Kent Haruf's Benediction
Haruf has written two of my most-beloved books, Plainsong and its sequel Eventide, exemplars of the kinds of books about gruff old men with hearts of gold. And his latest is just as good, focused on gruff old man with a heart of gold "Dad" Lewis, who is dying of cancer with his wife and daughter tending to him (though his estranged son is nowhere to be found). Though there are other characters--a liberal preacher and his troubled son, a neighbor and her granddaughter, a mother and daugher who are family friends--this book is primarily a meditation on life, death, and family. It's very beautiful and sad. I probably would have cried anyway, but reading about the quiet death of an elderly man reminded me of my own grandfather's recent death, so I was basically sobbing buckets. But in a good way. Haruf reminds me a bit of Marilynne Robinson both thematically and stylistically, so I hope this will receive that level of acclaim. A.
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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released on February 26th.
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