
Book Review: Jess Walter's 'So Far Gone' sets a redemption story in fractured, modern America
Consider 'So Far Gone,' the new novel by Jess Walter. Set in present day America, it opens with two kids wearing backpacks knocking on a cabin door. 'What are you fine young capitalists selling?' asks Rhys Kinnick, before realizing the kids are his grandchildren. They carry with them a note from Kinnick's daughter, describing dad as a 'recluse who cut off contact with our family and now lives in squalor in a cabin north of Spokane.'
It's a great hook that draws you in and doesn't really let up for the next 256 pages. We learn why Kinnick pulled a Thoreau and went to the woods seven years ago (Hint: It has a lot to do with the intolerance exhibited by no small percentage of Americans and embodied by a certain occupant of the White House), as well as the whereabouts of Kinnick's daughter, Bethany, and why her messy marriage to a guy named Shane led to Kinnick's grandchildren being dropped off at his cabin.
In a neat narrative gimmick, the chapters are entitled 'What Happened to ___' and fill in the main strokes of each character's backstory, as well as what happens to them in the present timeline. Told with an omniscient third-person sense of humor, the book's themes are nonetheless serious. On the demise of journalism in the chapter 'What Happened to Lucy,' one of Kinnick's old flames and colleagues at the Spokesman-Review: She 'hated that reporters were expected to constantly post on social media… before knowing what their stories even meant.' Or Kinnick's thoughts as he holds a .22 Glock given to him just in case by a retired police officer who is helping him get his grandkids back from the local militia: 'The shiver that went through his arm! The power!… The weight of this gun was the exact weight of his anger and his fear and his sense of displacement… That's where its incredible balance lay.'
As Kinnick links up with various characters and drives across the Northwest in search of his daughter and grandchildren, the plot unfolds quickly. Most readers won't need more than a day or two to reach the final page, which satisfies the Thoreau quote Walter uses in the story's preface: 'Not till we are lost… 'till we have lost the world, do we begin to find ourselves.'
Weekly
A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene.
___
AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Toronto Star
6 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Cierra Ortega exits ‘Love Island USA' villa following backlash over resurfaced racial slur posts
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cierra Ortega, a contestant of this summer's 'Love Island USA' left the villa just a week before the finale of the hit reality series is set to air on Peacock. Her departure, announced Sunday, followed weeks of uproar from viewers after old posts from Ortega resurfaced that contained a racial slur against Asian people. The show's narrator, Iain Stirling, announced Ortega had departed 'due to a personal situation' early in Sunday's episode.


Winnipeg Free Press
6 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Cierra Ortega exits ‘Love Island USA' villa following backlash over resurfaced racial slur posts
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cierra Ortega, a contestant of this summer's 'Love Island USA' left the villa just a week before the finale of the hit reality series is set to air on Peacock. Her departure, announced Sunday, followed weeks of uproar from viewers after old posts from Ortega resurfaced that contained a racial slur against Asian people. The show's narrator, Iain Stirling, announced Ortega had departed 'due to a personal situation' early in Sunday's episode. Ortega becomes the second contestant this season to depart the show amid controversy due to past social media posts. Yulissa Escobar abruptly exited last month in the second episode after clips of her using racist language resurfaced online. Her departure was also not explained in the show. A spokesperson for the show declined to comment Monday. Ortega's family posted to her Instagram story Sunday evening following the announcement of her departure, asking the public 'for compassion. For patience. For basic human decency. 'While Cierra is not in the villa anymore, she is still away. She hasn't had the chance to process any of this or speak for herself,' her family wrote. 'But we know our daughter. We know her heart. And when she returns, we believe she'll face this with honesty, growth, and grace.' Her family said they, along with Ortega's friends and online supporters, have received threats, attacks and cruel messages on social media, noting that 'no one deserve that kind of hate, no matter what mistakes they've made.' 'Love Island USA' is an American spin-off of the original U.K. series and is airing its seventh season. The show airs daily except Wednesdays and brings young singles together in a remote villa in Fiji to explore connections with the ultimate goal of finding love. Couples undergo challenges and are encouraged test their romantic connections as new contestants are introduced. Islanders are routinely 'dumped' from the villa throughout the series as stronger couples form. The winning couple receives $100,000. The show, which strips contestants of their phones or access to the outside world, has previously asked fans to avoid cyberbullying contestants. Host Ariana Madix called for fans to stop doxxing and harassing the show's stars in a recent interview with The Associated Press. Ortega entered the villa at the end of the first episode as a bombshell, one of the first in a steady stream of new contestants who come in after the show began, often expected to disrupt existing couples and create new relationship dynamics. Ortega quickly coupled up with Nic Vansteenberghe, whom she remained with up until her departure. Her exit broke up one of the few consistent couples of the season. The couple had just announced a few episodes prior they were 'closed off,' a popular 'Love Island' phrase to indicate neither contestant was interested in exploring a connection with any other islander. 'Before Cierra had left, my mind was clear. I knew what the future would look like, and now, I'm lost,' Vansteenberghe said during Sunday's episode. Vansteenberghe stayed on the show as a single islander after Ortega left, and he ultimately re-coupled with fellow contestant Olandria Carthen before the end of the episode. Belle-A Walker, a contestant who was dumped earlier this season, took to Instagram to express heartbreak over Ortega's resurfaced posts. Walker, who is Asian American, said she is 'deeply appreciative' of the show's producers 'for taking a stand and making it clear that racism of any kind is not tolerated.' 'Asian hate is oftentimes overlooked and dismissed. But being a first-generation American, I have personally witnessed and experienced how real and hurtful comments like these are,' Walker wrote on her Instagram story page. 'It is my hope that this situation can help shed light on how big of an issue anti-Asian hate really is.'


Winnipeg Free Press
12 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Ayissi fuses African tradition and Parisian craft with bold flower forms at fall couture show
PARIS (AP) — Beneath an opulent chandelier in a sunlit salon, Imane Ayissi's fall couture show once again fused African tradition with Parisian craft. Monday's running motif was the flower, explored in bold, distinct ways. In one of the most striking looks, the model's entire upper body was transformed into a sculpture of giant vermillion flowers — petals constructed to fly outward and create a vivid silhouette. Another satin dress placed a flower appliqué playfully at the hip, as if growing from the fabric itself. Elsewhere, a tailored pink jacket was punctuated by crisp white floral embellishments, merging softness with geometry. Ayissi played with contrasts throughout: sharply structured jackets alongside softer, draped pieces, and traditional African textiles interpreted with couture techniques. Handwork and tactile details gave the collection both presence and lightness. If there was sometimes tension between architectural lines and exuberant decoration, Ayissi's best looks felt fresh and intentional — pushing the conversation between heritage and high fashion forward. Once again, he made a compelling case for the place of African craft in the heart of Paris couture.