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God's Country
God's Country: A Novel | Percival Everett
2 posts | 3 read | 4 to read
For the first time in paperback, Everett's "comic and fierce"* novel of the Old West The unlikely narrator through this tale of misadventures is one Curt Marder: gambler, drinker, cheat, and would-be womanizer. It's 1871, and he's lost his farm, his wife, and his dog to a band of marauding hooligans. With nothing to live on but a desire to recover what is rightfully his, Marder is forced to enlist the help of the best tracker in the West: a black man named Bubba. "I loved this book. God's Country is like no western I've ever read before: a wonderfully strange and darkly hilarious brew of Kafka and Garca Mrquez, of Twilight Zone and F-Troop, with cameo appearances by Walt Whitman and George Custer thrown in for good measure. Percival Everett has written a terrific book, a Wild West road trip that challenges our assumptions about what human dignity really means." Bret Lott, author of Jewel: A Novel "An outrageously funny, alarmingly serious, highly enjoyable novel." Amanda Heller, The Boston Globe "This wild novel of the West is comic and fierce, turn by turn; it follows white and black and red men down their several paths through God's Country, and the reader tracks them with a sense of shocked delight." *Nicholas Delbanco, author of What Remains "Mr. Everett is successful combining heart with rage. . . . The novel sears." David Bowman, The New York Times Book Review Percival Everett is the author of eleven novels including the recent Erasure, which won the inaugural Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for fiction. He lives with his wife on a small ranch and teaches at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
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Pedrocamacho
God's Country: A Novel | Percival Everett
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Per the usual for Everett, this book is amazing. It is so strange how he can make you laugh out loud about such difficult topics. This is one his earlier titles and it seems readymade for a movie adaptation; it is sprawling and the characters are always on the move. However, Dirt Marder might be a tough pill to swallow for many. I suppose that is why it hasn‘t made it to the screen.

vivastory The scene where the bandits have him dig a hole for him & his horse 🙃 😂 9mo
Pedrocamacho I know, @vivastory ! And then he continues to “dig his own grave” by insulting people that could help him 😂 9mo
vivastory @Pedrocamacho So good. Also, when they were talking about going to Cahoots lol (edited) 9mo
Pedrocamacho @vivastory Yeah, he was working on a lot of levels 😊 I mean, the dude‘s name is Marder 🤣 9mo
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vivastory
God's Country: A Novel | Percival Everett
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While at the library last Thursday I picked up this recent reissue of an Everett originally pub in '94, along with another reissue Watershed. The narrator of God's Country is Curt Marder, or as he is commonly referred to by others Dirt Martin. At the beginning of the novel Curt's farm has been burned down, his wife has been kidnapped but what brings a tear to the eyes of his audience (CONT)

vivastory (anyone willing to listen, better if they provide a drink or two) is about the senseless murder of his puppy. He is advised to enlist a local Black tracker, Bubba, & they set off to find them. They are also joined by Jake, who wants revenge against the same group for killing his parents. If the novel form is a record of conscience, a form of testament or confession then God's Country is from the perspective of someone with almost none whatsoever. (edited) 9mo
vivastory Other people are to be used as tools to get what he wants, esp women & POC, He is very bad at it, almost bumbling, but through sheer dumb luck manages to keep coming out ahead. This is an early Everett but the trademark themes are still present & there is one particular scene later in the book where the narrator is surprised by a trio of bandits & the ensuing scene is one of the best in any of Everett's books I've read. (edited) 9mo
Ruthiella My library has a copy of this one. I‘m hoping to get to it once I‘ve read the three Everett‘s I already own. 9mo
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vivastory @Ruthiella It's a quick read! I read it in one sitting. I was not aware of it until I saw it at my library last week 9mo
Hooked_on_books I am beyond thrilled that Everett is having a moment. I think he‘s tremendously talented. I discovered him just a few years ago when The Trees came out and started looking around for his backlist and it was a little hard to find. Now, it‘s easy, and I couldn‘t be happier! 9mo
vivastory @Hooked_on_books What's esp wonderful is that it has been very beneficial for smaller presses. He was w/ Graywolf Press until James, I think. The reissue for God's Country & Watershed are by a press I've never heard of 9mo
Hooked_on_books Excellent point. That‘s such a good thing! 9mo
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