Synopses & Reviews
A superb collection of stories his first in twenty years from one of our most acclaimed literary figures, whom the
New York Times Book Review has called "a writer of the first magnitude."
Place exerts the power of destiny in these ten stories of lives uncannily recognizable and unforgettably strange: a boy makes a surprising discovery skating at night on Lake Michigan; an Irish clan in Massachusetts gather at the bedside of their dying matriarch; a battered survivor of the glory days of Key West washes up on other shores. Several of the stories unfold in Big Sky country, McGuane's signature landscape: a father tries to buy his adult son out of virginity; a convict turned cowhand finds refuge at a ranch in ruination; a couple makes a fateful drive through the perilous gorge of the title story before parting ways. McGuane's people are seekers, beguiled by the land's beauty and myth, compelled by the fantasy of what a locale can offer, forced to reconcile dream and truth.
The stories of Gallatin Canyon are alternately comical, dark, and poignant. Rich in the wit, compassion, and matchless language for which McGuane is celebrated, they are the work of a master.
Review
"McGuane...is prized for his uncanny knack for uniting flinty humor...with classic landscape-inspired American lyricism, and he writes with particular intensity in these initially measured, then increasingly feverish, tales..." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"McGuane fully lives up to the Hemingwayesque tag that is often attached to his name....Highly recommended." Library Journal
Review
"[Q]uintessential McGuane." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"About half the stories in the collection...are excellent and half are decidedly mediocre....[C]ontains enough gems to satisfy the author's many fans and perhaps win over a few new ones." Houston Chronicle
Review
"What keeps these stories from becoming depressing and unbearably painful is the sublime indifference of life..." Los Angeles Times
Review
"[T]here are wisdom, humor and a wry resignation in McGuane's collection that will touch a nerve in most of his readers." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Review
"Gallatin Canyon showcases McGuane's considerable talent for finding humor in awful situations." Miami Herald
Review
"McGuane has been dubbed a 'writer's writer' and these stories show why: With perfect pitch and impressive technical skill, he presents a darkly comic vision of American men..." Providence Journal
Review
"[E]normously satisfying....The tone is wry, strange, occasionally macabre, the prose clean and witty. McGuane is, of course, an enormously experienced writer, and it shows in confident, perfectly calibrated, almost slim stories in which not a word is out of place." Anna Godbersen, Esquire (read the entire Esquire review)
Synopsis
From the acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts--the stories of Gallatin Canyon are rich in the wit, compassion, and matchless language for which Thomas McGuane is celebrated. Set mostly in famed Big Sky Country, McGuane brings us an astonishing (The New York Times Book Review) collection in which place exerts the power of destiny. A boy makes a surprising discovery skating at night on Lake Michigan; an Irish clan in Massachusetts gather around their dying matriarch; a battered survivor of the glory days of Key West washes up on other shores. Several of the stories unfold in Big Sky country: a father tries to buy his adult son's way out of virginity; a convict turns cowhand on a ranch; a couple makes a fateful drive through a perilous gorge. McGuane's people are seekers, beguiled by the land's beauty and myth, compelled by the fantasy of what a locale can offer, forced to reconcile dream and truth.
About the Author
Thomas McGuane lives on a ranch in McLeod, Montana. He is the author of nine novels, three works of nonfiction, and one previous collection of stories.