Gallatin Canyon: Stories (Hardcover)

by Thomas McGuane (Author)
Key Phrases: old sumbitch, Key West, The Refugee, Miracle Boy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
McGuane returns to the territories of his novels (Some Horses, etc.) in this collection of stories set in Montana, Michigan and Florida. Most of the characters are older, divorced and still looking for attachment but without much hope of love. They are alcoholics (in "Vicious Circle" and "The Refugee"), junkies ("Northcoast"), low-grade ex-cons ("The Cowboy"), embezzlers ("Old Friends"), disconnected fathers ("The Zombie" and "Aliens") and lackluster ordinary men. In the title story, an unnamed smalltimer sets out on a business trip down the winding Gallatin Canyon, Mont., road with his girlfriend, Louise. He conducts his business dealings with phony bluster and indecision, humiliating himself in the eyes of this woman he hopes to marry; things get worse from there. Any attempts these characters make to draw happiness back into their lives backfires clumsily, pushing it further from their grasp. McGuane's sentences still have a playful quality, but the prevailing dreariness ("I wish I could feel something," exclaims Louise) is something other than inspiring. (July 11)
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From Bookmarks Magazine
Thomas McGuane has been praised for his remarkable writing style, emotional depth, and close observations about the American West. This collection, full of edgy wit, irony, and bleak characters, received the same acclaim as his previous works, but critics agree that some stories are better than others. "Miracle Boy" and "The Refugee" are complex and compelling, while "The Zombie" feels like filler. In fact, though reviewers agree that McGuane deserves a wider readership, this collection might not touch a nerve with everyone. "He's thought of as a writer of manly-man reticence in the school of Hemingway," notes the New York Times Book Review, "beautified with dashes of Big Sky coloring" and masculine themes.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 2nd printing edition (July 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400041562
• ISBN-13: 978-1400041565
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #493,998 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Tom McGuane's Gallatin Canyon, July 27, 2006

By	Dave Trembley "sprcreek" (Lake Superior, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the best book McGuane has written in twenty years. The storylines wind through untrod mental terrain even though the landscapes may seem familiar. The writing is elevated to a point that the reader immediately understands that a master craftsman is at work, and not just a storyteller. The closest comparison that comes to mind is Cormac McCarthy, both in style and context (stories about outdoor men hooked on the view yet stranded without love.) And yet, that is not quite fair either because the flavour is distinctly McGuane, rich in verbal wit, and many perceptive insights into the characters he created.
For a long time, I thought all of McGuane's novels could have been called "Something To Be Desired": books about characters who understand that fulfillment is responsibility that comes from desire. This gave his earlier works a kind of Bellow quality. In some respects McGuane never really moved away from this, but his work fell down at times when he tried to vary from what he did best. This new collection of stories, however, hits the nail on the head. The stories are saturated with humour and wisdom-a teenager becomes the family's "miracle boy" when he allegedly revives his grandmother from impending death, a college friend in trouble with the law shows up in Montana looking for help that doesn't quite come, a spiteful daughter ruins her father's failing chances of companionship in his later years, a sailor visits a soothsayer hoping to make sense of a tragedy years before, and so on. McGuane's writing has become more suited to a shorter focus- "Some Horses","The Longest Silence" and perhaps he should stick with it. The result here is highly palatable, a tribute almost to the locales of his earlier stuff without being a photo album. McGuane has this time paid it forward.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Gem, July 19, 2006

By	Mike - See all my reviews

Whether you appreciate McGuane's nonfiction stories such as "Some Horses" or "The Longest Silence" or prefer his vivid storytelling found in his fiction classics like "Ninety Two in the Shade" or "The Bushwhacked Piano" - you'll find "Gallatin Canyon" a captivating and entertaining read. McGuane's reflections on the American West, provide insight into this often misunderstood culture and landscape and challenge the reader to explore the human relation to their environment and circumstance. The selected stories of Gallatin Canyon, provide a myriad of views on modern western culture, and are worth every penny paid. Highly recommended.

22 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PURE McGUANE - PURE PLEASURE, July 15, 2006

By	Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Thomas McGuane (The Cadence of Grass, The Longest Silence) is recognized as one of America's preeminent literary figures. "A writer of the first magnitude" said the New York Times Review of Books. The reason for this praise is evident in Galatin Canyon, his first collection of stories in some time.

The ten tales included in this volume all showcase McGuane's impeccable prose, his dazzling use of imagery, and his insight into the human condition.

With "Ice" a boy who delivers newspapers for what is probably the Detroit News discovers who he can be one evening as he skates alone on frozen
Lake Ontario. He has suffered from a number of fears but on this particular night we read his thoughts: "I believed that if I let coming darkness turn me back, would never be any good and the fog of cowardice would forever envelop me."

The title story introduces an unnamed businessman and his girlfriend, Louise. He is hoping to close a deal on a small car dealership he owns. She is a comely woman whom he wants to marry, while at the same time he fears losing her. In order to close the sale the pair must go to Idaho. Further, it's going to be a bit tricky as he's received a better offer for the dealership and , according to his attorney, he can only sell for the best offer if the original buyer, Rigby, backs out. Therefore, his plan is to antagonize Rigby, anger him so that he does welch on the agreement.

They're driving by way of the Gallatin Canyon, although he doesn't wish to do so, saying the route is too narrow and there are too many trucks. Their journey reveals their relationship.

Pure McGuane - pure reading pleasure.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke