At an unspecified time in the near future, the world has enjoyed decades of peace and prosperity thanks to the worldwide dissemination of an anti-violence vaccine that was invented by a ruthless industrialist named Nolebody. When scientists discover that the vaccine has a half-life—and that this half-life is about to be reached—the administration is not prepared to keep order, since the military has been disbanded and no one knows how to operate the obsolete weaponry. In a cynical plot to restore stability, the government's leaders resolve to award the nation’s highest honor, the Nolebody Award to a reclusive desert hermit named Leonard Bentwood who lives in a shack in the desert and fashions sculptures from feathers, dead lizards, and other found objects and who is utterly unaware of the fact that he is one of the most renown figures in the world. The unwitting Bentwood travels to the capital to accept the award, triggering a totally unexpected sequence of events. In a staggering example of the power of unintended consequences, his acceptance speech triggers a revolution that sweeps the government from power. This wise and thoughtful fable entertains as it lampoons governments of every stripe.
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Editorial Reviews
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"[A] quirky variation on the every-popular dystopian tune." —Booklist
"Call it a libertarian, Western guy's nightmare. James Gaitis' dystopia is a post-testosterone, government-looks-after-you world . . . Gaitis, who lives in (and clearly appreciates) the Sonoran Desert, waxes lyrical when he re-creates this natural setting. Nature provides life lessons that society has failed, and nature could prove its savior in the end." —Tuscon Weekly
"It is obvious that James Gaitis knows intimately the landscapes he creates, and such a connection allows his writing to wrap readers into scenes full of depth and color and light. Moments such as these are what readers will cling to long after they've turned this book's final page." —New West
About the Author
James Gaitis is a writer, a nationally recognized arbitrator, and a former editor of the Iowa Law Review. He is the author of A Stout Cord and A Good Drop and a coauthor of The College of Commercial Arbitrators Guide to Best Practices in Commercial Arbitration. He was awarded a lifetime membership by The Nature Conservancy in honor of his conservation efforts to preserve the North Fork of the Flathead River in 2000. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.
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James Gaitis was born in Chicago, Illinois. He obtained a BA in English Lit. from the University of Notre Dame and a JD from the University of Iowa College of Law where he was an editor of the Iowa Law Review. After graduating from law school he moved west where, with the exception of a stint in Scotland where he taught international arbitration at the postgraduate level at CEPMLP, University of Dundee, he expects to remain for the remainder of his life.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Highest Honor" is Highly Entertaining,
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This review is from: The Nation's Highest Honor: A Novel (Hardcover)
Conspiracy theorists are going to lament they've been caught with their Kevlar underwear down after they inhale satirist James Gaitis's new novel, "The Nation's Highest Honor." Because "Highest Honor" entertains by spotlighting the dangers of what happens when the most diabolical conspiracies are allowed to flourish
The beautifully written book examines the upheaval that results after a pharmacologically listless America begins to awaken from its collective stupor. The future has become the dreamland of many over-stressed parents who never worry about the effects of over-medicating their precocious kiddies. There are no fights. No wars. No dissent. No worries. It's all good. Mother's Little Helper comes in the form of the Nolebody Vaccine named after "benign" philanthropist Philip Nolebody, an Alfred Nobel sort with more sinister motivations. Nolebody discovered a way to inoculate the world against domestic and international violence. The government-dispersed vaccine is introduced through the air we breath and the water we drink. As the machines of war fall dormant, the consequences of man's newfound docility began cascading through society that allows itself to acquiesce to the numbness. "Wildlife populations exploded and the consumption of meat and fish came to an abrupt end, requiring entirely new management philosophies regarding public and private land," Gaitis writes. "Industry shrank. Incomes fell. Birth rates climbed. Consumption increased modestly in some ways and decreased dramatically in others. Health habits changed. Some for the better and some for the worse. Some arts and sciences flourished and other came to an abrupt and seemingly irreversible end. Sport took on a new meaning as did everything else. All of human behavior changed in the span of a dozen years." That included, according to elected leaders, the instinctual American drive for further elections that might end their reign. The utopia is disrupted, however, when the President learns the vaccine's effectiveness is about to expire en masse. Human nature in all its gory glory is about to reassert itself. The news will topple the static status quo with results that are likely to be bloody. Enter Leonard Bentwood. President tabs the beloved artist with a gift for savant inspiration to receive the prestigious Nolebody Award. Why Bentwood? In an age when controversy and passion is depleted, the feeble-minded Brentwood has become revered for his elegant simplicity the way Chancey Gardner was in Jerzy Kosinski's "Being There." The government figures it can use Bentwood's popularity to control the masses. They figure wrong. Bentwood's journey from a lavishly portrayed Sonoran homestead to a center of power controlled by "Unarmed Services" and the resulting chaos shows the power of one individual and that the most pervasive conspiracies are at risk when the spark of human nature is allowed to kindle. This is fine satire by a master storyteller.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Nation's Highest Honor,
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This review is from: The Nation's Highest Honor: A Novel (Hardcover)
The Nation's Highest Honor written by Jim Gaitis is an excellent book. Poetic and memorable, reminded me of Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.
Glory Weathers
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shades of Vonnegut,
By Ms. Kitty (Arizona) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Nation's Highest Honor: A Novel (Hardcover)
James Gaitis' The Nation's Highest Honor is a beautifully written piece of literature that will provide welcome relief for those readers who fear that literary satire died with the passing of Kurt Vonnegut. In addition, this remarkable novel, which tells the story of a desert hermit who has been chosen (for reasons not revealed until the end of the book) to receive the nation's highest honor at a time of global turmoil, will bring a smile to the face of those who treasure the naturalist and combative writings of Edward Abbey. For in many ways, The Nation's Highest Honor may fairly be compared to Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang and Desert Solitaire and to Vonnegut's greatest works.
Gaitis' biography reflects a long history, both as a student and as a professional wearing many hats, working with the English language. His descriptive powers in portraying desert and mountain scenes are rivaled by his ability to convey a sense of the oppressive nature of cultural decay and governmental overreaching, albeit with a wry sense of humor and a charming ability to tease the reader with hidden and contradictory linguistic meanings. He accomplishes his purposes mainly through his protagonist, Leonard Bentwood--an elderly and rather forgetful desert hermit who has not the slightest idea that he is one of the most famous people in the world--and via a diverse cast of supporting characters whose flaws remind us of how absurdly silly and profoundly disturbing the human race can be. The Nation's Highest Honor is a "must read" book for those who enjoy the works of such literary satirists as Heller, Golding, and Twain and for lovers of great nature writers such as Leopold, Mowat, and Lopez.
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