Amos

On a wonderful, nonexciting date with my husband, we ended up at Barnes and Noble as we almost always do.  There was a display table with Montana authors.  Intrigued by this book, and vaguely remembering reading another book by West, Blind Your Ponies, I grabbed it.

I was hooked from the first sentence:  "He was an old man, clinging fiercely to the tattered garment that had once been his dignity."

I could barely put this book down.  I even stayed up until one last night, which I rarely do these days.  The writing was exquisite, the story painful, the characters full of life despite the fact that they are all living in a county home for the elderly. 

Amos finds himself choosing between heroism and comfort, choosing to live out the rest of his days or find solace in sleeping away his life.  Love, danger, pain, intrigue, daring and courage fill his golden days.  Some would find this a depressing book, but I loved every minute of it.  In fact, I've got four more books by West sitting on my end table, snatched from the library this very week.