The Good Brother - by Chris Offutt (Paperback)

About the Book

After fleeing his problems in Kentucky, Virgil Caudill finds a new name and identity in Montana. But the nightmare world of extremist militia groups and his own haunted past bring his new life to a crashing halt in this long-awaited first novel by one of "Granta's" Best Young American Fiction Writers.

Book Synopsis

Virgil Caudill has never gone looking for trouble, but this time he's got no choice -- his hell-raising brother Boyd has been murdered. Everyone knows who did it, and in the hills of Kentucky, tradition won't let a murder go unavenged. No matter which way he chooses, Virgil will lose. The Good Brother, Chris Offutt's finely crafted first novel, is the story of Virgil's struggle to find his real self in the wake of an impossible choice. Traversing the American landscape from the hollows of Eastern Kentucky to the plains of Montana, Offutt explores the hunger for belonging that drives our most passionate beliefs, and in the process shows himself to be one of our most powerful storytellers.

Review Quotes

Blake de Pastino Albuquerque Alibi Chris Offutt has made a famously difficult transition -- from the short story to the novel -- with style and grace. He has himself developed into a writer of high order.

Wade Hall The Baltimore Sun With The Good Brother Chris Offutt shows us storytelling at its best in a novel in which the story is only the beginning of its riches.

About the Author

Chris Offutt is the author of Kentucky Straight and The Same River Twice. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Whiting Award, and an award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, he was named one of Granta's Best Young American Fiction Writers. He lives in Missoula, Montana, with his wife and two sons.