Product Description

In this prizewinning portrait of a time and place -- Montana in the 1930s -- that at once inspires and fulfills a longing for an explicable past, Ivan Doig has created one of the most captivating families in American fiction, the McCaskills.

The witty and haunting narration, a masterpiece of vernacular in the tradition of Twain, follows the events of the Two Medicine country's summer: the tide of sheep moving into the high country, the capering Fourth of July rodeo and community dance, and an end-of-August forest fire high in the Rockies that brings the book, as well as the McCaskill family's struggle within itself, to a stunning climax. It is a season of escapade as well as drama, during which fourteen-year-old Jick comes of age. Through his eyes we see those nearest and dearest to him at a turning point -- "where all four of our lives made their bend" -- and discover along with him his own connection to the land, to history, and to the deep-fathomed mysteries of one's kin and one's self.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #95676 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The summer of his 14th year brings challenges and changes to Jick McCaskill and his family, in this book which echoes with "the pioneering and human spirit," observed PW. Jick's older brother decides not to attend college, becoming a cowboy instead; a fire in Two Medicine National Forest threatens to destroy the community; and, "by summer's end, Jick has learned the secret his father and an old campjack have kept from the rest of the community," PW added. November
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"Commonly compared with Paul Horgan and Wallace Stegner...Doig seems something else. A truer comparison might be with Robert Louis Stevenson because of Doig's magical welding of history into fiction, of adventure with everyday life, of legend with lore."

-- The Washington Post

"Here is the real Montana, the real West, through the eyes of a real writer."

-- Wallace Stegner

"Sheer magic...simply a national treasure."

-- USA Today

From the Publisher
10 1.5-hour cassettes

Customer Reviews

Simply magical!
Doig's characters are just incredible. His sense of humor is immense. His description of the depression years in Montana is fascinating. And of course, the landscapes inspired by his acquaintance with the countryside depicted in ENGLISH CREEK are breathtaking. This is the best book I have read in ages! I am going to find a way to work it into my American literature course, because it is not only a great book, it's a priceless piece of Americana.

An all-time favorite
I uncovered Doig's "Dancing at the Rascal Fair" at a small bookstore in Oregon many years ago. Since then, his books have earned a "do not loan" status on my bookshelf. I'll tell friends how much I love his books, but they have to buy their own copies. English Creek is one of my favorites. It immersed me in Montana, in a young boy's summer, in the fold of time between childhood and adulthood. While some of Doig's books have a darker, gritty, edge, English Creek made me laugh outloud. I've just ordered three more copies to give as gifts to friends who I know will love the premise, the prose and the portrait of life on the edge of growing up.

Doig writes books as real as life itself
ENGLISH CREEK is about a boy's awakening into maturity. It's the summer of his 15th birthday and Jick McCaskill experiences new awareness -- of his history as well as of his relationships with and among family and friends. His sense of security is threatened when his older brother defies their parents to take up with a local beauty and become a cowboy instead of going to college. Jick is challenged by unexpected changes in new grown-up ways and as he meets those challenges he sees himself and his world through a dying innocence.

To say Doig's prose is rich and powerful is like describing a tornado as breezy. A master of the English language, story-teller par excellence and character builder supreme, funny, intelligent, witty, sad is to understate. Superlatives fall short of accuracy. Ivan Doig's books are as real as life itself. To contemplate his words is to rethink reality and to embrace new insights.