Josh Ritter

Weldon Applegate, the narrator of this funny story, is one of the most interesting, colorful characters I have met in a long time. From the time young Weldon traveled with his widower father, Tom, to Cordelia, Idaho, ostensibly to run the general store, Weldon dreamed of taking his place in the long family line of legendary lumberjacks, even though the trade is dying out. Tom inherited a mountain on the other side of the St. Anne River from Cordelia called the Lost Lot; Tom’s father won it in a card game. When the legendary lumberjack Linden Laughlin arrives in Cordelia, Tom is convinced to begin stripping the treacherous forest on his mountain. Ignoring the dire warnings of the Witch (a Finnish fortuneteller and apparently also Tom’s lover) that he will die if he returns to lumberjacking, Tom meets his demise courtesy of "two hundred feet of white pine in [his] face.” Weldon decides he will see his legacy through, so at the age of thirteen, he joins Laughlin and a host of other colorful lumberjacks in foresting the impossible terrain. Hard to believe a thirteen-year-old could have thought and did what Weldon did, but it was still an entertaining tale.… (altro)

This is a sad little story about a World War I veteran from West Virginia with a rough upbringing and an even rougher adult life. It's no wonder he carries on conversations with his horse, whom he addresses as 'Angel'.

After his wife dies in childbirth, Henry Bright is on the run, with his infant son, from both a raging forest fire and his vengeful father-in-law. Along the way, the author weaves in flashbacks to childhood and the war and Henry starts questioning, ever more seriously, the wisdom of the advice offered to him by his 'angel'.

The writing shows that the songwriter/author has some serious storytelling chops. Many passages exude, as one might expect, lyric-like prose. It will be interesting to read his next book. Perhaps it will be longer and more polished, while keeping the heart and song shown in this one.… (altro)

Bright's passage is a very powerful story of a World War 1 veteran's struggle with battle fatigue, better known today as a posttraumatic stress disorder. His symptoms are displayed in a rather unusual manner. He talks to angels. At first the voice seems to just come from the sky, but soon manifests itself in Bright's horse and then later in the novel his goat. What eventually becomes clear is that man is actually struggling with an inner demon. Early in the novel the angel tells Bright to set his his cabin on fire. He obeys the angel and the immediately the fire turns into a raging forest fire sending Bright and hundreds of other fleeing from it's wrath. Clearly, something is amiss with this "angel"...… (altro)