It's a place like hundreds of others, nothing special, really. And now they are men, coming into their own or struggling to do so. One of them never left, still working the family farm that has been tilled for generations. But others felt the need to move on, with varying degrees of success. One trades commodities, another took to the rodeo circuit, and one of them even hit it big as a rock star.
And then there's Beth, a woman who has meant something special in each of their lives. Now all four are brought together for a wedding. Little Wing seems even smaller than before.
There will be heartbreak, but there will also be hope, healing, even heroism as these memorable people learn the true meaning of adult friendship and love. Seldom has the American heartland been so richly and accurately portrayed. Though the town may have changed, the one thing that hasn't is the beauty of the Wisconsin farmland, the lure of which, in Nickolas Butler's hands, emerges as a vibrant character in the story.
Shotgun Lovesongs is that rare work of fiction that evokes a specific time and place yet movingly describes the universal human condition. A love letter to the open lonely American heartlandโฆA must-read. Those songs that indelibly mark the milestones in our lives? Songs that stir up our deepest feelings and remind us of who we are. Nickolas Butler's Shotgun Lovesongs is one of those novels. That was me, within four pages of the beginning of Shotgun Lovesongs. A book that makes you want to call old friends.
A writer who makes you feel more human than you thought possible. And it's absolutely beautiful. Read Shotgun Lovesongs with caution--these guys will stay with you for a while. Full of heart, full of compassion, full of characters who have you rooting for them from the very first page. Nickolas Butler was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and educated at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Iowa Writer's Workshop.
