Biblioracle: Jess Walter's latest novel, ‘So Far Gone,' has echoes from his earlier books

Chicago Tribune

9 hours ago

Jess Walter, author of the just about to be released 'So Far Gone,' is one of my favorite contemporary novelists.
He's been something of a shapeshifter over the course of his career, first establishing himself as a crime writer, including in the Edgar Award-winning 'Citizen Vince.' 'The Zero,' from 2006, uses Walter's base in crime fiction set against the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the service of a kind of hybrid noir that, through the lens of one character, brilliantly captures our collective disorientation in those first weeks and months post-attack.
'The Financial Lives of Poets' (2009) is a medium-dark domestic comedy about a journalist who (sort of) turns to crime to make ends meet as his profession collapses around him. 'Beautiful Ruins' (2013) is my favorite of Walter's novels, a sprawling tale across time, the 1960s to the present, and place, the glamour of Italy and the glitz of Hollywood. 'The Cold Millions' (2020) explores nascent labor activism in the logging industry of the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the 20th century.
The DNA of 'So Far Gone' has elements from across Walter's oeuvre. Like 'The Financial Lives of the Poets,' the central character, Rhys Kinnick, is a journalist who has left the profession, retreating from it and his family to a hermit-like life on some ancestral family land in a cold-water cabin in Washington state. Rhys is drawn back to the world when his 9-year-old and 14-year-old grandchildren (Asher and Leah) are brought to his door and he finds out his daughter, Bethany, has gone missing.
Rhys has retreated because his profession, his marriage and his relationship with Bethany all appeared dead, the separation kicked off by Rhys punching Bethany's increasingly devout, increasingly radical second husband (and Leah's father), Shane, in the face over political stances entirely divorced from reality. Rhys thinks he's a failure, a drag on his loved ones. Bethany feels as though he's abandoned his family. This psychological baggage and the way it defines the characters are the center of the novel.
Rhys brings the kids to what is supposed to be Asher's junior chess tournament, but quickly loses his grandchildren when they are confronted by members of the Army of the Lord, a radical sect to which Shane sort of belongs. Rhys now needs help, bringing him back into the lives of others.
Walter taps into his crime origins to bring us his penchant for snappy dialogue and expert quick establishment of these secondary characters, including Lucy — once Rhys' girlfriend just before and just post-divorce, and still an editor at the paper Rhys left — and Chuck, Lucy's ex-boyfriend and an ex-cop who is looking to get back into Lucy's good graces while also having a particular enmity toward the Army of the Lord. The story careens on from there as different characters are lost and then found throughout.
This is, as expected, a very well-done novel. Rhys is winning and interesting even in the midst of a pathetic moment. Walter delves straight into strange territory, asking how some significant portion of people can choose to detach themselves from reality in the name of trying to find solace in a hostile world. There are laugh-out-loud moments of comedy and dark incidents of violence.
It's not clear why, ultimately, I wasn't more satisfied by this book. I think it's me, and these times. Walter is trying to paint a route through what seems to be a kind of collective madness to reconnection and a return to community and dignity. It's a story I want to be true.
But right now, I don't trust it. I hope someday it does come true.
John Warner is the author of books including 'More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI.' You can find him at biblioracle.com.
Book recommendations from the Biblioracle
John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you've read.
1. 'Antarctica' by Claire Keegan
2. 'Dream State' by Eric Puchner
3. 'Table for Two' by Amor Towles
4. 'Just Mercy' by Bryan Stevenson
5. 'Fatherland: A Memoir of War, Conscience, and Family Secrets' by Burkhard Bilger'Eat the Document' by Dana Spiotta is a great character study rooted in two eras simultaneously, late '60s early '70s political radicals, and the suburbs of the 1990s.
1. 'Middle of the Night' by Riley Sager
2. 'Think Twice' by Harlan Coben
3. 'The Quiet Librarian' by Allen Eskens
4. 'James' by Percival Everett
5. 'Presumed Guilty' by Scott TurowAnybody who looks like they enjoy a good twisty thriller is a good candidate for one of my favorites of the last several years, 'Who Is Maud Dixon?' by Alexandra Andrews.
1. 'The Sympathizer' by Viet Thanh Nguyen
2. 'Crazy Brave' by Joy Harjo
3. 'Parable of the Sower; Parable of the Talents' by Octavia E. Butler
4. 'Braiding Sweetgrass' by Robin Wall Kimmerer
5. 'Born to Run' by Bruce SpringsteenI think Adele is a great candidate for Lorrie Moore's strange and powerful 'I Am Homeless if This Is Not My Home.'
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Send a list of the last five books you've read and your hometown to [e-mail].