he encounters add a welcome depth and originality. Highly recommended.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
During high school and even afterwards, August feels like an outsider and struggles with how to fit in and how to conduct his life. "He thought that if everyone in the world felt this way it wouldn’t be so bad, he could chalk it up as a reality of the human condition, but as far as he could tell, everyone else was fine and it was just him that couldn’t find a way to properly live. Most of the time he didn’t want to be in his own company, but he couldn’t think of any good way out of it.” Rather than go to college as his parents want, August takes a job on a remote cattle ranch and begins to approach adulthood and plan his future.
Wink’s descriptions of the landscape are realistic and magnificent, and may draw visitors to Montana just as Brad Pitt did. (Wink includes a funny passage about Pitt and Montana.) The characters are so authentic that they feel like people you know. Although August experiences some of the same adolescent growing pains that are typically represented in coming of age novels, the environment, the type of work he does, his parents, and the people he encounters add a welcome depth and originality. Highly recommended.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
May 3, 2020
I wanted to love this book, especially since Callan Wink writes from a place that is dear to my heart and soul. And there's a good deal about Montana that he gets exactly right, but when he's writing about people, I had a hard time not rolling my eyes. He had a woman in her late twenties talking to her teenaged lover about "the man that makes your womb glow." And every woman who made an appearance in this book was reduced to thighs (so many mentions of thighs, more than once "thick"), or breasts (either small or heavy and veined and swinging free). August's mother (the parent he lived with throughout his teenage years) was always smoking a cigarillo, and we don't know much more about her. To be fair, the story is written from the perspective of a nineteen-year-old boy, but this reader grew weary of feeling like women were little more than rotisserie chickens. ALSO. The rape scene near the beginning is an incredibly flimsy, shitty plot device in this book that seems to serve no purpose whatsoever beyond allowing two male characters to punch each other in the face and share a swig of whiskey a year later, and the more I think about it, the angrier it makes me. It's not quite enough to knock it down to one star (I still appreciate his evocation of a very particular place and the details that ground me there), but almost.
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August 23, 2021This is one of those books I feel unable to rate. The writing is lovely, and this may be the best novel I’ve read in terms of characterizing “the silent, quiet male.” But, in the end, maybe this book just wasn’t for me due to my own childhood growing up on the edges of my grandfather’s farm.
This novel realistically - maybe too realistically - portrays the often callous attitude of farmers toward animals. I admit that a series of initial scenes in which cats were brutalized set an unpleasant tone for me. Had those scenes served a purpose (future character growth/change or remorse), I might have understood. Had the ‘act’ simply been explained and had it not been written in agonizing detail in THREE separate scenes, I might have understood. As it stands, the scenes seemed simply to be there for their shock factor.
As a seven-year-old girl, I watched my grandfather bludgeon a kitten with a 2 x 4, and when it wouldn’t die, he continued to hit it. When I asked why, the response I got was: “They’re worthless.” This is the same man who filled a bag with puppies and gassed them or threw them into a pond. So, yes, I am very sensitive to this kind of brutality — and this is what I mean about “too realistic” (though this author treated dogs with respect - another sad reality in our culture, where cats are expendable - a misconstrued belief further perpetuated in this book). Simply put; I do not need to relive that kind of cruelty in excruciating detail in the novels I read.
The realism in this novel extended to the mundane conversations of daily life: about weather, about what people did during the day, about farming practices — essentially a series of slice-of-life scenes that didn’t make for a cohesive story for me, personally. Real life doesn’t always make the best fiction, and I felt myself wondering where we were going, what growth the character was experiencing, why certain characters were introduced and then just faded away (I am still baffled by the violent “June” incident, August’s reaction, lack of resolution, etc., and frankly, a bit pissed about the way it was handled. To say it was off-putting is an understatement). In the end, I was left feeling the main character really had no goals. He was a character to whom things happened, a thinly constructed, drifting character who didn’t really make choices or suffer consequences for his actions.
I don’t read coming-of-age stories, so maybe it is this chronicling of growing up that didn’t work for me? I am not sure. I do know this is a writer who has intimate farming experience and knows its hard-nosed realities. This is an author who can string together incredible sentences, and who knows the inner workings of quiet men. It just wasn’t the right book for me.
This novel realistically - maybe too realistically - portrays the often callous attitude of farmers toward animals. I admit that a series of initial scenes in which cats were brutalized set an unpleasant tone for me. Had those scenes served a purpose (future character growth/change or remorse), I might have understood. Had the ‘act’ simply been explained and had it not been written in agonizing detail in THREE separate scenes, I might have understood. As it stands, the scenes seemed simply to be there for their shock factor.
As a seven-year-old girl, I watched my grandfather bludgeon a kitten with a 2 x 4, and when it wouldn’t die, he continued to hit it. When I asked why, the response I got was: “They’re worthless.” This is the same man who filled a bag with puppies and gassed them or threw them into a pond. So, yes, I am very sensitive to this kind of brutality — and this is what I mean about “too realistic” (though this author treated dogs with respect - another sad reality in our culture, where cats are expendable - a misconstrued belief further perpetuated in this book). Simply put; I do not need to relive that kind of cruelty in excruciating detail in the novels I read.
The realism in this novel extended to the mundane conversations of daily life: about weather, about what people did during the day, about farming practices — essentially a series of slice-of-life scenes that didn’t make for a cohesive story for me, personally. Real life doesn’t always make the best fiction, and I felt myself wondering where we were going, what growth the character was experiencing, why certain characters were introduced and then just faded away (I am still baffled by the violent “June” incident, August’s reaction, lack of resolution, etc., and frankly, a bit pissed about the way it was handled. To say it was off-putting is an understatement). In the end, I was left feeling the main character really had no goals. He was a character to whom things happened, a thinly constructed, drifting character who didn’t really make choices or suffer consequences for his actions.
I don’t read coming-of-age stories, so maybe it is this chronicling of growing up that didn’t work for me? I am not sure. I do know this is a writer who has intimate farming experience and knows its hard-nosed realities. This is an author who can string together incredible sentences, and who knows the inner workings of quiet men. It just wasn’t the right book for me.
March 2, 2021
The kind of really great book that I did not want to end.
This is Callan Wink's debut novel and he knocked it out the park on the first try. It is a masterful coming-of-age tale, a gorgeous rendering of that time in a young man's life when he's trying to figure out who the hell he is and what the hell he's supposed to do about that.
I felt deeply, painfully for August as he tries to discover what it is to be a man. He's such a well wrought character, the kind who, after you finish the book, you feel despair that you are no longer part of his life. I believe him, I believe in him. I want to fly to Montana to find him and check he's alright.
It's one of those books where, when I finished, I was puzzled as to how the author managed to write it specifically for me. As if we were family and he'd crafted exactly what he knew I'd love.
I really, properly loved it.
This is Callan Wink's debut novel and he knocked it out the park on the first try. It is a masterful coming-of-age tale, a gorgeous rendering of that time in a young man's life when he's trying to figure out who the hell he is and what the hell he's supposed to do about that.
I felt deeply, painfully for August as he tries to discover what it is to be a man. He's such a well wrought character, the kind who, after you finish the book, you feel despair that you are no longer part of his life. I believe him, I believe in him. I want to fly to Montana to find him and check he's alright.
It's one of those books where, when I finished, I was puzzled as to how the author managed to write it specifically for me. As if we were family and he'd crafted exactly what he knew I'd love.
I really, properly loved it.
September 10, 2021
3,5 Sterne/ Ein Roadtrip gemischt mit modernem amerikanischem Coming-of-Age Roman. Ruhig erzählt und sehr lebensnah auch mit düsteren Themen.
March 20, 2020
"August" by Callan Wink is a beautiful and provocative coming-of-age novel. Wink's prose is absolutely gorgeous. The writing flows so effortlessly. No awkward dialogue or clunky descriptions. The title is named after the protagonist and the novel spans through his formative and early adulthood years. Some people might have a problem with the pacing, it's a slow-burn but it's never boring or predictable. I liked that August was always true to himself. As a reader, you might not always like him and the choices he makes, but he's painfully human. He is withdrawn, infallible, stoic, and reserved, but is never afraid to experience change and freedom at any costs.
There were a couple of scenes that were tough to get through like the scene in the barn with the feral cats, and the scene at a bonfire party involving a sexual assault. Otherwise than that, I really felt emotionally invested in August's upbringing and rocky journey through adolescence. The one drawback was the length of novel. It felt long even though it wasn't long. "August" wasn't a masterpiece but it definitely tugged on my heartstrings. Deep and meaningful. Callan Wink is a talented author and whatever he decides to publish next, I will be the first one to read it.
Thank you, Netgalley and Random House for the digital ARC.
Release date: March 31, 2020
There were a couple of scenes that were tough to get through like the scene in the barn with the feral cats, and the scene at a bonfire party involving a sexual assault. Otherwise than that, I really felt emotionally invested in August's upbringing and rocky journey through adolescence. The one drawback was the length of novel. It felt long even though it wasn't long. "August" wasn't a masterpiece but it definitely tugged on my heartstrings. Deep and meaningful. Callan Wink is a talented author and whatever he decides to publish next, I will be the first one to read it.
Thank you, Netgalley and Random House for the digital ARC.
Release date: March 31, 2020
December 19, 2020
If you read Callan Wink’s short story collection, Dog Run Moon, and marveled about it like I did, you may recognize August as one of the characters: the kid who was paid by his dad to kill cats in his barn.
Now he’s back, and he is the key character in a novel all his own. In many ways, Callan Wink explores the duality that cuts like a river across August’s life over a decade-long period. He’s caught between his mother and his father—who are now divorced—and between the dairy farm of Michigan and the wide-open spaces of Montana. He is forced to decide between his intellect (following the herd to college) and his brawn (becoming a hired hand for a young man named Ancient) and between crafting his own life or letting him become part of the stampede.
The pace of the book is leisurely, like a Montana river, and like that river, just as the reader is leaning back and enjoying the scenery, the pace quickens and the adrenaline surge is on. The cat scene is reprised: sheer horror to animal lovers but a necessary element to demonstrate what farm life is all about. Then there’s a vulnerable girl named June who finds herself in a threatening situation—will August take part or do the right thing?
There are dangerous, life-threatening tasks that August must undertake and only some of them are physical. Navigating the realm of the opposite sex is almost as scary as nearly getting his foot cut off. But with all these situations, August learns—in his own self-made college of everyday life.
Montana itself is a strong character in this book. I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting the state, but I suspect that the author—who lives there—has captured it beautifully and lyrically. For those who like contemplation along with their action, it’s a fine book.
Now he’s back, and he is the key character in a novel all his own. In many ways, Callan Wink explores the duality that cuts like a river across August’s life over a decade-long period. He’s caught between his mother and his father—who are now divorced—and between the dairy farm of Michigan and the wide-open spaces of Montana. He is forced to decide between his intellect (following the herd to college) and his brawn (becoming a hired hand for a young man named Ancient) and between crafting his own life or letting him become part of the stampede.
The pace of the book is leisurely, like a Montana river, and like that river, just as the reader is leaning back and enjoying the scenery, the pace quickens and the adrenaline surge is on. The cat scene is reprised: sheer horror to animal lovers but a necessary element to demonstrate what farm life is all about. Then there’s a vulnerable girl named June who finds herself in a threatening situation—will August take part or do the right thing?
There are dangerous, life-threatening tasks that August must undertake and only some of them are physical. Navigating the realm of the opposite sex is almost as scary as nearly getting his foot cut off. But with all these situations, August learns—in his own self-made college of everyday life.
Montana itself is a strong character in this book. I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting the state, but I suspect that the author—who lives there—has captured it beautifully and lyrically. For those who like contemplation along with their action, it’s a fine book.
February 28, 2020
Man this book was not for me, and I am so disappointed by that because I was really looking forward to it after seeing some glowing early reviews. First of all, I’ve seen a few people warn animal lovers about the cat stuff at the beginning; why is no one warning about the brutal sexual assault?? A high school girl is gang-raped at a party about 1/3 of a way into Callan Wink’s August, and 200 pages of ranching and talking about the weather does not redeem it. After that scene I had a hard time enjoying anything about the book, and the fact that I have little interest in erecting fences or baling hay didn’t help. To me, the whole thing felt like it had no depth. I got to the end and didn’t know what the point was. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and found most of them to be nothing more than quick plot devices (especially the women and LGBTQ characters). I think I was just really not the target demographic for this novel...maybe if I were a 24 year old man who lived on a ranch in Minnesota I would feel differently about it? But I am myself, and I wouldn’t recommend it to my friends. Thanks Netgalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 19, 2021
If you like coming of age stories and/or you like reading stories set in Montana, this book might be for you.
If you would like more information, check out my friend J.K.'s outstanding review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
If you would like more information, check out my friend J.K.'s outstanding review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
February 15, 2022
Had this not been a pick for my buddy read group, I would have quit within the first 30 pages. The graphic, unnecessary details of the cat murders were distasteful, but the author also felt he should throw in a description of a dog’s tragic death. To start a book out with all of this is pretty telling and I didn’t have high hopes for the rest. Still, I was determined, only because I’d abandoned our last buddy read and I really wanted to contribute fairly to the conversation this time around, even if my contribution was hate fueled.
As I’m sure you’ve guessed, I didn’t particularly enjoy this book. It isn’t all bad, but even its positive aspects weren’t especially enjoyable to me.
I will say that Wink writes well. His vivid descriptions created immaculate imagery. He skillfully captured the grittiness of August’s experiences. I’m guessing he conveyed the thoughts of young men in a relatively realistic fashion, but I’ve never been a young man, so it’s hard to say.
Early in part two of this book, a deeply disturbing scene occurs. It almost seems like a pointless contribution, but much of August’s behavior, especially when it comes to his actions toward women, do seem influenced by both that scene and his first sexual experience. It’s quite obscurely expressed, with a heavy leaning on showing rather than telling, which I’d ordinarily appreciate, but I think something that horrific deserved more development. Ultimately, I understood that August had a conscience about it and I don’t think the lack of consequence was unrealistic, but it still seemed to be missing something vital. The best literary devices can still be executed poorly.
While August certainly isn’t the worst example of men writing women, I still found Wink’s fixation on describing women’s bodies quite off putting, especially given how little detail was given to the descriptiveness of male characters. The women felt objectified. Could this have been the point since the story focuses on a boy’s progression into adulthood? Perhaps. But it seems that point was taken too far, as if women were little more than slabs of meat. Even the positive statements about women (all generalized) failed to counteract my feelings about this.
The author did write a story that lends well to discussion and I suspect we’ll have a lot to talk about in our buddy read group. I like a book that makes you think and there was a lot in here to consider, especially in terms of the impact of violence, divorce, and sexual assault (which is illustrated in more than one way), but the ambiguity of it all was a bit too much work. It almost feels like the whole idea was to create a literary classic that would be added to high school curriculum for dissection, rather than a story that could be deeply felt and enjoyed. However, if it sparks important conversations, perhaps it’s a worthy read, despite its flaws. I just didn’t like it very much.
As I’m sure you’ve guessed, I didn’t particularly enjoy this book. It isn’t all bad, but even its positive aspects weren’t especially enjoyable to me.
I will say that Wink writes well. His vivid descriptions created immaculate imagery. He skillfully captured the grittiness of August’s experiences. I’m guessing he conveyed the thoughts of young men in a relatively realistic fashion, but I’ve never been a young man, so it’s hard to say.
Early in part two of this book, a deeply disturbing scene occurs. It almost seems like a pointless contribution, but much of August’s behavior, especially when it comes to his actions toward women, do seem influenced by both that scene and his first sexual experience. It’s quite obscurely expressed, with a heavy leaning on showing rather than telling, which I’d ordinarily appreciate, but I think something that horrific deserved more development. Ultimately, I understood that August had a conscience about it and I don’t think the lack of consequence was unrealistic, but it still seemed to be missing something vital. The best literary devices can still be executed poorly.
While August certainly isn’t the worst example of men writing women, I still found Wink’s fixation on describing women’s bodies quite off putting, especially given how little detail was given to the descriptiveness of male characters. The women felt objectified. Could this have been the point since the story focuses on a boy’s progression into adulthood? Perhaps. But it seems that point was taken too far, as if women were little more than slabs of meat. Even the positive statements about women (all generalized) failed to counteract my feelings about this.
The author did write a story that lends well to discussion and I suspect we’ll have a lot to talk about in our buddy read group. I like a book that makes you think and there was a lot in here to consider, especially in terms of the impact of violence, divorce, and sexual assault (which is illustrated in more than one way), but the ambiguity of it all was a bit too much work. It almost feels like the whole idea was to create a literary classic that would be added to high school curriculum for dissection, rather than a story that could be deeply felt and enjoyed. However, if it sparks important conversations, perhaps it’s a worthy read, despite its flaws. I just didn’t like it very much.
April 27, 2020
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
The blurb for the book makes it a lot more mysterious and plot heavy than it really is. The book is reminiscent of the movie Boyhood, aka 12 years a boy, except it tracks the protagonist August for about 7 years of his life. A few years of his life are given a few paragraphs, whereas other years get several chapters. But the book is more a coming of age story about a boy and later a man who lets life happen to him rather than actively participating moreso than it is a revealing tale about the underbelly of small towns.
This book falls into a very specific genre I like to call, "literary silent stoic white male coming of age story in rural America" that is told in a way that puts distance between the reader and the characters and events. Not only does the writing style put a distance between the readers and the characters, but there's also a distance between August and the life he is living. August isn't a character that has strong reactions or thoughts on what is happening around him. Though there are moments that we get a glimpse of perhaps something more going on in August's head, for instance him choosing to go to Montana to work on the ranch, that insight disappears the longer he stays there. Sometimes another character will probe him on what his thoughts are about what is going on, but for the most part, August just flows through some major life events giving very little thought about what's going on.
It's the other characters that help define August as a character, or at least give us insight on the type of person August is. The people in his life are more active in terms of driving the story and getting him to do things. Whether it is his dad assigning him chores, his mom moving him away from his childhood home, his coach strong arming him to join the football team, or his boss giving him work - August passively goes along with all of these things. There are moments of resistance, but for the most part, he goes with what the stronger personality in his life asks of him. His reactions to what they say or do and his interactions with them are what help us better understand him. However using other people and big events to define the titular character and his coming of age as opposed to letting the reader get inside the character's head and thought process makes both the character and thus the book weaker. I do understand that part of it is because August himself was uncomfortable in his own skin and often preferred to be a loner. However, that is when an author needs to be willing to deep dive into the character's psyche and really explore the character's thoughts, dreams, wishes, desires. The aloofness that we're given may work with the younger versions of August, but it doesn't work with the older teenage version. We understand his work ethic because of the scenes he has with his father and his father as a character. We understand his slight inquisitive nature because of his scenes with his mother and her personality. But we're not really given much beyond what we've seen from his interactions.
Though I wouldn't say that this book is hyper-masculine, it is definitely written from a male point of view. With little nuggets of not quite wisdom and mediocre advice being passed from father to son or from friend to friend, making women seem like almost a different species than the men in their lives. These scenes don't degrade or denigrate, but there seems to be a belief that there's an insurmountable chasm that separates them. However, what was offputting was the gang-rape scene involving a drunk girl at a party in the woods. When a writer uses a girl getting raped as a way to develop a female character, it is tired and lazy. When a writer uses a girl getting raped as a way to develop a male character, it is offensive, tired, and lazy. When a writer uses a girl getting raped as just another slice of life scene and doesn't really develop a character, it is puzzling, offensive, tired, and lazy. The way that it was played off later by those involved was a bit victim shamey, but the fact that the conflict that arises as a result has more to do with the boys involved and their reactions than anything else was off-putting.
What I did like about the book was the description of the locations and scenes. While the author could have easily just used the nickname "Big Sky Country" to convey the awe that is the vastness of Montana, he doesn't. There is an obvious love and connection to the locations being written about.
This is very much a slice of life book that tries to tell a lot of story with a restrained pen. The restraint keeps the story from becoming overly complicated or clunky, but also perhaps keeps the reader from really getting invested in August as a character. The time that is skipped over may have not had anything momentous or life changing for August, but it would have allowed the reader to get to know August better as a person. One of my favorite slice of life books focusing on one character and a slow meander through his life is Suttree by Cormac McCarthy. Suttree is not significantly more dynamic a character than August, both having a detatched quality - however McCarthy's willingness to stay with Suttree through even the mundane aspects of his life is what makes Suttree come to life. Callan Wink does do a good job with the world and characters that he's pairing August up with, but the external world of August is not the problem.
The blurb for the book makes it a lot more mysterious and plot heavy than it really is. The book is reminiscent of the movie Boyhood, aka 12 years a boy, except it tracks the protagonist August for about 7 years of his life. A few years of his life are given a few paragraphs, whereas other years get several chapters. But the book is more a coming of age story about a boy and later a man who lets life happen to him rather than actively participating moreso than it is a revealing tale about the underbelly of small towns.
This book falls into a very specific genre I like to call, "literary silent stoic white male coming of age story in rural America" that is told in a way that puts distance between the reader and the characters and events. Not only does the writing style put a distance between the readers and the characters, but there's also a distance between August and the life he is living. August isn't a character that has strong reactions or thoughts on what is happening around him. Though there are moments that we get a glimpse of perhaps something more going on in August's head, for instance him choosing to go to Montana to work on the ranch, that insight disappears the longer he stays there. Sometimes another character will probe him on what his thoughts are about what is going on, but for the most part, August just flows through some major life events giving very little thought about what's going on.
It's the other characters that help define August as a character, or at least give us insight on the type of person August is. The people in his life are more active in terms of driving the story and getting him to do things. Whether it is his dad assigning him chores, his mom moving him away from his childhood home, his coach strong arming him to join the football team, or his boss giving him work - August passively goes along with all of these things. There are moments of resistance, but for the most part, he goes with what the stronger personality in his life asks of him. His reactions to what they say or do and his interactions with them are what help us better understand him. However using other people and big events to define the titular character and his coming of age as opposed to letting the reader get inside the character's head and thought process makes both the character and thus the book weaker. I do understand that part of it is because August himself was uncomfortable in his own skin and often preferred to be a loner. However, that is when an author needs to be willing to deep dive into the character's psyche and really explore the character's thoughts, dreams, wishes, desires. The aloofness that we're given may work with the younger versions of August, but it doesn't work with the older teenage version. We understand his work ethic because of the scenes he has with his father and his father as a character. We understand his slight inquisitive nature because of his scenes with his mother and her personality. But we're not really given much beyond what we've seen from his interactions.
Though I wouldn't say that this book is hyper-masculine, it is definitely written from a male point of view. With little nuggets of not quite wisdom and mediocre advice being passed from father to son or from friend to friend, making women seem like almost a different species than the men in their lives. These scenes don't degrade or denigrate, but there seems to be a belief that there's an insurmountable chasm that separates them. However, what was offputting was the gang-rape scene involving a drunk girl at a party in the woods. When a writer uses a girl getting raped as a way to develop a female character, it is tired and lazy. When a writer uses a girl getting raped as a way to develop a male character, it is offensive, tired, and lazy. When a writer uses a girl getting raped as just another slice of life scene and doesn't really develop a character, it is puzzling, offensive, tired, and lazy. The way that it was played off later by those involved was a bit victim shamey, but the fact that the conflict that arises as a result has more to do with the boys involved and their reactions than anything else was off-putting.
What I did like about the book was the description of the locations and scenes. While the author could have easily just used the nickname "Big Sky Country" to convey the awe that is the vastness of Montana, he doesn't. There is an obvious love and connection to the locations being written about.
This is very much a slice of life book that tries to tell a lot of story with a restrained pen. The restraint keeps the story from becoming overly complicated or clunky, but also perhaps keeps the reader from really getting invested in August as a character. The time that is skipped over may have not had anything momentous or life changing for August, but it would have allowed the reader to get to know August better as a person. One of my favorite slice of life books focusing on one character and a slow meander through his life is Suttree by Cormac McCarthy. Suttree is not significantly more dynamic a character than August, both having a detatched quality - however McCarthy's willingness to stay with Suttree through even the mundane aspects of his life is what makes Suttree come to life. Callan Wink does do a good job with the world and characters that he's pairing August up with, but the external world of August is not the problem.
February 19, 2022
***Slight spoilers ahead, read with caution***
This was my pick for a friend’s book club. Several people I follow online gushed about this coming-of-age story, which was why I pitched it. It was also on the shorter side, which seemed helpful. Had this not been my pick for the club, I would have in all honesty DNFed this maybe 30-40 pages in.
I mostly listened to this on audiobook, which was probably the only way I got through it—the narration itself was good.
However, I hated pretty much every single character (and the ones I didn’t weren’t developed enough to really even like). I’m a passive person myself but the main character, August ,took it to the extreme. His passive, agreeable responses started to seriously wear on my nerves. He also seemed to have no issue when it came to others being hurt by or around him. By the end, I started to wonder if the author hated the character as much as I did. It’s bad when you’re thinking the character deserves what he gets when something bad happens to him.
The writing itself was good but this was the most strangest and boring coming-of-age story I’ve ever read. The only times it wasn’t boring was when the author seemed intent on grossing the reader out. Right at the beginning we are greeted with very in-depth animal torture and death. I’ve grown up with horror and it was too much for me. It also didn’t add anything to the plot or to August’s character, except to make him more awful.
There’s a gang rape that August basically shrugs off for most of the book. And I would applaud the person who actually took action except he was also involved in it. There are slurs toward various groups of people just thrown around in conversation that added nothing to the book and just made me dislike all of the characters even more.
The part about 9/11 briefly made me tear up a bit, but then the slurs about that came into play and ruined that moment for me. I did love the scene where August and his dad are deer hunting, though I ended up being confused by his dad’s actions since he’d had no qualms about the cats very early on.
I’m not really sure if this book had much of a message like most coming-of-age stories I’ve read. By the end, I was just happy it was over. This was definitely not for me and I personally don’t understand what was so profound about this book.
1.5 stars.
This was my pick for a friend’s book club. Several people I follow online gushed about this coming-of-age story, which was why I pitched it. It was also on the shorter side, which seemed helpful. Had this not been my pick for the club, I would have in all honesty DNFed this maybe 30-40 pages in.
I mostly listened to this on audiobook, which was probably the only way I got through it—the narration itself was good.
However, I hated pretty much every single character (and the ones I didn’t weren’t developed enough to really even like). I’m a passive person myself but the main character, August ,took it to the extreme. His passive, agreeable responses started to seriously wear on my nerves. He also seemed to have no issue when it came to others being hurt by or around him. By the end, I started to wonder if the author hated the character as much as I did. It’s bad when you’re thinking the character deserves what he gets when something bad happens to him.
The writing itself was good but this was the most strangest and boring coming-of-age story I’ve ever read. The only times it wasn’t boring was when the author seemed intent on grossing the reader out. Right at the beginning we are greeted with very in-depth animal torture and death. I’ve grown up with horror and it was too much for me. It also didn’t add anything to the plot or to August’s character, except to make him more awful.
There’s a gang rape that August basically shrugs off for most of the book. And I would applaud the person who actually took action except he was also involved in it. There are slurs toward various groups of people just thrown around in conversation that added nothing to the book and just made me dislike all of the characters even more.
The part about 9/11 briefly made me tear up a bit, but then the slurs about that came into play and ruined that moment for me. I did love the scene where August and his dad are deer hunting, though I ended up being confused by his dad’s actions since he’d had no qualms about the cats very early on.
I’m not really sure if this book had much of a message like most coming-of-age stories I’ve read. By the end, I was just happy it was over. This was definitely not for me and I personally don’t understand what was so profound about this book.
1.5 stars.
February 7, 2021
Bonnie und Darwin haben jung geheiratet und sind früh Eltern des kleinen August geworden. Doch Bonnie wird nur kurzfristig glücklich. In jeder freien Minute lernt sie aus ihren alten Büchern in der Hoffnung, ihr unterbrochenes Studium irgendwann fortsetzen zu können. Als August 15 ist, schafft seine Mutter den Absprung von der Farm in Michigan, lässt sich scheiden, holt ihr Examen nach und zieht mit August nach Montana. Auslöser für Bonnies Fernweh nach Montana war der Film „Aus der Mitte entspringt ein Fluss“. Wie damals, als sie zu einem Farmer in den elterlichen Betrieb zog, springt sie wieder auf ein Klischee an, ohne sich Genaueres darunter vorstellen zu können. August hatte gerade schätzen gelernt, was ihm seine Heimat zu bieten hat – Angeln, Jagen, die Befriedigung schwerer körperlicher Arbeit auf der Farm, Führerschein mit 16 und damit die Aussicht auf eine erste Liebe. Aus einer ländlichen Gegend wird er in eine andere verpflanzt und verliert alles. Dass er zugleich Abschied von seiner Kindheit nehmen muss, macht den Bruch mit Michigan nicht gerade leichter. Wie andere seines Jahrgangs auch muss der junge Mann entscheiden, ob er bei seinem Vater auf der Farm arbeiten will, an einer öffentlichen Universität studieren oder etwas ganz anderes tun will. Gehen oder Bleiben, Studieren oder sofort Geld auf die Hand aus einem Hilfsjob, feste Beziehung oder Fernbeziehung – Bonnies Lebenslauf hat gezeigt, dass man jede Entscheidung bald wieder bereuen kann. Augusts Vater macht seinem Sohn offensichtlich die Arbeit auf der Farm schmackhaft, das beantwortet jedoch nicht die Frage, ob der Betrieb dauerhaft überhaupt ein altes und ein junges Bauernpaar ernähren kann.
Ein Job auf einer fremdem Farm, bei Ancient und Kim, konfrontiert August wieder mit einer neuen Umgebung, aber auch mit der Anerkennung eines fremden Chefs für Augusts zuverlässige Arbeit.
Callan Wink zeichnet seine heranwachsende Hauptfigur mit allen Fehlern, Ecken und Kanten, lässt August in der Provinz Gewalt, Verschwörungsmythen und ultrakonservative Weltanschauungen erleben. Auch bei Ancient wird sich die Frage stellen, ob der Hof langfristig einen festangestellten Arbeiter finanzieren kann. Kann er es nicht, muss August einen anderen Weg einschlagen. Aus europäischer Sicht ist für mich das gezeigte Hangeln zwischen Aushilfsjobs ungewöhnlich. Wir sind es gewöhnt, den möglichen Nachfolger/die Nachfolgerin eines Betriebs in der Fremde eine Lehre abschließen zu lassen. Sollte sein/ihr Vater noch so jung sein wie Darwin, drängt die Entscheidung zur Hofübernahme selten.
Vor den historischen Ereignissen der Bush-Regierung im Hintergrund wird August erwachsen und fühlt schließlich wieder die Bindung an eine Landschaft, in der man auf dem Rücken liegend glauben kann, einem gehörte der gesamte Himmel. Warum Menschen aus Montana ihren Staat für den Mittelpunkt der Welt halten, das hat Wink mir mit Augusts Geschichte nahegebracht. Als Fan von „Aus der Mitte entspringt ein Fluss“ bin ich leichte Beute für ihn …
Ein Job auf einer fremdem Farm, bei Ancient und Kim, konfrontiert August wieder mit einer neuen Umgebung, aber auch mit der Anerkennung eines fremden Chefs für Augusts zuverlässige Arbeit.
Callan Wink zeichnet seine heranwachsende Hauptfigur mit allen Fehlern, Ecken und Kanten, lässt August in der Provinz Gewalt, Verschwörungsmythen und ultrakonservative Weltanschauungen erleben. Auch bei Ancient wird sich die Frage stellen, ob der Hof langfristig einen festangestellten Arbeiter finanzieren kann. Kann er es nicht, muss August einen anderen Weg einschlagen. Aus europäischer Sicht ist für mich das gezeigte Hangeln zwischen Aushilfsjobs ungewöhnlich. Wir sind es gewöhnt, den möglichen Nachfolger/die Nachfolgerin eines Betriebs in der Fremde eine Lehre abschließen zu lassen. Sollte sein/ihr Vater noch so jung sein wie Darwin, drängt die Entscheidung zur Hofübernahme selten.
Vor den historischen Ereignissen der Bush-Regierung im Hintergrund wird August erwachsen und fühlt schließlich wieder die Bindung an eine Landschaft, in der man auf dem Rücken liegend glauben kann, einem gehörte der gesamte Himmel. Warum Menschen aus Montana ihren Staat für den Mittelpunkt der Welt halten, das hat Wink mir mit Augusts Geschichte nahegebracht. Als Fan von „Aus der Mitte entspringt ein Fluss“ bin ich leichte Beute für ihn …
March 11, 2020
August is your average twelve-year-old growing up on his parents’ Michigan dairy farm. He’s hard-working, loves his mom and dad, and is average at school. This doesn’t sound like much of a story, but thanks to Callan Wink’s intuitive, quiet, and blunt manner of writing, this quickly becomes a heart wrenching human drama that puts a weight on your chest and a burden on your conscience.
August watches from a distance as his parents’ marriage crumbles, his father’s values lessen and his mother’s mental stability weakens. At a point he can no longer tolerate it, he sets out on his own, ending up in Montana, where he lives and learns lessons light-years beyond his age.
This is a beautifully written saga of five formative years in a young man’s life. With vivid and flawed characters, Wink creates a panorama where August soon realizes that even though he’s the youngest, he may actually be the wisest.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for making it available.)
August watches from a distance as his parents’ marriage crumbles, his father’s values lessen and his mother’s mental stability weakens. At a point he can no longer tolerate it, he sets out on his own, ending up in Montana, where he lives and learns lessons light-years beyond his age.
This is a beautifully written saga of five formative years in a young man’s life. With vivid and flawed characters, Wink creates a panorama where August soon realizes that even though he’s the youngest, he may actually be the wisest.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for making it available.)
March 7, 2020
He was starting to think that every childhood existed as a unique set of problems, and most of what people called living was just the act of trying to decipher, after the fact, what in the hell had happened to them.
I am quite a fan of family/coming of age stories set in the heartlands of America so was surprised to find this one a teensy bit dull and at close to 400 pages something of a slog. The characters just didn’t come alive for me, except in the dialogue - I enjoyed that and would have liked much more. On the other hand, descriptions of the landscape were well done and I felt immersed in the work of raising a dairy herd and cattle ranching. And so much information about the meals they ate….
An OK read, but not one I’d particularly recommend.
With thanks to Granta Publications via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.
I am quite a fan of family/coming of age stories set in the heartlands of America so was surprised to find this one a teensy bit dull and at close to 400 pages something of a slog. The characters just didn’t come alive for me, except in the dialogue - I enjoyed that and would have liked much more. On the other hand, descriptions of the landscape were well done and I felt immersed in the work of raising a dairy herd and cattle ranching. And so much information about the meals they ate….
An OK read, but not one I’d particularly recommend.
With thanks to Granta Publications via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC.
October 6, 2021
So unaufgeregt, wie der Protagonist August ist, so unaufgeregt erzählt Callan Wink auch seine Geschichte - von der Teenagerzeit über die Trennung der Eltern, den Umzug bis zu den ersten Jobs als Helfer auf großen Ranches in Montana. Das kann man langweilig finden, mir hingegen hat der Roman sehr gut gefallen. Tolle Sprache für fast schon schmerzhaft sprachlose Männer in einer Landschaft, die jeglichen Anfall von menschlichem Größenwahn im Betrachter sofort im Keim erstickt.
April 29, 2021
August realized that a landscape could change your hopes and expectation for what life might possibly have to offer.
Set between a midwestern dairy farm and the wide open spaces of a Montana farm, August is a coming of age story of a teenage boy following the separation and divorce of his parents.
This is not nor was it meant to be any sort of action-packed story, but rather an introspective slow-burner that aims to convey the effects of divorce on a teenage boy growing up in rural Michigan. Being a teenager is tough enough, but after the divorce he moves to another state with his mother, where he becomes wedged between the wills of both parents. They have their own ideas what he should do in life, but in their attempts of gaining August's acquiescence, they only widen the dividing line between parent and son. To make the life he wants for himself, August leaves behind college plans and taking over his father's dairy farm to work first at an oil rig then finds his way to a small town in Montana to work as a farmhand.
This was a book with potential. The plot, the setting... but very little of that potential was actualized. I kept thinking, "maybe I'm not the right audience for this book?... maybe I need to be a hands-in-the-dirt-chopping-logs-and-building-fences person to 'get it'?" Maybe. Or maybe this is just a boring book with brief snippets of deeper insights. Where the story lags and stalls, I thought at least it could be saved by the setting, but Callan Wink wrote more about August's day to day activities as a farm hand than absolutely anything else.
My hypothesis is that Wink, having previously only written short stories, just couldn't flesh this book out enough to be a full fledge novel: it just needed.. more.. or less. More story or less pages.
Another BIG complaint about this book is the portrayal of each and every woman. August isn't a bad person, he's not out doing or thinking misogynistic things - other than sorta kinda taking part of a gang rape even though he realizes it's really not good - but all women are reduced to their parts or what sort of hell they can put a man through. Not even his mother is spared. I suppose I understand: not every book or character in a book has to view women as equals or write something not inherently terrible about women, but there didn't seem to be any benefit to the story or plot with the reduction of women in such a way, not even the rape scene, it's like it just existed in the book as some thing that happened. Maybe if August himself had been given more of a voice - any type of inner monologue that let's the reader see how these things effect him or are meaningful to him.. but mostly he just ate a lot of cereal.
I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone unless that person is from Montana or is a farmer or both. There are plenty of other wonderful more fulfilling coming-of-age stories out there. But, nice jacket cover though.
He was starting to think that every childhood existed as a unique set of problems, and most of what people called living was just an act of trying to decipher, after the fact, what in the hell had happened to them. When it came down to it, he figured his parents had done what they could.
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Set between a midwestern dairy farm and the wide open spaces of a Montana farm, August is a coming of age story of a teenage boy following the separation and divorce of his parents.
This is not nor was it meant to be any sort of action-packed story, but rather an introspective slow-burner that aims to convey the effects of divorce on a teenage boy growing up in rural Michigan. Being a teenager is tough enough, but after the divorce he moves to another state with his mother, where he becomes wedged between the wills of both parents. They have their own ideas what he should do in life, but in their attempts of gaining August's acquiescence, they only widen the dividing line between parent and son. To make the life he wants for himself, August leaves behind college plans and taking over his father's dairy farm to work first at an oil rig then finds his way to a small town in Montana to work as a farmhand.
This was a book with potential. The plot, the setting... but very little of that potential was actualized. I kept thinking, "maybe I'm not the right audience for this book?... maybe I need to be a hands-in-the-dirt-chopping-logs-and-building-fences person to 'get it'?" Maybe. Or maybe this is just a boring book with brief snippets of deeper insights. Where the story lags and stalls, I thought at least it could be saved by the setting, but Callan Wink wrote more about August's day to day activities as a farm hand than absolutely anything else.
My hypothesis is that Wink, having previously only written short stories, just couldn't flesh this book out enough to be a full fledge novel: it just needed.. more.. or less. More story or less pages.
Another BIG complaint about this book is the portrayal of each and every woman. August isn't a bad person, he's not out doing or thinking misogynistic things - other than sorta kinda taking part of a gang rape even though he realizes it's really not good - but all women are reduced to their parts or what sort of hell they can put a man through. Not even his mother is spared. I suppose I understand: not every book or character in a book has to view women as equals or write something not inherently terrible about women, but there didn't seem to be any benefit to the story or plot with the reduction of women in such a way, not even the rape scene, it's like it just existed in the book as some thing that happened. Maybe if August himself had been given more of a voice - any type of inner monologue that let's the reader see how these things effect him or are meaningful to him.. but mostly he just ate a lot of cereal.
I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone unless that person is from Montana or is a farmer or both. There are plenty of other wonderful more fulfilling coming-of-age stories out there. But, nice jacket cover though.
He was starting to think that every childhood existed as a unique set of problems, and most of what people called living was just an act of trying to decipher, after the fact, what in the hell had happened to them. When it came down to it, he figured his parents had done what they could.
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October 17, 2021
Only one star for once more - the glossing over of a violent sexual assault. The story could have been just as relevant without it. With it -adds a level of white male privilege and un-accountability that should never be accepted, - great coming of age story or not. Disappointing in what was otherwise a good story.
Three stars for the coming of age story that really can't be beat.
Three stars for the coming of age story that really can't be beat.
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October 20, 2025Literally after he tortured those cats it was all over for me but I kept reading so that my money wouldn’t be wasted. My $$$ was still wasted tho lol my gut feeling was right.
Ugh. Such a disappointment.
Justice for June. The rest of them can choke 🖤
Ugh. Such a disappointment.
Justice for June. The rest of them can choke 🖤
September 8, 2020
After finishing the last page of "August" by Callan Wink and thinking "what the hell did I just read," I realized that the author had succeeded on his own terms - towards the end of the novel, the title character theorizes that "most of what people call living is trying to figure out what the hell happened to you." Mr. Wink illustrates this theory by creating a hero with one of the dimmest inner lives in the history of American literature, kind of like Richard Wright's Bigger Thomas or someone out of a Comac McCarthy bloodbath. I half-expected young August to start killing people. (Does he? I'm not going to tell you.) But I liked this book because I know that people like August exist, and because Mr. Wink has captured one of the defining experiences of being a young man, which is listening to old men tell boring stories. (Seriously, there are conversations about the weather in this book that sound overheard. Is that a good or a bad thing? It's a thing.) I'm also sensing some deeper philosophical issues at work in "August," especially in the way the title character's pragmatism is juxtaposed with everyone else's abstracted concerns about, say, revenge (the fence-ripping rancher) or redemption (August's mother, who speaks in meaningless homilies and is always on a self-improvement kick). Not exactly a thriller, but I think that's the exact opposite of its intent.
December 15, 2025
Callan can write beautifully i can give him credit for that. The imagery let's you be through the mountains and around nature. Alas I didn't connect to the story or the book. August was a character that just never evolved for me or showed a level of growth you would expect to see when he is an anti hero. I understand, yet don't think it was necessary to have the rape scene, especially if its not implored in a fitting way. It is such a serious thing that gets pushed to the side in the way it was written I almost missed it. I really struggled to finish it.
April 14, 2023
Hard to put my finger on this one. Overall I enjoyed it. Wink writes convincing and realistic characters, and the rural lifestyle stuff is a joy to read. But a few moments of extreme violence (the cats and gangrape in particular) leave a bad taste in the mouth. The story does recover from these moments but I still think they felt unnecessary. Nevertheless, the whole package was a really well put together coming-of-age story.
April 2, 2022
why am I rating everything 3(,5) stars these days? maybe I lost my taste bc of covid? personally I think it might’ve been the amount of farming, drunk driving, and lack of NICE people (yeah I think THATS the problem actually). anyway I don’t have many strong feelings about this, but it was nice
January 12, 2025
Excellent . Reminds me of Wallace Stegner relic. Stoic, austere and so very Montana. This writer so young has an auspicious future with words like this.
April 8, 2025
The writing is really beautiful, and even though the plot kind of meandered, the characters (other than June, which knocks this rating down a star) had so much depth that I couldn’t stop reading. Looking forward to reading Wink’s short fiction.
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