The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind - (Vintage Contemporaries) by David Guterson (Paperback)

About the Book

Like his novel, Snow Falling On Cedars, for which he received the PEN/Faulkner Award, Guterson's beautifully observed and emotionally piercing short stories are set largely in the Pacific Northwest. In these vast landscapes, hunting, fishing, and sports are the givens of men's lives. With prose that stings like the scent of gunpowder, this is a collection of power.

Book Synopsis

From the award-winning, bestselling author of Snow Falling on Cedars--a beautifully observed and emotionally piercing collection of short stories that "center[s] on men in the Pacific Northwest, characters whose emotions are sometimes as isolated as the landscape" (The New York Times).

Like his novel, Snow Falling On Cedars, for which he received the PEN/Faulkner Award, Guterson's short stories are set largely in the Pacific Northwest. In these vast landscapes, hunting, fishing, and sports are the givens of men's lives. With prose that stings like the scent of gunpowder, this is a collection of power.

From the Back Cover

Like his PEN/Faulkner Award-winning national bestseller, Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson's beautifully observed and emotionally piercing short stories are set largely in the Pacific Northwest. In those vast landscapes, hunting, fishing, and sports are the givens of men's lives. But although Guterson's characters go into the wilderness in search of mallards or silver trout, they discover other things instead: the decay of their youthful ardor; the motiveless cruelty of strangers; their own capacity for deception and grief.

Review Quotes

"Guterson displays a fine eye for the mysteries of the human soul, creating dramatic moments that are often layered with social and historical complexities and framed by the stark beauty and terror of the natural world.... Touching moments of intimacy abound in David Guterson's short stories, resulting in a bracing collection that speaks to the heart and mind both." --Chicago Tribune

"These short stories by the author of Snow Falling on Cedars center on men in the Pacific Northwest, characters whose emotions are sometimes as isolated as the landscape. The author tracks the elements of this world with a precision that evades both vagueness and cliches." --The New York Times

About the Author

DAVID GUTERSON is the author of a collection of short stories, The Country Ahead of Us, the Country Behind; Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense; Snow Falling on Cedars, which won the 1995 PEN/Faulkner Award, the Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association Award, and was an international bestseller; and the national bestseller East of the Mountains.