ENGER, LEIF — So Brave, Young, and Handsome

NY: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2008. 0871139855. Stated First Edition. First Printing. Hard Cover. ISBN: 0871139855. Publisher's full blue cloth, gilt lettering on spine, brown endpapers, fore-edge deckle. A gritty western couched in the easy storytelling style of a folk ballad, 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. The novel 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.. Both the volume and the unclipped dust jacket are in perfect, pristine condition; unread, unmarked, tight, square, and clean. AS NEW/AS NEW.. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. 287 pp. As New in As New dust jacket .