Book Review: Jess Walter's 'So Far Gone' sets a redemption story in fractured, modern America
When the history of the United States in 2025 is written, perhaps one of the best things that will be said is: 'Well, it made for some great art.'
Consider 'So Far Gone,' the new novel by Jess Walter. Set in present day America, it opens with two kids wearing backpacks knocking on a cabin door. 'What are you fine young capitalists selling?' asks Rhys Kinnick, before realizing the kids are his grandchildren. They carry with them a note from Kinnick's daughter, describing dad as a 'recluse who cut off contact with our family and now lives in squalor in a cabin north of Spokane.'
It's a great hook that draws you in and doesn't really let up for the next 256 pages. We learn why Kinnick pulled a Thoreau and went to the woods seven years ago (Hint: It has a lot to do with the intolerance exhibited by no small percentage of Americans and embodied by a certain occupant of the White House), as well as the whereabouts of Kinnick's daughter, Bethany, and why her messy marriage to a guy named Shane led to Kinnick's grandchildren being dropped off at his cabin.
In a neat narrative gimmick, the chapters are entitled 'What Happened to ___' and fill in the main strokes of each character's backstory, as well as what happens to them in the present timeline. Told with an omniscient third-person sense of humor, the book's themes are nonetheless serious. On the demise of journalism in the chapter 'What Happened to Lucy,' one of Kinnick's old flames and colleagues at the Spokesman-Review: She 'hated that reporters were expected to constantly post on social media… before knowing what their stories even meant.' Or Kinnick's thoughts as he holds a .22 Glock given to him just in case by a retired police officer who is helping him get his grandkids back from the local militia: 'The shiver that went through his arm! The power!… The weight of this gun was the exact weight of his anger and his fear and his sense of displacement… That's where its incredible balance lay.'
As Kinnick links up with various characters and drives across the Northwest in search of his daughter and grandchildren, the plot unfolds quickly. Most readers won't need more than a day or two to reach the final page, which satisfies the Thoreau quote Walter uses in the story's preface: 'Not till we are lost… 'till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves.'
Weekly
A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene.
___
AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
The world's oldest restaurant faces a challenge from another Madrid tavern that says its even older
MADRID (AP) — In the heart of Spain's capital, Sobrino de Botín holds a coveted Guinness World Record as the world's oldest restaurant. Exactly three hundred years after it opened its doors, Botín welcomes droves of daily visitors hungry for Castilian fare with a side of history. But on the outskirts of Madrid, far from the souvenir shops and tourist sites, a rustic tavern named Casa Pedro makes a bold claim. Its owners assert the establishment endured not just the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s and the Napoleonic invasion in the early 1800s, but even the War of Spanish Succession at the start of the 18th century — a lineage that would make Casa Pedro older than Botín and a strong contender for the title. 'It's really frustrating when you say, 'Yes, we've been around since 1702,' but … you can't prove it,' said manager and eighth-generation proprietor Irene Guiñales. 'If you look at the restaurant's logo, it says 'Casa Pedro, since 1702,' so we said, 'Damn it, let's try to prove it.'' Guiñales, 51, remembers her grandfather swearing by Casa Pedro's age, but she was aware that decades-old hearsay from a proud old-timer wouldn't be enough to prove it. Her family hired a historian and has so far turned up documents dating the restaurant's operations to at least 1750. That puts them within striking distance of Botín's record. Clients and rivals Both taverns are family-owned. Both offer Castilian classics like stewed tripe and roast suckling pig. They are decorated with charming Spanish tiles, feature ceilings with exposed wooden beams and underground wine cellars. And both enjoy a rich, star-studded history. Botín's celebrated past includes a roster of literary patrons like Truman Capote, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Graham Greene. In his book 'The Sun Also Rises,' Ernest Hemingway described it as 'one of the best restaurants in the world.' While Casa Pedro may not have boasted the same artistic pedigree, it boasts its own VIPs. Its walls are adorned with decades-old photographs of former Spanish King Juan Carlos I dining in one of its many rooms. The current Spanish monarch, King Felipe VI dines there, too, albeit more inconspicuously than his father. But the similarities between the two hotspots end there. Casa Pedro was once a stop on the only road heading north from the Spanish capital toward France. Its clientele is largely local regulars, like David González and Mayte Villena, who for years have spent every Friday lunching at the tavern. 'It wouldn't change a thing for us,' Villena said about the restaurant someday securing the Guinness title. Botín, on the other hand, is a stone's throw from Madrid's famed Plaza Mayor, where any day of the week tour guides are herding groups around town — and often straight through the restaurant's front door. Antonio González, a third-generation proprietor of Botín, concedes that the Guinness accolade awarded in 1987 has helped business, but said the restaurant had enough history to draw visitors even before. 'It has a certain magic,' he said. Pretenders to the crown The question then becomes: How can either restaurant definitively claim the title? Guinness provides its specific guidelines for the superlative only to applicants, according to spokesperson Kylie Galloway, noting that it entails 'substantial evidence and documentation of the restaurant's operation over the years.' González said that Guinness required Botín show that it has continuously operated in the same location with the same name. The only time the restaurant closed was during the COVID-19 pandemic, as did Casa Pedro. That criteria would mean that restaurants that are even older — Paris' Le Procope, which says it was founded in 1686, or Beijing's Bianyifang, founded in 1416, or the 1673-established White Horse Tavern in Newport, Rhode Island — aren't eligible for the designation. La Campana, in Rome's historic center, claims over 500 years of operation, citing documents on its menu and in a self-published history. Its owners say they have compiled the requisite paperwork and plan to submit it to Guinness. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. A dream for Casa Pedro Guiñales and her husband couldn't consult archives from the former town of Fuencarral, now a Madrid neighborhood. Those papers went up in flames during the Spanish Civil War. Instead, they delved into Spanish national archives, where they found land registries of the area from the First Marquess of Ensenada (1743-1754) that showed the existence of a tavern, wine cellar and inn in the small town as of 1750. In their spare time, the couple continues to hunt for records proving that Casa Pedro indeed dates back to 1702, as is proclaimed on its walls, takeout bags and sugar packets. But even if they dig up the final documents and wrest the Guinness honor from Botín, Guiñales concedes that her restaurant's quiet location makes it unlikely to draw Botín's clientele in central Madrid. 'To think that we could reach that public would be incredible,' Guiñales said. 'It's a dream, but it's a dream.'
Winnipeg Free Press
3 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Weinstein jury deliberations scrutinize one accuser's account
NEW YORK (AP) — Jurors in Harvey Weinstein'ssex crimes retrial are drilling down on one of the three charges against him: a rape accusation from a woman who also said she had a consensual relationship with him. The seven female and five male jurors are poised to start their fifth day of deliberations Wednesday by re-hearing Jessica Mann's testimony that he raped her in a Manhattan hotel room in 2013. Mann's accusation was an apparent focus of Tuesday's deliberations, and the jury ended the day by asking to be re-read her testimony about what happened between her and Weinstein at the hotel. The group also indicated it wants to continue privately reviewing her emails with Weinstein and some 2017 medical records concerning her reaction to news accounts of other women's allegations against him. The former Hollywood powerbroker, 73, has pleaded not guilty to raping Mann and to forcing oral sex on two other women, Mimi Haley and Kaja Sokola. The Oscar-winning producer maintains that he never sexually assaulted or raped anyone, and his lawyers portrayed his accusers as opportunists who accepted his advances because they wanted a leg up in the entertainment world. While all three women stayed in contact with Weinstein despite what they say were assaults, Mann had a particularly complex history with him. During days on the witness stand, she testified that they had a consensual relationship that exploded into rape, yet continued afterward. Weinstein was one of the movie industry's most powerful figures until a series of sexual misconduct allegations against him became public in 2017, fueling the #MeToo movement and eventually leading to criminal charges. He originally was convicted in 2020 of raping Mann and forcing oral sex on Haley. Sokola's allegation was added last year, after New York state's highest court overturned the 2020 conviction and sent the case back for retrial. Meanwhile, Weinstein is appealing a 2022 rape conviction in Los Angeles. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. After a couple of days of apparent interpersonal friction, the retrial jury worked through Tuesday with no further complaints. The Associated Press generally does not identify people without their permission if they say they have been sexually assaulted. Sokola, Mann and Haley have agreed to be named.
Winnipeg Free Press
8 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
K-pop stars Jimin and Jung Kook of BTS discharged from military service as band's reunion nears
YEONCHEON, South Korea (AP) — K-pop superstars Jimin and Jung Kook are the latest and final members of BTS to be discharged from South Korea's mandatory military service. The pair wore their military uniforms Wednesday, saluted and addressed fans who had assembled to see the pair after their discharge. They enlisted in December 2023, one day after RM and V did the same. The latter were discharged on Tuesday. They saluted upon their release Tuesday in Chuncheon City as about 200 fans, some of whom traveled from Mexico, Turkey and Brazil, cheered. V thanked fans Tuesday for their patience in waiting for him and RM's return and teased the band's reunion. 'If you can just wait a little bit longer, we will return with a really amazing performance.' The seven singers of the popular K-pop band plan to reunite as a group sometime in 2025 after they finish their service. Six of the group's seven members served in the army, while Suga is fulfilling his duty as a social service agent, an alternative form of military service. He will be discharged later this month. Jin, the oldest member of K-pop supergroup BTS, was discharged in June 2024. J-Hope was discharged in October. In South Korea, all able-bodied men aged 18 to 28 are required by law to perform 18-21 months of military service under a conscription system meant to deter aggression from rival North Korea. The law gives special exemptions to athletes, classical and traditional musicians, and ballet and other dancers if they have obtained top prizes in certain competitions and are assessed to have enhanced national prestige. K-pop stars and other entertainers aren't subject to such privileges. However, in 2020, BTS postponed their service until age 30 after South Korea's National Assembly revised its Military Service Act, allowing K-pop stars to delay their enlistment until age 30. There was heated public debate in 2022 over whether to offer special exemptions of mandatory military service for BTS members, until the group's management agency announced in October 2022 that all seven members would fulfill their duties. ___ Sherman reported from New York.
