A Good Day to Die: A Novel

This is Jim Harrison's second novel, and a big improvement over his first (WOLF). The narrator, a drifter still married after six years but no longer living with his wife, encounters Tim (a Vietnam vet with a mean streak and strung out on drugs and booze most of the time) and his girlfriend Sylvia. The narrator becomes obsessed with Sylvia, though she keeps him at a distance out of mixed up loyalty to Tim (though he doesn't love or want her anymore, and she knows it). They concoct a plan to blow up a dam in the West, and the novel traces their actions in fulfilling this plan while contrasting the unrequited love interest the narrator has for Sylvia. Both plans are basically a disaster (Tim blows himself up along with the dam), and that's the irony in the story. Harrison makes these not very appealing characters interesting and worth watching as they proceed down their self-made road of doom. (That's where he failed in his first novel.) The narrative moves along to its conclusion powerfully, and we get swept up in it effortlessly. Harrison has great narrative skill; portraying these particular self-destructive anti-heroes locks the book into a specific time frame, however, that I hope he breaks out of in the future.

This is an incredible book that drove me into a writing career. Jim Harrison has the rare ability to write about people, not heroes or monsters. You leave this book feeling the story may be exaggerated, but that these people were real. Stumbling upon this book in high school opened my eyes to the joys of character-driven stories. It's a bad road trip, but one you'll be glad you took.

If you have never read Harrison, this is a great place to start. An entertaining read and fine introduction to the humor, wit, and insight of one of our most engaging authors. You'll hear Harrison's voice for weeks after finishing this book. And you'll want to read more.