From Publishers Weekly
Nearing middle age, painter and cowboy Joe Starling contemplates the relationships and ties of his youth. "McGuane makes what could have been an indecipherable personal quest into a vivid, even suspenseful story, in language that seems to have been stripped clean of excess, reduced to only the most evocative descriptions and accurate emotions. Even for a writer of his standing, a novel as unfaltering as this one is a rarity," lauded PW. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Joe Starling leaves his family's Montana ranch as a teenager, attending Yale and later becoming a successful painter in New York. Now in a state of emotional and spiritual disarray, he returns, hoping to lay claim to the run-down ranch and "find a restored coordination for his life" in the old values of hard work and closeness to the land. But his romantic notions run aground on the realities of the modern West: He ultimately loses the ranch to his mad Uncle Smitty's scheming and discovers the duplicity of the seemingly innocent Ellen, the ranch owner's daughter he romanced one summer and now longs to return to. Satire and sadness mingle in this low-key, yet resonant, novel as Joe learns the truth of an old American proverb: You can't go home again.- Lawrence Rungren, Bedford Free P.L., Mass.Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description
Joe Starling, a man teetering on the edge of spectacular failures--as an artist, rancher, lover, and human being--is also a man of noble ambitions. His struggle to right himself is mesmerizing, hilarious, and profoundly moving.

From the Inside Flap
Joe Starling, a man teetering on the edge of spectacular failures--as an artist, rancher, lover, and human being--is also a man of noble ambitions. His struggle to right himself is mesmerizing, hilarious, and profoundly moving.

About the Author
Thomas McGuane lives in Sweet Grass County, Montana. He is the author of eight previous novels and a collection of stories, as well as two collections of essays.

ANNOTATION

This novel by the author of Ninety-Two in the Shade is the story of Jos Starling, a man teetering on the edge of spectacular failures--as an artist, rancher, lover, and human being. But Stalring is also a man of noble ambitions, and his struggle to right himself is mesmerizing, hilarious and profoundly moving.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The picaresque and heartbreaking adventures of Joe Starling, one of the last great American romantic heroes, are seen in this story of his quest for his roots and his rightful inheritance.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Nearing middle age, painter and cowboy Joe Starling contemplates the relationships and ties of his youth. ``McGuane makes what could have been an indecipherable personal quest into a vivid, even suspenseful story, in language that seems to have been stripped clean of excess, reduced to only the most evocative descriptions and accurate emotions. Even for a writer of his standing, a novel as unfaltering as this one is a rarity,'' lauded PW. (Nov.)

Library Journal