More than 4 stars, maybe 4.25?At the risk of sounding like a total stalker, I would follow Nickolas Butler nearly to the ends of the earth in order to read his writing. I devoured his debut novel, Shotgun Lovesongs (see my original review), while on a not-particularly long plane ride, and was equally infatuated with his story collection, Beneath the Bonfire (see my original review). Butler's books made my lists of the best books I read in 2014 and my favorite books of 2015, respectively....

This book started off strong, but section by section, it grew weaker and weaker until it ended on a disappointing note. I really hate when that happens since I had such high hopes for this book at the beginning with its sympathetic main character, Nelson Doughty. The story began in Wisconsin in 1962 when Nelson was 13. He was a bright and sensitive boy. He was also an overachiever and an outcast, lonely, but hopeful of gaining a friend. And he seemed to have found one in Jonathan, an older and p...

In a novel stacked tall with men and boys in hiking boots and uniforms, unexpectedly, the one sentence that riveted me was “Her whole life, this boy.” I wept.Please be cautious reading other reviews in any detail. You will find no book report here, as a man-friend of mine calls them, because there are secrets and stunners in this story that deserve to be unearthed by you. That right of discovery is yours. This is your adventure.At first blush, I figured this might be a coming-of-age tale set...

Yeah yeah, I know it's supposed to be critical of uber-masculinity and all that, but honestly I found it incredibly misogynistic and offputting.

There's a lot of themes to this book and it was somewhat of an emotional roller coaster. It's one of the more masculine books I've ever read. I had thoughts of "what a kind and misunderstood kid/man" to "what an asshole, he calls himself a man". But I think for me I was hit with how influential we are as parents to our children. Things that were important and influential when I was a child are not even part of my child's life today. In a way how the author takes you through so many stages of lif...

Oh dear! I think this book suffered from my too high an expectation - a little like George Saunders' Lincoln in the Bardo. But while Lincoln in the Bardo is original and ambitious, The Hearts of Men is disappointingly pedestrian.I had good reason to expect better: Shotgun Lovesongs was my favourite book of 2014 - by far - and Nickolas Butler's collection of short stories, Beneath the Bonfire, showed him to be a masterful writer with a firm grip on both human frailty and inner strength. The Heart...

First appeared at http://www.thenewdorkreviewofbooks.co...Nickolas Butler writes with more empathy and feeling for his characters — even those who act like jerks — than just about any novelist I've ever read. That was definitely true in Shotgun Lovesongs — one of my favorite books of the last five years. It's true in his terrific story collection, Beneath the Bonfire. And it's perhaps most true in his new novel, The Hearts of Men.This is readily apparent in one of the opening scenes of this fant...

I can very much relate to anyone who achieved a few years of frozen adolescence. My perspective is of course not the same as the protagonist whose structure was that of an Eagle Scout working with a more absolute moral code.** This is the highlight book of the year for me. The book proved over and over the kind of self sufficiency that comes from training for any situation and for having a vast range of survival skills. This book has so many human elements, lots of heart, and makes one nostalgic...

This is a strange book, and looking back it, surprisingly readable as it first I had thought it would be predictable, and it certainly wasn't that. Set in the Wisconsin backcountry, where the author lived for many years, the book tells of 3 generations of scouts at Camp Chippewa. Though the book starts in 1962, few books are set in the very near future, 2019 is the last of the generations. Throughout the three generations of adolescent boys in the summer break earning their badges and 'being pr...

Nickolas Butler is in a field all his own. He's the meticulous, caring writer who all us grown men wish we knew when we were younger; someone guiding us on an ever-changing path into a more modern, evolved masculinity. At the core of THE HEARTS OF MEN is the Midwest, that glorious and underrepresented landscape in literature, and Butler exposes what truly makes the heartland the soul of our country: its people. The characters in this novel are our childhood friends, our best buddies, and the fol...

Normally I enjoy a book where most of the characters are unpleasant but I just plain didn't enjoy this. Only veered from unpleasant for short detours into boring. Would totally have preferred one main character, one main story than the successive, generational stories.

Goodreads, I really need half-stars because this is a pretty firm 3.5. Anyway. Butler has a tender and compelling voice, which is the reason this book works. The narrative is loose enough that it feels more like a collection of short stories about people who happen to know each other than a novel, but the consistency of the tone, tenor, and quality of prose holds it all together. Butler also has an excellent sense of time and place. Though I, obviously, was never a boy scout, I did attend the sa...

What a interesting summer camp story. The Hearts of Men follows three generations of campers to Camp Chippewa. In the beginning, we follow Nelson Doughty. He's the camp bugler and somewhat of an outcast. Nelson loves the camp and admires the tough Scoutmaster. During the weeks of camp, Nelson befriends Jonathan, one of the popular boys. As the two grow up, grow apart through war, and re-acquaint themselves, we see how their friendship has changed. Nelson becomes entangled with Jonathan's family

Full disclosure: I read and loved SHOTGUN LOVESONGS, Nick Butler's previous novel, and I read and loved his stories, BENEATH THE BONFIRE, too. The stories are searing little nesting dolls of beauty and calamity; SHOTGUN LOVESONGS is a kind of bravura tightrope act that somehow manages to edge up against melodrama without ever giving in to the saccharine. It's a full-on character-driven opera with a superstar indie rocker and his old-school high-school buddies at its core, and it doubles down and...

Didn't want it to end. Took me back to Wisconsin and I could smell the crisp air, pine trees, camp fires. A story to explain what makes a man a "good" man. I loved Shotgun Love Songs and didn't splurge on buying this one as afraid of the second effort not measuring up. It measured up and surpassed. Mr. Butler is now on my to buy list without questions asked.