Sweet, Shattered Dreams

I was excited to dive into the next book by West sitting in my library stack.  Unfortunately, it was nowhere near as intriguing as Amos. 

Of course, like anyone, I like reading about places I've been or lived.  And this book took place about ten miles from my home.  It was fun to read the name of the grocery store where I go a few times a month, and to picture the ranch nestled up by the mountains.

However, the writing felt more forced.  I loved the lyrical, almost poetry-like passages in parts of Amos.  That same style felt awkward to me in this book.  The plot seemed interesting at first.  The story is about a washed-up country singer who, through a series of circumstances, is assumed to be dead but is in fact not.  He goes into hiding to try to find a way to make a life under an assumed name and finds the perfect place to hole up - a ranch in Big Sky country.  The various cast of characters were somewhat redeeming.  However, the love story part of the book just made me irritated.  It seemed so unrealistic.  I knew almost exactly what was going to happen before it began to unfold.

Overall, it was an okay book.  The familiarity and interesting characters brought alot, but weren't enough to overpower the trite story line and forced poetic passages.

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.