The title “Driftless” refers to an area of Wisconsin with small towns, farming, and freezing winters.  David Rhodes’ novel has a large cast of loosely-connected characters in a sprawling story.  The central figure is July Montgomery, a solitary figure who lives as a farmer living in the small town of Words.  He was once a drifter, never staying in the same place for long, but he has made Words his home, and he belongs there.  Now he is a rock of stability, and a steadying influence on others who tend to entertain some wild notions.  While you might expect life in this sparsely populated area to be uneventful, there is a lot going on — corporate corruption, wild cougars, militias spreading discontent and preparing to defend themselves against the government, dog fighting, mystical experiences, and of course, love and death.  So this is a long novel with big themes, and so it runs a risk of being didactic and dull.  Fortunately Rhodes’ skill as a writer in populating his story with memorable and intriguing characters, telling us their pasts, their secrets, and their feelings.  Often their appearances are deceptive: they have much more bizarre thoughts and emotions than we might expect.  These are people of strong convictions who tend to keep their opinions to themselves, except in their most intimate moments.  So there’s a pleasure in coming to discover the underlying truths about these characters we come to know well.  The reading of the unabridged audiobook by Lloyd James is remarkably consistent over the 13 CDs, keeping a sincere but slightly amused tone all the way through.  This is a novel that combines an intricate plot, moments of adventure, and serious ideas, and it’s worth reading.

Link:

Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel piece by Geeta Sharma-Jensen on David Rhodes, Oct 20, 2008

© 2010 Christian Perring        

Christian Perring, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Dowling College, New York