“A fast-moving story about small town life with characters that seem to have walked off the pages of Edgar Lee Masters’s Spoon River Anthology.”—The Wall Street Journal
The few hundred souls who inhabit Words, Wisconsin, are an extraordinary cast of characters. The middle-aged couple who zealously guards their farm from a scheming milk cooperative. The lifelong invalid, crippled by conflicting emotions about her sister. A cantankerous retiree, haunted by childhood memories after discovering a cougar in his haymow. The former drifter who forever alters the ties that bind a community. In his first novel in 30 years, David Rhodes offers a vivid and unforgettable look at life in small-town America.
“[Rhodes’s] finest work yet . . . Driftless is the best work of fiction to come out of the Midwest in many years.”—Chicago Tribune
“Set in a rural Wisconsin town, the book presents a series of portraits that resemble Edgar Lee Masters’s ‘Spoon River Anthology’ in their vividness and in the cumulative picture they create of village life.”—The New Yorker
“Encompassing and incisive, comedic and profound, Driftless is a radiant novel of community and courage.”—Booklist (starred review)
“A welcome antidote to overheated urban fiction . . . A quiet novel of depth and simplicity.”—Kirkus Reviews
“It takes a while for all these stories to kick in, but once they do, Rhodes shows he still knows how to keep readers riveted. Add a blizzard, a marauding cougar and some rabble-rousing militiamen, and the result is a novel that is as affecting as it is pleasantly overstuffed.”—Publishers Weekly
Industry Reviews
Accolades for "Driftless" Outstanding Achievement Award, Wisconsin Library Association's Literary Award CommitteeCalifornia Literary Review Best Book"Booklist" starred review and Editor's ChoiceUniversity of Wisconsin-Whitewater Chancellor's Regional Literary AwardAll Iowa Reads selection, State Library of Iowa's Center for the BookMidwestern Independent Booksellers Association (MIBA) Honor Award"Christian Science Monitor "top ten books of the year "Now, after what had to have been years of effort beyond the usual struggle of trying to make a good novel, we get [Rhodes's] fourth, and, I have to shout it out, finest book yet. "Driftless" is the best work of fiction to come out of the Midwest in many years.""--Chicago Tribune" "A profound and enduring paean to rural America. Radiant in its prose and deep in its quiet understanding of human needs.""--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" ""Driftless" is a fast-moving story about small town life with characters that seem to have walked off the pages of Edgar Lee Masters's 'Spoon River Anthology.'""--Wall Street Journal" "Comprised of a large number of short chapters, the novel opens with a prologue reminiscent of Steinbeck's beautiful tribute to the Salinas Valley in the opening of "East of Eden," with a little touch of Michener's prologue to his novel "Hawaii." The book moves at a stately pace as it offers deep philosophy and meditative asides about life in Words, Wisconsin, in the Driftless zone, which is to say, about life on earth.""--NPR, "All Things Considered"" "Few books have the power to transport the way "Driftless" does, and it's Rhodes' eye for detail that we have to thank for it.""--Time Out Chicago" "A wry and generous book. "Driftless" shares a rhythm with the farming community it documents, and its reflective pace is well-suited to characters who are far more comfortable with hard work than words.""--Christian Science Mon
