Return to Oakpine
Book: Hardcover | 9.25 x 6.25in | 272 pages | ISBN 9780670025077 | 11 Jul 2013 | Viking Adult
Book Description:
From a widely admired author, a poignant novel about
homecoming, friendship, growing up, and growing old for fans of Richard
Ford and Richard Russo
In this finely wrought portrait of western American life, Ron Carlson takes us to the small town of Oakpine, Wyoming, and into the lives of four men trying to make peace with who they are in the world.
In high school, these men were in a band. One of them, Jimmy, left Oakpine for New York City after the tragic death of his brother. A successful novelist, he has returned thirty years later, in 1999—because he is dying.
With Carlson’s characteristic grace, we learn what has become of these friends and the different directions of their lives. Craig and Frank never left; Mason, a top lawyer in Denver, is back in town to fix up and sell his parents’ house. Now that they are reunited, getting the band back together might be the most important thing they can do.
Return to Oakpine is a generous, tender look at friendship, family, and the roads not taken, by a writer at the peak of his craft.
Idgie Says:
This is a nice "turn around story" - instead of woman of a certain age coming together as friends, sharing memories, dealing with hardship together and finding common ground.... it's instead a group of men. Small town USA from a man's viewpoint.
The men in this story, who were all high school pals, come back together when one returns to town in order to die at home. The friends gather, sharing memories and making new ones in a nicely written male bonding story.
In this finely wrought portrait of western American life, Ron Carlson takes us to the small town of Oakpine, Wyoming, and into the lives of four men trying to make peace with who they are in the world.
In high school, these men were in a band. One of them, Jimmy, left Oakpine for New York City after the tragic death of his brother. A successful novelist, he has returned thirty years later, in 1999—because he is dying.
With Carlson’s characteristic grace, we learn what has become of these friends and the different directions of their lives. Craig and Frank never left; Mason, a top lawyer in Denver, is back in town to fix up and sell his parents’ house. Now that they are reunited, getting the band back together might be the most important thing they can do.
Return to Oakpine is a generous, tender look at friendship, family, and the roads not taken, by a writer at the peak of his craft.
Idgie Says:
This is a nice "turn around story" - instead of woman of a certain age coming together as friends, sharing memories, dealing with hardship together and finding common ground.... it's instead a group of men. Small town USA from a man's viewpoint.
The men in this story, who were all high school pals, come back together when one returns to town in order to die at home. The friends gather, sharing memories and making new ones in a nicely written male bonding story.