Goat Mountain

Creatures. David Vann pulls no punches as he examines dark dimensions of human behavior in his finely written novel, Goat Mountain. An eleven year old boy anticipates a coming achievement: bagging his first buck on the annual hunting trip he joins with his father, grandfather and a family friend. The setting is the family’s 640 acres of land in rural California. Violence and tragedy follow, as the line blurs between man and beast. All the creatures in this novel suffer. The tightly written prose kept me turning pages despite my revulsion at the story. Written as a recollection decades later, the calmness of the narrator contrasts with the violence among the characters. Readers who appreciate fine prose and are open to contemplating the dark sides of human behavior are those most likely to enjoy this novel. Rating: Five-star (I love it) Click here to purchase Goat Mountain from amazon.com.