Taft

This book is really beautifully written. At first, the writing style reminded me a little bit of Kent Haruf's Plainsong (a spectacular book, by the way). But the subject matter is so different, of course the comparison ends of seeming idiosyncratic. Nickel, a brilliant drummer has given up his career and become a night-club manager for the chance to have a relationship with his son and his rightfully embittered wife, only to lose them anyway when his wife decides to move away. Unexpectedly a vulnerable young white girl and no-good younger brother find their way into the emotional void in his life and fill it with some of the worst kinds of trouble. The story is intercut with scenes from the earlier life of the girl and her brother, before the death of their father. Nickel is only a man; he makes mistakes, has moments of weakness and temptation. But what you get in the end is a strong meditation on the nature of fatherhood. The book hit the "fine balance" with what it took from you in the way of sorrow and what it gave back in the way of joy.