Executive Summary: Landon Cassidy is a young writer coming off the height of recent fame and fortune. He is unable to write something that inspires him. His publisher drops him, and he spends years working on a horse ranch with a multi-Pulitzer prize winning author.
Star Rating: Gave this story a four on Goodreads, because you can’t give half stars. This came in at 3.5 stars for me, maybe even a solid 3. The story was very interesting, but the prose was too “purple” for my tastes throughout. There were many moments when I set down the book, searched a word, and learned that it’s most common usage was over 100 years ago. Clearly, the author has an appreciation for Cormac McCarthy. Yet, this text needed a healthy third set of eyes on it during the copy-editing process, I think.
Content Rating: At most I would give this a PG-13. In a world rife with smut, this was very closed doors. Might assign some demerits for describing a woman’s thigh as either “milky” or “creamy” but there’s no direct description of sex. There’s curse words throughout, but nothing too egregious. Alcohol use and abuse is prevalent, though, so be aware. Also there are some grisly descriptions of character deaths.
Review: The author reached out to me on GoodReads directly, which, before this happened, I was not aware was possible. If I did not have such a hate-hate relationship with red notification bubbles, I might not have ever met the author and gotten this e-arc. I won’t spoil any plot points, so, sally forth, dear reader!
Landon Cassidy was such an interesting protagonist. Frankly, I did not care about him until about halfway through the text. He gave really strong, overgrown Holden Caulfield energy. However, unlike Holden’s sex fixation, Landon is obsessed with writing the next great American novel. When faced with financial ruin due to losing his publishing contract, he sets off on a journey through Tennessee in his truck trying to find the words to write.
This is when he meets Harrison Granger, an owner of a horse farm in…Maryland? West Virginia? Virginia?
Okay, I looked it up. Maryland.
Landon, while learning how to wrangle horses, learns how to wrangle his own tumultuous interior voice. While this novel is a love letter to writing as an art form, it is also a love letter to the power—and necessity—of loving community.
Landon could not find himself without sacrificing of himself. He begins the novel as a downright unlikable artsy type. He is Angst Incarnate. When he is given a chance to work with his hands and look outward from his journals, the reader has an opportunity to connect with the man that he actually is. That, for me, was the real treat in reading this story.
I also really desire to read more McCarthy, as the author clearly admires his prose. Harrison Granger is, at least in my opinion, a clear insert for the literary icon. Harrison was my favorite character in this piece, certainly. So, therefore, expect to see a review of some McCarthy text soon.
Although Alves’ prose pulled me from the narrative throughout the story, he managed to craft together a story that has remained with me months after finishing the story. It is a short read, but the brevity served to emphasize the sections of prose that seemed out of place in such a down-to-earth narrative.