So Brave, Young and Handsome | 
 enlarge | Author: Leif Enger
Creator: Dan Woren
Publisher: Random House Audio
Category: Book
List Price: $34.95
Buy New: $10.49
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Avg. Customer Rating:  80 reviews
Sales Rank: 527013
Format: Audiobook, Unabridged
Media: Audio CD
Edition: Unabridged
Number Of Items: 7
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 6.1 x 5.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0739369229
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780739369227
ASIN: 0739369229
Publication Date: April 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Amazon Significant Seven, April 2008: A gritty western couched in the easy storytelling style of a folk ballad (think 3:10 to Yuma as sung by the Kingston Trio), Leif Enger's highly anticipated second novel (his first was Peace Like a River) tells the story of outlaw Glendon Hale's quest to right his past, as seen through the eyes of his unlikely companion Monte Becket. So Brave, Young, and Handsome begins with Becket, a struggling novelist bewildered by the success of his first book, who has pledged to his wife, son, and publisher to "write one thousand words a day until another book is finished." Four years and six unfinished novels later, Becket sits on the porch of his Minnesota farmhouse about to give up on number seven, when he spies a man standing up in his boat "rowing upstream through the ropy mists of the Cannon River." Eager to set aside his waning tale about handsome ranch hand Dan Roscoe, Becket calls out to the mysterious white-haired boatman and his life changes forever. At turns merry and wistful, romantic and tragic, So Brave, Young, and Handsome is as absorbing as a campfire tale, full of winking outlaws and relentless villains--the sort of story to keep you on the edge of your seat with hope in your heart. --Daphne Durham
Product Description
One of Time magazine’s top-five novels of the year and a New York Times bestseller, Leif Enger’s first novel, Peace Like a River, captured readers’ hearts around the nation. His new novel is a stunning successor–a touching, nimble, and rugged story of an aging train robber on a quest to reconcile the claims of love and judgment on his life, and the failed writer who goes with him.
In 1915 Minnesota, Monte Becket has lost his sense of purpose. His only success long behind him, Monte lives a simple life with his loving wife and whipsmart son. But when he befriends outlaw Glendon Hale, a new world of opportunity and experience presents itself.
Glendon has spent years in obscurity, but the guilt he harbors for abandoning his wife, Blue, over two decades ago, has finally lured him from hiding. As the modern age marches swiftly forward, Glendon aims to travel back into his past–heading to California to seek Blue’s forgiveness. Beguiled and inspired, Monte soon finds himself leaving behind his own family to embark for the unruly West with his fugitive guide–a journey that will test the depth of his loyalties, the inviolability of his morals, and the strength of his resolve. As they flee from the relentless Charles Siringo, an ex-Pinkerton who’s been hunting Glendon for years, Monte falls ever further from his family and the law, to be tempered by a fiery adventure from which he may never get home.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 75 more reviews...
A great modern western September 25, 2008
This story has more of a Lonesome Dove kind of feel rather than a standard Louis L'amour novel, and it's great. An aging cowboy wants to go back and fix a mistake in his past, a writer follows along on this last adventure, and a mysterious gunman chases them both to settle an old score. It's the classic ingredients of a great story, and this doesn't disappoint. There aren't a lot of shoot-outs or anything like you'd expect from a regular western. This is more like the movie "Unforgiven", in which you know the lead character had a past and could be something more than he is now if the circumstances forced him to.
I've never read Enger's work before, but this was a great introduction to his writing.
 another hit for Enger September 19, 2008
I am always nervous about the 2nd book by an author who has a great first novel. I was with this title, but Enger shows that he is a truly gifted writer. Every character is memorable - especially Sringo - every place is memorable - every meal and so on. I am so glad to have read a book that is suspenseful and realistic about human nature without being crude. Not one vulgarity in these pages. That really says something about Enger's strength as an artist with words.
Good historical novel about writer's block, personal relationships and redemption. September 6, 2008
Leif Enger's "So Brave, Young and Handsome" is a very well-written novel about a novelist who's lost his "mojo," and how he finds it again by taking an interest in the world around him. This novel is set in 1915; the historical research is excellent and the sense of place is profound, but the reason this novel succeeds so well is because Mr. Enger has figured out what makes us all human -- our need for interpersonal relationships, and our even greater need for redemption.
Both the writer, Monte, and the outlaw, Glendon, are searching for redemption. Monte wants to write again and wonders if he's a flash in the pan, while Glendon wants to apologize to the wife he ran out on -- he was a bank robber and killed someone by accident, and ran from his wife because he was running from the law.
At the start of this novel, we're in Minnesota; Monte's working at farming, as is Glendon. No one knows that Glendon is an outlaw, so when Glendon reveals this to Monte and his family, Monte feels a sense of personal responsibility. Monte believes in fair play and wants Glendon to be treated like a man, not like a hunted animal; that's the main reason Monte goes along with Glendon on the journey to find Glendon's former wife and apologize to her. But the secondary reason is that Glendon feels his life has been wasted -- he can't write, he knows writing is his life's work, and he feels terrible about it, so going along with Glendon is something akin to the last straw; Monte hopes this will re-start his writing career in a rather spectacular fashion, and his wife is too kind to shut his dreams down as she knows her husband needs a change.
At any rate, the rest of the plot proceeds quietly, like a river; the inexorable conclusions are drawn early on. People matter, even when they've made huge mistakes. And people can change -- redemption is possible.
And, the biggest and most helpful message of all -- our greatest talents are never completely lost, even if they're occasionally misplaced due to other circumstances.
I highly recommend this novel and believe it's one that everyone will enjoy; please don't allow the fact this novel is a Western to fool you. This is an outstanding work, one of personal growth, life choices, and redemption; also the abiding power of creativity.
Five stars, highly recommended.
On the road with the last of the Old West August 19, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
"That is how you want to be remembered, my friends. Take a picture in your moment of conquest, when your luck is high and bullets still bounce off. That will do for the ages." - Monte Becket
Monte Becket lives with wife and young son in rural Minnesota along the Cannon River during the second decade of the 20th century. To date, Becket's one claim to wealth and fame is his wildly popular pulp Western, MARTIN BLIGH. His publisher wants more, but, lately, Monte's muse has failed him. Becket is drifting and anticipating failure as a writer, husband and father. Then one day, out of the fog on the river, a white-haired old man paddles his boat past. Enter into Monte's life boat-builder Glendon Hale, formerly Glen Dobie of the Hole-in-the-Wall Gang.
Hale was once married to a Mexican girl named Blue. But, sought by the Federales, Glendon deserted her never to return. Now, years later, he desires to go back and apologize to the woman he truly loved. He invites Monte to accompany him on the journey, and the latter, fearing the stagnation in his life, accepts. Along the way appears Charles Siringo, also once of the Hole-in-the-Wall, but now a self-anointed lawman of some legend, mostly constructed from books that he himself has written. Charles, now an old man himself, is in relentless pursuit of Glen Dobie for past crimes.
SO BRAVE, YOUNG AND HANDSOME is a coming-of-maturation story by Leif Enger. Its characterizations and narrative pace are reminiscent of Larry McMurtry's novels of the West, e.g. the superlative Lonesome Dove: A Novel (Simon & Schuster Classics). Here, Becket rediscovers not only himself and the talents within, but also learns something about the nature of honor, friendship, love and public fame.
In the McMurtry style, the plot of Enger's book doesn't evolve to a climactic and dramatic ending. Rather, random and relatively mundane events accumulate over time to give meaning to the protagonist's life, much as they do in the real lives of you and me. Enger's writing talent enables him to tell his tale with sympathy for each of the characters while demonstrating a keen eye for the story's time and place. What results is not a thriller in the popular sense, but still a book that I couldn't put down. Like Lonesome Dove, it could translate to an intelligent and absorbing film of deep emotional impact.
 So Brave, Young and Handsome August 15, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was so very disappointed with this novel. After reading Enger's debut novel, Peace Like a River, I had high expectations for his new work. Unfortunately, I found it to be a dull read. It was disjointed, the characters were not compelling and the fine craftsmanship evident in his initial novel were simply missing. I slogged my way through the book, hoping for the best, but it actually got worse as I continued. What an incredible disappointment!
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