Driftless

By David Rhodes

The few hundred souls who inhabit Words, Wisconsin, are an extraordinary cast of characters. The middle-aged couple who zealously guards their farm from a scheming milk cooperative. The lifelong invalid, crippled by conflicting emotions about her sister. A cantankerous retiree, haunted by childhood memories after discovering a cougar in his haymow. The former drifter who forever alters the ties that bind a community. In his first novel in 30 years, David Rhodes offers a vivid and unforgettable look at life in small-town America.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions
• Release date: Jan 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781571318008

David Rhodes

David Rhodes began life as a journalist, working in the hard-bitten world of national newspapers. Despite his unease with the institutional Church, he was ordained in 1972. But he has never quite stopped being a journalist and his passion to investigate the 'big story' of God has led him into some strange encounters, as his books reveal.

Reviews for Driftless

[kazevedo_53 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book but I'm not sure I can say why. It's small chapters of snippets of the lives of people in a rural community in Wisconsin. They seem to become connected through a former drifter and gentle soul named July who has been farming in the community for twenty some years. The lives of all the characters seem catalyzed by July to become more...linked together to become greater than standing so alone. Beautiful writing full of ideas. Keep to reread someday. Many layers missed and to be discovered

[bookwalter · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wonderful book about ordinary people doing ordinary things that somehow captures the spirit of the rural Midwest. Not to be missed!

[vanjr-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Nice picture of modern small town Midwest. I felt like I was peaking in on a segment of life in Words

[pdebolt_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a very engaging book about people living in a small town in Wisconsin. The characters are memorable for the generosity of spirit evidenced in so many of their day-to-day interactions. Their lives are not filled with drama and action, but their thoughts and actions reflect an understanding of the importance of their place in the world.

[biblioarchy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Reading this amazing book, written by a guy i do not yet know who lives a few miles away, has been like reading the observations of a little green man on my shoulder who has been observing the bizarre and charming world we inhabit in the Driftless for the last 10 years. Rhodes weaves a haunting and complex web of interconnection, suffering, revelation, and wonder. The characters reflect the real life everyday joes who live in this forgotten bioregion. I am halfway through and am entranced beyond expectations.

[jfowler_38 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fantastic story telling. Rhodes does a great job at developing all the characters and putting them together. I look forward to reading more of his work.

[mojomomma_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Rhodes illustrates the many seemingly mundane ways our lives intersect by focusing on about a dozen people who live in and around Words, Wisconsin. I especially love his female characters. They are so strong, yet so vulnerable. Having grown up in a small town I really felt like I knew these characters. Great AIR selection!

[drhapgood · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wow. No, really.

I was surprised how easily the characters in this book earned my love and respect. I usually need time to bond with characters, choosing long-running series to give me time to let each person become part of me. Driftless, a collection of short vignettes concerning people living in or near Words, Wisconsin, is so powerfully written that I needed almost no time at all before wanting to cheer these people on toward the growth and change they so desperately need.

Each character's crisis and journey is complex but approachable. The literary equivalent of Jason Robert Brown songs, the nature of each person's problem isn't simplified to fit some generic template of a person to make it easier to identify with. I did see myself in these characters, but did so without ceasing to see the character either. I loved that.

I look forward to reading this again in ten years, to see how the older me looks at these lives.

[porch_reader · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I saw David Rhodes read from his new book, Jewelweed, at the Iowa City Book Festival, and I loved the excerpt so much that I bought Jewelweed and Driftless, both of which are set in Words, Wisconsin. Rhodes weaves together the stories of many of the residents of Words, and each of their stories is compelling. Alone, they are well-crafted snapshots of life in rural Wisconsin - a bass player at a bar, a minister tending her flock, a farmer milking his cows. But together, they are the rhythms of life, the struggles and triumphs, the quarrels and the communions, the quiet moments and the climaxes. Rhodes said that the book took years to write, and some of the characters took on a life of their own. I'm glad that he had the patience to follow them where they took him.Rhodes is also patient enough to paint a picture of rural Wisconsin. His words truly create Words. There are passages like this around every corner:"Sometimes in the theater of winter, a day will appear with such spectacular mildness that it seems the season can almost be forgiven for all its inappropriate hostility, inconveniences, and even physical assaults. With a balmy sky overhead, melting snow underfoot, and the sounds of creeks running, the bargain made with contrasts doesn't look so bad: to feel warm, one must remember cold; to experience joy, one must have known sorrow." (p. 264). I highly recommend this one and can't wait to visit Words again.

[churmice · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

David Rhodes first novel in 30 years is a treasure - sure to become a modern classic! Rhodes writes with the soul and grace of a poet and this story with wrap it's arms around you and never let you go! Be sure to treat yourself to Rhodes earlier work, especially Rock Island Line! A huge thank you to Milkweed Editions for bringing Rhodes back to the reading public!!

[michaelbartley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a wonderful find, I am so glad I discovered this writer, there is a lot of very good writing in this novel. A number of issues are discussed in a very thoughful way. The people are decent, hard working and honest. The only thing I disliked is the policital aspect, the evil government and big business to me that is lazy writing but that a thankful a very small part of the book. a big thumbs up

[maryreinert · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

There are too many words in this book; too many weird characters; too many unbelievable situations; too many confrontations; too many characters; not enough plot. I admit I was pulled into the first few chapters, but soon found myself skipping paragraphs of writing that seemed as if the author was speaking his philosophy of life through the words of some character. The character of Olivia was totally unbelievable: a woman in a wheelchair who rarely leaves the house goes and loses the bank account at a casino, finds a kind of "soul mate" in a young parolee, attends a dog fight and adopts a fight dog, drinks some unknown potion and is "cured". However, I will admit that I felt that the relationship between Olivia and her sister Violet was at times right on target. I admit there were a few other places in the book that I felt were well done; just not enough of them.One thing I really didn't understand was the constant confrontational tone between characters: husbands and wives, neighbors, relatives, minister and others. I couldn't understand the underlying tone of mistrust in everyone; I experienced the opposite growing up in rural Missouri. People might not be effusive communicators, but they did show a sense of respect and put on a pleasant fact to one another.In short, I was very disappointed in this novel. I had read a review and thought it sounded very interesting. I think I was the one that recommended it to my book club (we did select it for a future read)thinking that it would provide lots of discussion. Guess, we'll see.If you do appreciate well written books set in rural "backwater" locations, check out Winter's Bone: A Novelby Daniel Woodrell.

[zmagic69 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Wow, when I started reading this the first chapter showed serious promise, but then it started seriously drift all over the place. I nearly stopped reading it. But kept going. I am glad I did the story starts to come together about half way through.
A small town in southwestern Wisconsin, and it quirky citizens, and how they are all bound together.
This isn’t an exciting book but it is a well written book and has a interesting number of things to learn from it if you are patient.

[m.belljackson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The problems is that by the time July Montgomery drives his tractor to the silo,he is too real to let go of.Review would have been 5 Full Stars if David Rhodes' editor had steered him in a direction away from the hideous dog fight.Many readers may stick with "Here we go round The Mulberry BUSH..." - even though, yes, it is a Mulberry Tree,a tree that resembles a bush when it grows.

[quondame · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

That Midwestern area that didn't collect geological drift seems clogged with human drift, a diminuative town full of almost adults who can't seem to keep their lives tracked without July Montgomery. Gloriously written, with human characters, but the plotting is fantasy and I'm not the audience for the transcendent stuff.

[junipersun · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Each short chapter presents a segment from the life of one of the residents of Words, Wisconsin. At first it feels a bit disjointed, but Rhodes does tie them all together by the end.This small farming community has faces familiar to those who have lived in small towns: retired farmers, spinster sisters, local minister, rebellious teen...but with a twist. The local church is Evangelical Quaker, and the minister, a young woman, is a seeker for truth rather than a righteous rule-layer. Being in the Driftless area, there are Amish to accept, dairy conglomerates to fight, and a lot of helping each other out.Rhodes is good at description, when he wants to, and enjoys unusual words (e.g. "fugacious" on p.55, "empyrean" on p.313). Roadhoppers used for grasshoppers or cicadas is not a word I've heard anyone around here use. Rambarkle seems to be his own made up word for the seeds and plant parts that gather on your socks when hiking cross country.I'll agree with another reviewer than some of his facts don't ring true: mulberry bushes hiding a hole in a fence (mulberry grows as a tree)(p.335), early settlers mining for gold (p.4).I wonder to what exent Rhodes' personal experience led to the remark "She would never be like heaven to someone else--only a charitable activity for earning the right to get there." (p.194)

[viviennestrauss · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Kind of like Peyton Place but in southwestern Wisconsin with farmers instead of mill workers. Good writing and a good story overall but way too long and I found all the religion really annoying. The dates didn't really add up - internet service but a tractor that is 30 years old but made during WWII?