#ivan doig

[the-final-sentence]

‘A cook, did you say your sainted granny is?’

Ivan Doig, from Last Bus to Wisdom

[fatchance]

"What is imagination but mental mischief of a kind?"

– Ivan Doig, in Last Bus to Wisdom, 2015

[the-hearth-and-the-wild]

Life is wide. There's room to take a new run at it.

Ivan Doig, English Creek

[cuddlebreak]

Ivan Doig with dog, Stewart ranch, Meagher County, Montana, 1941 Courtesy Montana State University (2602-B163-F03-img4336)

[digitalpubliclibraryofamerica]

Spotlight on new content in DPLA! 

Have you checked out the collections of the newest DPLA hub, Big Sky Country Digital Network? 

Explore the collections of author and novelist, Ivan Doig, known for his fiction and non-fiction work set mostly in his native Montana that celebrate the landscape and people of the post-war American West. The Ivan Doig Archives made available by the Montana State University Library, contain his notes, diaries, and photos taken by family and friends throughout his life. 

[the-hearth-and-the-wild]

There are so goddamn many ways to be a fool a man can’t expect to avoid them all.

Ivan Doig, Dancing at the Rascal Fair

[litsnobconfessions]

The Bartenders Tale: A Brief Review

Books completed in 2025: 15

Books started in 2024: 2

Mystery: 4

Fantasy: 7

Coming of Age: 2

Historical Fiction: 3

Romance: 2

Young Adult: 5

Nonfiction: 1

Horror: 1

Humor: 1

Most Recently Read: The Bartender's Tale by Ivan Doig

To be honest, I finished this book in May, so I'm going off memory, and this i going to be a short review. As I've said before, I'm a sucker for coming of age stories, so naturally, I love this one. I especially liked Russell's relationship with Zoey, including his assumption that he wouldn't like her because was a girl. My favorite character though, was probably Teddy because... well... linguist.

What I find particularly interesting about this book is that its target audience seems to be adults, rather than children. Usually, I think of coming of age stories--from Treasure Island to the Circle of Magic to Fullmetal Alchemist--as targeting those who are roughly the age of the protagonists. But there's nothing about The Bartender's Tale that indicates it's for twelve year olds. In fact, I was surprised to learn that the narrator was only twelve. Instead, it seems to be a story of memory and nostalgia, down to Russell narrating about himself as an adult, playing the role of a bartender at the end of the book. Come to think of it, This Tender Land does the same thing. I suppose this is an aspect of coming of age stories for adults rather than those for children--they tell you what happened to the children as adults, often ending them with them in their old age.

i suppose it also focuses on more that adult than many coming of age stories do as well,. Even though the book is narrated from Russell's point of view, I feel like we get a lot of characterization of his father, which may come partially from the hindsight of Russell looking back on his dad now that he's an adult himself.

And speaking of Russell's dad, I really like him as a dad. It's clear he loves his kid and he doesn't always know how to be a dad, but he wants to do right by him. This also stands when he finds out he thinks he has a daughter. I love how he supports Russell's interests as well as how he doesn't his his profession from him, but he's careful about how he lets Russ be involved in his work.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. My biggest complaint is about the blurb on the back, which indicates the mysterious sister is kind of the main part of the book, but she doesn't show up until past the halfway mark. It's really just about this one memorable summer Russell spent with his dad, Zoey, and everybody else.

[stilouniverse]

Ivan Doig “L’ultima corriera per la saggezza” presentazione

Ivan Doig “L’ultima corriera per la saggezza” presentazione

La recensione su mangialibri Donal Cameron un ragazzino di 11 anni, orfano di entrambe i genitori, vive con la nonna, cuoca in un ranch nel Montana. I problemi di salute della donna costringeranno il giovane Donal a compiere un viaggio dal Montana al Wisconsin, per raggiungere gli zii Kitty ed Herman, che non conosce. È il 16 giugno del 1951 quando il giovane intraprende il lungo viaggio su una…

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