More Like Not Running Away: A Novel Paperback – 1 December 2005

I was completely swept away by this book. The voice is so smooth, and the characters so endearing, I found myself going along for the ride. The way the novel enters a child's point of view, and you see Levi's absorption of his father's values (doing things well, building a strong house, not shirking work or duty) as well as sheltering (and sometimes shuddering from) his father's overwhelming, almost epic, temperment, created an all too realistic picture of the vulnerable imprint of parent to child, as well as the ways in which economic hardship wreaks its own damage on families. In the same way the movie My Life as a House explored the connection between intact home and family, this book takes you through intimate domestic territory while it opens you up to stunning vistas from rooftops to the blank slate of the open road. A great book about fathers and sons, about belief, about will, about money and honor, and about the quiet heroism of simply being there when no one else has the fortitude to do so.