Dave is fourteen years old, living with his family in a cabin on Oregon's Mount Hood (or as Dave prefers to call it, like the Native Americans once did, Wy'east). He is entering high school, adulthood on the horizon not far off in the distance, and contemplating a future away from his mother, father, and his precocious younger sister. And Dave is not the only one approaching adulthood and its freedoms on Wy'east that summer. Martin, a pine marten (a small animal of the deep woods, of the otter/mink family), is leaving his own mother and siblings and setting off on his own as well. As Martin and Dave's paths cross on forest trails and rocky mountaintops, they-and we-witness the full, unknowable breadth and vast sweep of life, and the awe-inspiring interconnectedness of the world and its many inhabitants, human and otherwise. Martin Marten is a coming-of-age tale like no other, told in Brian Doyle's joyous, rollicking style.
Dave is fourteen years old, living with his family in a cabin on Oregon's Mount Hood (or as Dave prefers to call it, like the Native Americans once did, Wy'east). He is entering high school, adulthood on the horizon not far off in the distance, and contemplating a future away from his mother, father, and his precocious younger sister. And Dave is not the only one approaching adulthood and its freedoms on Wy'east that summer. Martin, a pine marten (a small animal of the deep woods, of the otter/mink family), is leaving his own mother and siblings and setting off on his own as well. As Martin and Dave's paths cross on forest trails and rocky mountaintops, they-and we-witness the full, unknowable breadth and vast sweep of life, and the awe-inspiring interconnectedness of the world and its many inhabitants, human and otherwise. Martin Marten is a coming-of-age tale like no other, told in Brian Doyle's joyous, rollicking style.
Brian Doyle is the editor of Portland Magazine at the University of Portland, and the author of thirteen books of essays, fiction, poems, and nonfiction, among them the novels Mink River and The Plover. Honors for his work include the American Academy of Arts & Letters Award in Literature. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
"I read aloud with the family ... Martin Marten by Brian Doyle
everyone sprawled on couches under kerosene light. The experience
was extraordinary and moving, thanks mostly to ... Doyle. I urge
you to give that a try yourself, if and when you can." --The New
York Times"Martin Marten is a joyous celebration of the
complexities of life told by a master storyteller. You will want to
share it with your family and friends." --Neil Abramson, author of
Unsaid"Martin Marten is a daring and delightful creation. As well
as any novelist working today, Brian Doyle blends animal and human
kingdoms into a seamless hopeful narrative overflowing with the
wonderment of life. So artfully does he weave the feelings and
impulses of his imagined people and wildlife that Doyle himself
must be half-man, half-critter. Martin Marten should be required
reading for all humans." --Jim Lynch, author of the novels Truth
Like the Sun, Border Songs, and The Highest Tide"Brian Doyle's
gorgeous new novel is a hypnotic, luxurious journey through our
natural world--a mind-bending celebration of how sweet each day can
be. Martin Marten is composed with musical prose and sparkling,
quirky characters who remind us that humanity is still capable of
great good, and bliss might well lie just beyond our own back
doors. A modern day Siddhartha set in the lush Pacific Northwest,
Martin Marten awakens readers to the interconnected worlds that
define the landscape of one glorious mountain, and the common
boundaries of its infinite souls" --Carol Cassella, author of
Gemini"Behold a tale both wonderful and wise about the mysteries of
adolescence, the interconnectedness of the natural world, and the
nature of existence itself. Insightful, heartwarming, and
beautifully written, Brian Doyle's Martin Marten will have you
cheering for characters across the species divide." --Brian Payton,
author of The Wind Is Not a River"Doyle is a born storyteller. ...
Life in the Northwest woods may be fanciful in Martin Marten, but
the characters emerge true as rain." --Seattle Times"A rich, wise
tale of two creatures from different species whose lives run
parallel to each other." --Shelf Awareness"Flows along absorbingly,
avoiding sentiment while imparting a quiet acceptance of the
rhythms of the natural and human worlds. Highly recommended; even
city slickers
can love." --Library Journal (starred)"Utterly winning." --The Wall
Street Journal"Brian Doyle seeks that magical connection with the
reader and, in Martin Marten, is wonderfully successful in his
effort." --Portland Book Review"[Brian Doyle's] a guy with a
penchant for piquant detail, and possibly a cosmic agenda. When you
finish reading a novel by Doyle, you're bound to feel more attuned
to the universe." --Kitsap Sun"Reading it feels a bit like
wandering through the woods all day just for the pleasure of it,
with no particular plans. Indeed, at times his prose feels like the
very embodiment of a marten moving through the forest--by turns
playful, reverent, breathless, and fierce." --Orion
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