Jon Harrison

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine mentioned that he had seen a "perfect" movie. I asked him what he meant, and he said that, for him, a perfect movie was one that couldn't have been any better than it was. This didn't mean it was the best movie he had ever seen, but that as he watched it and thought about it afterwards, he couldn't think of anything he wanted to change.

That's how I feel about The Banks of Certain Rivers.

The book is the story of one man's struggle to rebuild his life show more after tragedy. Several years earlier, a freak accident left Neil Kazenzakis' wife, Wendy, permanently comatose. Since then, Neil, a popular high school teacher, has been struggling to keep himself together and raise his teenaged son, Christopher. More recently, he's started dating Lauren, a sweet and patient woman who understands Neil's desire to keep their relationship secret so that his son's delicately balanced life doesn't tumble back into chaos.

Then Neil breaks up a fight after school between some kids on the football team. Next thing he knows, footage of the incident has been posted to YouTube, but it's been manipulated so that it looks like Neil is abusing a student, not saving him. As the views of the YouTube video spiral out of control, Neil's placed on suspension from work while the school investigates. And when Lauren reveals some shocking news of her own, Neil slowly starts to unravel, leaving him no choice but to confront things he's long tried to avoid.

So why do I call this book 'perfect'? First of all, there's the use of language. Harrison has a way with words and imagery that catches your attention. Take this passage from the prologue:

"A moment after that the room filled with a loud thumping noise, and every head in the place turned to see a blue Medivac helicopter ease from the sky down to a spot on the grass as gently as a butterfly lights on a twig."

Or this opening sentence from the first chapter:

"One humid night at the beginning of the summer, while jetliners rumbled overhead and fireflies winked green along the far-off row of brambles, my best friend and I sat by the fire pit in the field behind my house."

In both instances, Harrison has perfectly set the scene with one sentence. You can hear that thumping Medivac, smell the campfire smoke. Most writers (myself included) struggle to do what seems effortless to Harrison.

Another element is the deep layering of the story. There are no under-developed, walk-on characters. From Neil's best-friend, Alan, who is one of the funnier characters I've encountered in fiction in a while, to his aging mother-in-law, to the head of the school board who cares more about appearances than the truth, every character has a role to play and a clear personality, again, often sketched with a few, simple, penetrating sentences.

And finally there's the themes, not only of loss and renewal, grief and joy, but the idea of memory. How it shifts and twists to fit our own view of ourselves, our own view of life, and how this can ultimately be our undoing. Harrison writes:

"What is a memory, anyway? Is it an indelible record, unimpeachable, frozen in some synaptic arrangement and stored away for some moment it might be needed in the future? Or is it subject to editing and revision, something plastic that our brains can shape into another form we can handle, something less toxic than the original, something less able to poison us?"

It is the answer to that question that lies at the heart of this story, and kept me thinking about it for a long time after I finished reading.

The best books also make you consider things outside the book, and for me, here, it's the title, which comes from a Czeslaw Milosz poem called "I Sleep A Lot" that is partially quoted in the epigraph:

When I couldn't do without alcohol, I drove myself on alcohol,
When I couldn't do without cigarettes and coffee, I drove myself
On cigarettes and coffee.
I was courageous. Industrious. Nearly a model of virtue.
But that is good for nothing. (...)

I have read many books but I don't believe them.
When it hurts we return to the banks of certain rivers.

I know I'll be returning to the banks of this book to seek solace, to learn how to be a better writer, and, most of all, to be entertained.

As a final thought, Harrison's book is also proof of something that's becoming more and more evident: that quality books can succeed solely through reader--rather than traditional publisher--support, these days. I can't say why Harrison ended up self-publishing this novel, but I think it's lucky for all of us he did. Because you should read it, and hey, at $3.99 there's no excuse not to. show less

THE BANKS OF CERTAIN RIVERS will draw you in immediately with its backstory where we meet Neil Kazenzakis (Mr. K), husband, father, friend, teacher, coach. It is here that we learn first of his wife Wendy and son Chris, and the terrible accident that Wendy has in a swimming pool that left her in a permanent comatose state. Their son Chris, an eighth grader, witnessed the accident.
We move forward a few years and find that Neil has more to deal with than seems humanly possible. His wife Wendy show more remains in a nursing home, he and Chris both are still struggling to move on, and he is caring for his mother-in-law Carol, while at the same time, maintaining her home. On top of everything else, Neil has fallen in love with Lauren, the nurse taking care of Carol. Neil must tell Chris, but fears it is more than a young person can handle given the state of his mother’s health. Add to all this is a video that went viral showing Mr. K knocking a student to the ground. Can he prove his innocence and that the video is a fake? With his job and reputation on the line and Chris’ loss of respect for him after Neil tells him he has been in a relationship for two years, Neil feels his life is spiraling out of control. With the determination and help of understanding and caring friends, Neil is able to move forward.
I don’t like spoilers, and this book is difficult to talk about without revealing too much. It is well written with a plot that will keep you turning the pages. It is about love and redemption, loyalty and trust. It is about putting what life throws at you into the proper perspective and getting on with one’s life.
The characters were so well developed that I felt an immediate bond with each one. I wanted Wendy to recover, and at first didn’t like Lauren because I felt she stood in the way of that recovery. I wanted to hug Chris and help him through the murky waters of grief, sadness, distrust, and disappointment. It was so much to put upon a teenager.
There is no doubt in my mind that this is a five star book. Once I started reading, I was unable to put it down. With so many layers to the story and personalities elaborated so beautifully, this is one book I wholeheartedly recommend.

About the Author
Born in Michigan, Jon Harrison studied English literature and geological sciences at Ohio University. A lover of the outdoors, he moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in 1994 and has lived there ever since. When not writing, he enjoys skiing, running, and climbing.
The Banks of Certain Rivers is his first novel. show less

I read this book with the One Group One Facebook online book club at Facebook. It was a 4 star book for me; I reserve 5 stars for books which I think are really outstanding. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was very well-written and a good story. It is written by a man and is from a man’s point of view, which is interesting to me, for this type of book. There are a number of issues that this book deals with: loss, love, being a single father, defending oneself against an accusations by show more high school students, trying to find happiness, and being loyal to a beloved wife who is in a nursing home after a devastating accident. Neil, the main character has a lot to deal with in the years after his wife’s accident. I cared about everyone in this book. Even though there were a lot of things happening in this book plot-wise (there were a lot of twists and turns), I think it is more of a character-driven book. I usually race through a book reading fast, but this one I savored and read more slowly. I don’t know if I would have discovered this book on my own, but it is on my favorites list now, and I will definitely look for other books by this author, Jon Harrison. show less

This is the story of Neil Kazenzakis, who has a lot on his plate. He is the single father of a teenage boy, whose wife is in long term care after an accident that has left her comatose. His mother-in-law lives across the street and has home care. One of her nurses, Laura Downey, and he are having a secret relationship. On top of that, a video goes online that shows him beating up a student, when he recalls that he was trying to break up a fight. As the world starts to crumble around him, he show more fears for his job, his wife’s ongoing care, his son’s reaction to his relationship with Laura and just trying to cope.

This debut novel is character driven and Harrison has created some strong characters; people that this reader cared about and want to help or even strangle. Seriously, this is an emotional story about relationships, family and love. I thoroughly enjoyed it and having the chapters end with e-mails written to his wife as Neil struggles had a heart-warming effect on me. Not a tear jerker, but certainly a book to read! show less