A Good Day to Die (Paperback)

by Jim Harrison (Author) "DOUBLE-ANCHORED off Cudjoe Key: barely dawn and she's still asleep but I was awakened by water birds..." (more)
Key Phrases: Grand Canyon, Key West, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Their plans were conceived in a drunken excitement and resulted in more horror than any of them could have imagined.  There was the poet able to retreat into beatific reveries of superb fishing in cold, fast streams; the Vietnam vet consumed by uppers, downers and violence; and the girl who loved only one of them -- at first.  With their ideals ostensibly in order, they set out from Florida to save the Grand Canyon from a dam they believed was being built.  Along with the tapedeck for the car, the liquor and the drugs, there was also a case of dynamite.

From the Publisher
Their plans were conceived in a drunken excitement and resulted in more horror than any of them could have imagined. There was the poet able to retreat into beatific reveries of superb fishing in cold, fast streams; the Vietnam vet consumed by uppers, downers and violence; and the girl who loved only one of them -- at first. With their ideals ostensibly in order, they set out from Florida to save the Grand Canyon from a dam they believed was being built. Along with the tapedeck for the car, the liquor and the drugs, there was also a case of dynamite.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Delta; Later printing edition (July 15, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385283431
• ISBN-13: 978-0385283434
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #388,941 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that ruined my life, July 25, 1999

By	Darryl Riser (El Dorado, AR USA) - See all my reviews

This is an incredible book that drove me into a writing career. Jim Harrison has the rare ability to write about people, not heroes or monsters. You leave this book feeling the story may be exaggerated, but that these people were real. Stumbling upon this book in high school opened my eyes to the joys of character-driven stories. It's a bad road trip, but one you'll be glad you took.

16 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great introduction to Harrison., December 3, 1997

By A Customer

If you have never read Harrison, this is a great place to start. An entertaining read and fine introduction to the humor, wit, and insight of one of our most engaging authors. You'll hear Harrison's voice for weeks after finishing this book. And you'll want to read more.

3 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love and death in the West, October 13, 2005

By	Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is Jim Harrison's second novel, and a big improvement over his first (WOLF). The narrator, a drifter still married after six years but no longer living with his wife, encounters Tim (a Vietnam vet with a mean streak and strung out on drugs and booze most of the time) and his girlfriend Sylvia. The narrator becomes obsessed with Sylvia, though she keeps him at a distance out of mixed up loyalty to Tim (though he doesn't love or want her anymore, and she knows it).

They concoct a plan to blow up a dam in the West, and the novel traces their actions in fulfilling this plan while contrasting the unrequited love interest the narrator has for Sylvia. Both plans are basically a disaster (Tim blows himself up along with the dam), and that's the irony in the story.

Harrison makes these not very appealing characters interesting and worth watching as they proceed down their self-made road of doom. (That's where he failed in his first novel.) The narrative moves along to its conclusion powerfully, and we get swept up in it effortlessly. Harrison has great narrative skill; portraying these particular self-destructive anti-heroes locks the book into a specific time frame, however, that I hope he breaks out of in the future.