This brilliant story of one man’s struggle to change his life, from the acclaimed author of Ninety-two in the Shade and Cloudbursts, is “full of wry wit and graceful depictions of family relations, first love and the stark beauty of the Montana prairie” (Wall Street Journal). Joe Starling, a man teetering on the edge of spectacular failures—as an artist, rancher, lover, and human being—is also a man of noble ambitions. His struggle to right himself is mesmerizing, hilarious, and profoundly moving. "No American novelist provides greater pleasure—sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, page by page—than this Montana icon." —Chicago Sun-Times