Fourth of July Creek

FOURTH OF JULY CREEK, by Smith Henderson.

Who is this guy, Smith Henderson, and where did he come from? Because this book is just so damn good! He's like Athena, who was born fully grown and armed, springing from the forehead of Zeus. Only this guy, this AUTHOR, has sprung fully armed with all the best tools of the writing trade from, from ... Hell, I don't know where from, but did I say how GOOD this book is?

I probably don't really need to summarize the plot, because the book's already been reviewed a few hundred times by now. But Pete Snow is a protagonist who will not be easily forgotten. A caseworker for the Department of Family Services in western Montana in the early Reagan years, Snow is overworked but fiercely dedicated, trying show more with everything he has to make a difference in the lives of some of the poorest and most screwed up people you have ever met. As a character, Snow is completely, fully realized. Henderson is inside the guy's head to an extent that, once you've started reading, it's almost impossible to get Snow out of YOUR head. While Pete tries to save the least of our brethren, his own family has disintegrated. His wife and thirteen year-old daughter (and oh, the daughter, another sad story, and another character Henderson OWNS, he is so inside her head too) have left. Pete is living in a cabin in the mountains, off the grid. Hey, I don't want to summarize this complex, moving, at times frighteningly horrific story. That's already been done. Then there is Jeremiah Pearl and his eleven year-old son, Benjamin. Pearl is a survivalist, a religious crazy, a guy who hates the government and civilization in general. When they enter Pete's purview in tiny Tenmile, Montana, the story takes off, and you can't help but hang on for your life in a tale that takes you from Montana to Texas to Indiana to Washington and Oregon and a lot of strange places in between. Henderson knows these places. He knows the Yaak wilderness - the forests and mountains and valley - as well as the red light district of Seattle and the main drag at UT-Austin. And he makes you feel that you know these places too.

What makes this book such a ride? Think Waco, think Ruby Ridge, think the Unabomber, and maybe even a little bit of Jonestown with its sacramental Kool-Aid. Put all this kind of stuff deep in the trackless "rain forest" and "jungle" of the Yaak. Send in cops and the ATF and FBI on a concentrated all-out manhunt. And put Pete Snow, this imperfect, battered but dedicated "priest" of the secular religion of Social Work, right smack in the middle of it, trying to save a young boy. (In fact there are other cases he's covering that are equally interesting and morbidly horrific, i.e. Cecil and Katie, and their abusive druggie mom.) And then there's the parallel plot of Pete's daughter Rachel (aka 'Rose'), who takes you deep into the terrifying, dark and ineffably sad world of teenage runaways.

Sorry, I can't get all this stuff into a review. There's just too much going on, but it all comes together masterfully, and there is a kind of redemption to be found, finally, if you manage to ride it out to the end.

Influences? Comparisons? I first thought of a recent novel by another Montanan, Kim Zupan's THE PLOUGHMEN - another beautiful book about an equally grim subject. And the descriptions of the bars and clubs of Missoula made me think of the late James Crumley, whose PI noirs nailed those places so well. And the Yaak Valley, with its dope farmers and other weirdoes brought to mind the West Virginia stories of Pinckney Benedict. And poor, crazy, raging teenage Cecil and his doper mother brought back Earl Thompson's classic novel of Depression-era Kansas, A GARDEN OF SAND. In the end, however, Smith Henderson has created his own unique world here, and it couldn't be any more real - or terrifying - than it is. Final word: FOURTH OF JULY CREEK is, hands down, simply one of the best books I have read in the past ten years. My highest recommendation. show less

In the opening chapter we are introduced to Pete Snow, social worker, as he intervenes with a very dysfunctional family in Pete's jurisdiction of rural Montana. And we think, "Ah, a do-gooder! Let's root for Pete." But come the second chapter, we find that Pete's pretty dysfunctional too. His wife is leaving him, and his daughter has no sympathy for him either for the things he's done, so our sympathies shift to them. But, no, we then find up they're pretty screwed up, too.

Indeed, there's not a single character in this book--and there are quite a few--who isn't screwed up in one way or another.

And by the end, a major character whom we perceived as being screwed-up from his introduction becomes one who gains some of our sympathy.

Human show more beings are a complicated lot, we are. No one can righteously carry the mantle of angel, and there are few true devils. The book ends, "You gotta believe. You can't just go through live acting like there are answers to every--"

The book is very well written. Ironically, with so much ugliness happening in the narrative, it is countered in the narrative by so much beautiful prose. I question a bit whether some of the wonderful allusion and metaphor the author uses should have been allowed to slop over into the things actually voiced by some of the uneducated characters, but I suppose that's literary license.

This is Smith Henderson's first novel, and I would look forward to his next. show less

Henderson has crafted a gipping story with the theme of how children can be damaged and placed at risk by adults who somewhat compulsively engage in dicey behaviors. The mood of his novel is extremely dark. Except for the children, there is little to like or admire in most of the characters, including the narrator--Pete Snow. Pete is a social worker in Montana who is dedicated to saving children from risky circumstances caused by adults. Pete seems to connect well with the children while failing to do so with most adults. Ironically and inexplicably, his own lifestyle reflects a similar dysfunctional background and is totally inconsistent with his professional dedication. He comes from a dysfunctional family, is estranged from his show more brother who is a fugitive criminal, is estranged from his alcoholic wife, has an extreme drinking problem of his own, has an affair with a colleague who has similarly been damaged by a dysfunctional childhood and has a daughter who is a runaway. The latter character--Rachel/Rose--is developed completely through a series of interviews that Henderson inserts at various points in the narrative.

A secondary plot element follows Jeremiah Pearl and his devoted son, Benjamin. Pearl is a paranoid survivalist living in the wilderness with his large family. Except for Benjamin, the rest of the Pearl family is not well developed in the novel. Pearl is a hard man but seems to love his son and cares for his family. Initially, Ben seems to be just another example of a child abused by a self-absorbed parent, but as the narrative progresses, Henderson reveals a warmer relationships. We learn the family history through backstory--the mother is extremely religious, believes in omens and is prone to magical thinking. Because he is devoted to her, Jeremiah is excessively influenced by her strange behavior. Her problems result in a tragedy that cannot be revealed without spoiling the reading experience.

The narrative is totally engaging because of multiple plot threads, interesting characters and the rural Montana setting, which is ably evoked by Henderson. The novel is long and tries to do a lot, thus occasionally leaving minor issues unresolved. However, for the most part, Henderson manages to remain focused on his main theme in this fine novel. show less

“...the world is a blade and dread is hope cut open and spread inside out.”

Pete Snow is a social worker who rescues children from abusive and dysfunctional families in the hinterlands of Montana. He gets kids out of dangerous houses and tries to find better environments for them to live in. This is fairly heroic stuff and we are supposed to like him for it but his own family is a mess, he walked out on his wife and daughter when his wife cheated on him, his brother is on the run after beating up his parole officer and he's a misogynistic alcoholic who drinks himself into violence, punching out his own car windows on one occasion and a young client in the stomach on another.

When Pete encounters undernourished twelve year-old Benjamin show more Pearl, the son of a profoundly disturbed anti-government, apocalyptic, paranoid who reveres the Old Testament and whose delusions have driven him and his family to live in the wilderness, Pete must gradually try and gain Jeremiah’s trust. As Pete's own family spins out of control (his daughter runs away from home), Pearl's activities spark the interest of the federal agencies and puts Pete in to the middle of a massive manhunt.

The story is told with a third-person narrator which infuses the novel with an element of realism. There are some conversations but these are somewhat stage-managed but we can see Pete's smart-ass remarks as a way of dealing with the stresses of his job as he struggles to infuse a little decency into the lives of his clients.

With the probable exception of the paranoid Pearl none of the characters in this book are very likeable, this is particularly true of the women who are generally sluts and harpies. Most of the chapters focus on Pete but interspersed within the main plot there are short sections in which his daughter Rachel/ Rose chats with a mystery person, presumably the reader. Personally I don't feel that I really needed to read about the childhood sexual exploitation she faced as a runaway and felt that they were a distraction rather than adding to the main story. I also felt that it simply took too long for us to meet Jeremiah and would have liked to have seen him introduced earlier but on the whole I found this to be compulsive reading and I generally enjoyed it, Henderson does a good job of making Pete’s life complicated without confusing the reader and without giving away the ending I will sat that it doesn't end in a complete disaster. Social work is filled with bleakness as well as hope. show less

In 1970s-1980s rural Montana, social worker Pete Snow tries to keep his own life together while helping the children in his care.

Smith Henderson has written a very readable book, a gripping story with several insights about the hardships of life on the fringes of society. However, I had a major problem with the novel that kept me from enjoying it completely. The main male characters in the book -- Pete, his brother Luke, and the survivalist Jeremiah Pearl, who Pete encounters in the woods with his son Benjamin -- are, despite their deep flaws, basically noble men trying to do their best by their kids and families. Pete himself has a failed marriage, is battling alcoholism, has a runaway teenage daughter, and seems prone to criminality, show more but it's clear that he cares about the kids he comes across and only wants to help them in any way he can. In contrast, the women in this novel are all ruins. They are addicted to either drugs, alcohol or sex; they are failures as girlfriends, wives and, most especially, mothers. They may love their children, but inevitably wind up damaging them, sometimes irreparably. The only female character who's allowed to show some strength is Pete's runaway daughter, Rachel, but she may well be on the road to ruin herself -- her fate is a question mark. I found this treatment of men and women in the story to be incredibly lopsided, without justification -- a feeling that continued to grow as I continued to read. While all in all, I liked the book and admired the writing, I had to deduct a star just because of this one-sidedness. show less

"'I'll put one in that boy's brain before I let you have him. That is a solemn fuckin promise.' He leaned forward. Pete flinched. The man spat on him. Then he whipped around and heaved his naked son up onto his hip and jogged into the brush…Another day at the office." (35)

There is lots of tough talk in this debut book. The rugged setting and gritty characters reminded me of some of my favorite authors, Daniel Woodrell, Cormac McCarthy, and Jon Clinch. Set in a rural part of Montana, Pete Snow is a social worker for Child Protective Services. Looking out for the needs of children is an interesting job for a man whose daughter detests him and who is barely able to hold his own life together. We soon learn that Pete doesn't shy away from show more difficult situations. When he investigates the curious case of Benjamin Pearl who is malnourished and dressed in rags, he repeatedly tries to help an angry survivalist who doesn't want any help.

Young Ben is just one of his many cases that drives Pete to the bars at night for some relief. And then, there is his personal tragedy: a broken marriage and a runaway teenage daughter. The author is in no hurry to tie up the many crossroads of Pete's life as he juggles his cases and travels the country in search of his daughter. The logistics of travel are not so easy in this part of the country. Wyoming is such a vast and wild area that even the town Pete lives in is named Tenmile for its distance from "civilization." His clients are spread over a big area from the back woods to the empty spaces of the plains. Daughter Rachel uses the state name as a verb when she "wyoms" (which I interpreted as an aimless sort of wandering) through her life.

I ended up caring about (most) of these hardscrabble characters that were so difficult to like in the beginning. Smith Henderson knows something about living in poverty and the overwhelming odds against those living on the fringes of society…and he doesn't flinch or mince words when he tells their stories. This was a remarkable debut, and I look forward to seeing what is next in Mr. Henderson's arsenal. show less

***NO SPOILERS***

(Full disclosure: book abandoned on page 161, out of 467 pages)

I exercised a lot of patience with Fourth of July Creek, but if a story’s main plot doesn’t start until 100 pages in, something’s wrong. The summary sounded exciting, and I liked the protagonist, social worker Pete Snow; however, up until that exciting-sounding main plot finally got going, I was reading a lot of directionless side plots. These include Pete’s other case (most interesting), his frequent drinking (uninteresting), and his domestic problems (mildly interesting but seemingly irrelevant). This is what happens when an author is overly ambitious; the connecting thread can get lost, and quickly. Adding to this, all his characters lack show more memorability beyond physical descriptions, and even those aren’t special. Fourth of July Creek needed serious winnowing--to a side plot devoted just to Pete’s challenging and sometimes dangerous career as a social worker.

As for the main storyline, as is described in the summary, a strange man preparing for the end times, which he believes are imminent, has a young boy in tow. Judging by the boy’s appearance, Pete is concerned he’s being severely neglected and in danger. There’s some interesting discussion of “hobo pennies” here, but as hobo pennies aren’t threatening, the fear factor surrounding the mystery man is missing. Henderson did attempt a suspenseful scene earlier on, but it’s disappointingly anti-climactic. The most electric scenes are actually when Pete visits two different clients.

I’m surprised Fourth of July Creek won several awards, because aside from the plotting and characterization flaws, Henderson just isn’t a gifted writer. In the exposition, he wrote too frequently in fragments. In dialogue, his idea of making it realistic involved omitting words, but it’s awkward, not to mention unnecessary. I’m not convinced he had a clear vision for what he wanted his book to be. He should have scrapped this entirely and started from square one with “less is more” in mind. show less