The Ancient Minstrel

“No one writes more persuasively about the natural world, the ways of animals both wild and domestic, rural roughneck mores, hunting and fishing . . . The wisdom of age hasn’t harmed him a bit.” —David Gates, The New York Times Book Review
 
“His tales possess the hypnotic grace and momentum of a long-distance, freestyle swimmer, pages cleaving away like armstrokes . . . At the heart of all beats the essential Jim Harrison: big lives and full fare, start to finish; and at the book’s conclusion one hates to see that end.” —Rick Bass, The Boston Globe
 
“All three of these novellas traverse Harrison’s familiar turf: the human relation to nature, how we live in it and consume it, how we believe we can rise above our natural urges and how often that makes us fools, and how nature’s mortal effects on humans always win in the end.” —Colette Bancroft, Tampa Bay Times
 
“Harrison’s novellas are always on point . . . Written with the skill and tradition of one of the Midwest’s best. The man is legend.” —Book Riot (“Our Most Anticipated Reads of 2016”)
 
“Harrison’s prose is gorgeous, illuminating. The simple language slides into your head but resonates there because of its subtle and efficient arrangement . . . Some of his grand, sweeping sentences, in the style of Chekhov or Flaubert, contain entire stories.” —The Arts Fuse
 
“An ascended master of the form returns to the novella . . . [Harrison] writes with his customary rough grace and bodhisattva wisdom, whether comically treating sexual improprieties or reflecting deeply on the meaning of life . . . Grand entertainments all and a pleasure.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
 
“Harrison at his best . . . [he] clearly retained use of his lyrical powers until the very end . . . The quality of work he’s left us is unassailable.” —Missoula Independent
 
“One of our Grand Old Writers, Harrison has a way with novellas . . . and these pieces are classic.” —Library Journal
 
“A blend of humor (much of it bawdy), sex (ditto) and observations on the human condition that verge on the profound. When reading Mr. Harrison, it’s not uncommon to guffaw one minute and go all transcendental the next.” —The Washington Times