dual personalities

The week flew by and I have nothing much to show for it, having left the house hardly at all.  I did read an excellent book, Fall Back Down When I Die by Joe Wilkins, a writer and poet from Montana.

Wendell Newman, the main character, is a young Montana ranch hand who lives in a trailer on his family’s property. He is burdened by debts, among them his late mother’s medical bills and the unpaid mortgage on the land that has been in his family for generations. When, out of the blue, he receives custody of his jailed cousin’s traumatized young son, he does his best to care for the boy. Under Wendell’s low key care, Rowdy slowly begins to come out of his shell, but the family’s past and local political conflicts intrude on the pair, with dire results.

Picture of Bull Mountain Ranch, Montana from Google Image

The novel addresses political divisions and attendant personal grudges with refreshing subtlety, sensitivity and openness. There are no one-dimensional villains here — just imperfect people who sometimes let their emotions take the place of reason and then make bad decisions that have unintended consequences.  Fall Back Down When I Die is a beautifully written, thoughtful, character driven reminder to consider other people’s points of view before imposing our own, and that we should not kill (literally or metaphorically) just because we imagine a threat.

These brief comments do not do this wonderful book justice. You’ll just have to read it!

*from the film Wind River (a movie that, although darker, would pair well with this book)