Shotgun Lovesongs
A Review of Nicolas
Butler’s novel by Pete Schulte
In
Wisconsin, winters run long and the snow falls in feet rather than inches. Shotgun
Lovesongs, A novel by Nicolas Butler, tells the story about a group of
friends who grew up together in Little Wing, a small farming town in Western
Wisconsin.
A
few from the group yearn to leave Little Wing behind, and do so with varying
degrees of success. Lee, a musician, goes on to achieve wealth and a degree of
fame. Kip makes big bucks as a broker in Chicago. Ronny, the wild one, does
well on the rodeo circuit before succumbing to alcoholism. Beth, meanwhile,
couldn’t quite get it going outside Little Wing and returned to marry Hank, who
stayed on to farm the land.
As
happens in adulthood, lives drift apart among even the closest of friends. But
through weddings and other life events, this group keeps intersecting, their
youthful secrets become revealed, new identities are forged. This story is told
in the voice of each character. Hank is a lifelong farmer but has a hidden
artistic streak. His wife, Beth, is quietly content, yet has secrets of her
own. Lee is an artist, but longs for a connection to the land (and also longs
for Hank’s wife). Ronny is nearly broken by booze and the rodeo, but has a
light inside him that’s impossible to extinguish. Kip is completely
self-absorbed, the one you’d think is beyond redemption. But then, keep reading…
Shotgun
Lovesongs is
a novel about friendship, family, time passage, and especially the land. Little
Wing is described so beautifully that you feel like you’re really there. I read
the book while riding on a high-speed light rail, but it felt as if I were
walking on a quiet snowy path or watching a perfect sunrise from the town’s
silo. That’s the pleasure of reading.
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