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In Burning Fence, acclaimed novelist Craig Lesley turns his keen eye toward two difficult fathers and an alcohol-damaged Indian foster child, Craig's own "son," Wade. Abandoned by his shell-shocked father, Rudell, Craig grew up with his stepfather, Vern, a tough, controlling railroader. When events turned nasty, Craig, his mother, and his baby sister fled on the night train and arrived at an Indian reservation where his mother found work. Decades later, convinced he would be a better father than Rudell or Vern, Craig takes in the troubled Wade.
But desperation over Wade's violent acts motivates Craig to seek out Rudell in remote Monument, Oregon. Craig hopes his father, a reclusive coyote trapper and poacher, will help raise his disturbed grandson. There Craig meets his colorful half-brother, Ormand, a would-be East Coast hit man, now "born again."
Skillfully capturing the rural humor, rugged characters, and hardscrabble life of Eastern Oregon, Burning Fence presents a searing reflection on fatherhood and offers remarkable insight into the landscape of the Western heart.
But desperation over Wade's violent acts motivates Craig to seek out Rudell in remote Monument, Oregon. Craig hopes his father, a reclusive coyote trapper and poacher, will help raise his disturbed grandson. There Craig meets his colorful half-brother, Ormand, a would-be East Coast hit man, now "born again."
Skillfully capturing the rural humor, rugged characters, and hardscrabble life of Eastern Oregon, Burning Fence presents a searing reflection on fatherhood and offers remarkable insight into the landscape of the Western heart.
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Reviews
"Craig Lesley has been justly celebrated for his novels. Now this vivid, unflinching story of his own life, as a son and as a father, can only serve to increase his already considerable stature as a writer"
and, not incidentally, as a human being."
"I experienced Craig Lesley's Burning Fence as an addiction of sorts--everything else in my life got pushed off to the side so I could live in its pages. And I've stayed haunted by it, a product of its honest emotions and its honest prose. This memoir should expand Craig's audience and deepen the appreciation his current readers feel; it informs all the novels that precede it, but stands on its ow
David Guterson, author of Snow Falling on Cedars and Our Lady of the Forest
"Craig Lesley has long been one of my favorite novelists. Now, with Burning Fence, he has written an extraordinary memoir that shows the wonderful latitude of his writing skills and, not incidentally, speaks to the remarkable depth of the life experience that has informed his novels. This is a splendid work, beautifully told and deeply moving."
Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain