The Big Why: A Novel [Hardcover]

Michael Winter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 24, 2006

Michael Winter's powerful new novel, The Big Why, brilliantly fictionalizes a pivotal year in the life of celebrated American artist Rockwell Kent. In 1914, at the age of thirty, Kent decides to escape the superficial world of New York City and move to Brigus, Newfoundland, with his wife and three children to follow a few months later. A socialist and a philanderer, certain in the greatness of his work, he is drawn north by a fascination for the rocky Atlantic coast and by the example of Brigus's other well-known resident, fabled Arctic explorer Robert Bartlett. But once in Newfoundland, Kent discovers that notoriety is even easier to achieve in a small town than in New York. As events come to a head both internationally and domestically and the war begins, Kent becomes a polarizing figure in this intimate, impoverished community, where everyone knows everyone and any outsider is suspect, possibly even a German spy. Writing in Kent's voice, Michael Winter delivers a passionate, witty, and cerebral exploration of what makes exceptional individuals who they are--and why.

Shortlisted for the Trillium Award

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This odd bird of a lucidly written biographical novel about 20th-century American painter Rockwell Kent is not about art. Other than the titles of a few paintings, and the studio where he retreats to escape his family and the world, there is little discussion of Kent's work. Instead, this is the story of Kent and his family's sojourn in Brigus, Newfoundland, where they flee the inquiring eyes of New York for some rural peace. But rather than affording privacy, the small town greets him first with fascination, then scorn, and then, with the arrival of WWI—and the socialist painter's lack of patriotic zeal—unfounded fear. Winter expertly outlines his protagonist's psychological nuances, but offers minimal indication of what Kent's art means to him or the role it plays in his life. The author (Creaking in Their Skins) is on steadier ground with dialogue, which is uniformly trenchant and humorous. Kent's discussions with his friend and mentor, Gerald, take on the glow of a modern Socratic dialogue or an intellectual improv routine, and Kent's wife, Kathleen, comes vividly to life. Winter gives us a flesh-and-blood Rockwell Kent the man, but does not do the same for Kent the artist. (Jan.)
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From The New Yorker

Winter's spartan novel re-creates an episode in the life of the American artist Rockwell Kent, who, in 1914, left New York City for Brigus, Newfoundland, a bleak hamlet populated by fishermen, seal hunters, and an Arctic explorer. Kent, known in Manhattan as much for his temper and his philandering as for his woodcuts, wanted to lie low, and spent the winter hunkered down in a pup tent on the second floor of a freezing borrowed house. Before long, Kent began to attract suspicion as a possible German spy. (Among other things, he professed a love of German music and wrote "Bomb Shop" in Gothic letters on his studio door.) The next year, he was deported. Winter, who grew up in Newfoundland, creates a frugal voice for Kent's conversations with himself—ornery, reflective, intimate, lewd—and in doing so constructs an indelible portrait of the artist as outsider.
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (January 24, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596910259
• ISBN-13: 978-1596910256
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,339,122 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Big Book about big characters and a Big Rock, March 10, 2006

By 

The Remster "RC" (Quebec, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Why: A Novel (Hardcover)

A smashing, fantastically written book about the painter Rockwell Kent, drawn very convincingly in Michael Winter's spare, elegant prose. This writer has a great eye for detail, and he creates an extremely vibrant portrait of Newfoundland in the early 20th Century, and the way Kent's provocative presence shakes the place - and him. Everything about it feels just about right.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, wonderful voice!, June 23, 2009

By 

Lauren B. Davis (Princeton, New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Why: A Novel (Hardcover)

I will leave the summaries to others - and say simply: What a wonderful book! Not only is his depiction of Brigus, Newfoundland delightfully evocative and as colorful as it deserves, but Michael Winter's voice is like no other. In my opinion it's hard as hell to properly depict Newfoundland -- to balance the beauty, the humor, the hardscrabble life, the dangers of living off the North Atlantic sea and the strength, resourcefulness, and pain of its people. Winter makes it look easy. His originality and ability to dig deep into his characters' motivations (as well as their blind spots) is inspiring. If, like me, you agree with Chekhov that the job of the writer is not to provide answers, but to properly frame the question, then this book will delight you, for Winter has pulled it off flawlessly. And did I mention he's funny as hell? Well done, boy!

5.0 out of 5 stars insightful and thorough, May 16, 2009

By 

Oranges - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Big Why: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is a great book. The book is about a man and his struggle with his faults. The characters in this book are amazingly developed. I felt that i understood the characters and their decisions. The plot of the story went along amazingly with the development of and between the characters. Winter wrote this book so well. This is a book that I will reread.

PS The book is based on Rockwell Kent's life, but that doesn't limit the book. The book's main idea explores Rockwell Kent as a man, beyond his career.

PPS If you read this book and are interested in Bob Bartlett, there is another wonderful historical novel, The Ice Master( Don't judge a book by its title), by Jennifer Niven. It's a great book.