Prairie Nocturne

In Prairie Nocturne, Ivan Doig once again presents a host of authentic, memorable, three-dimensional characters who will remain with readers long after they get to the end of this long-ish novel. Readers have encountered many of the characters before in Doig’s impressive sequence of a dozen-or-so Mo......more

Not the usual kind of stuff I love from Doig, but, except for a few places where it seemed to drag, his usual excellent prose and interesting characters made for great read. Much more relationship oriented than usual, and touching on some very controversial (for its day) subjects. Published in 2010,......more

This one had a setup/secret that made it hard to put the book down. While the secret was a little anticlimactic, he did a good job dragging us along and the conflict created in the characters - 3 great ones. Monty the black cowhand trying his hand at singing late in life. 1920’s Montana, not great fo......more

Prairie Nocturne is part of the Doig's series that includes characters Wes Williamson and Susan Duff. Most of the novel takes place in 1924. Wes comes from a wealthy family and Susan's family had property near his family's. Susan has a beautiful voice but does not perform, instead, she gives voice l......more

At least in my life, Doig's writing seems always to run alongside my own puzzlings over what's currently going on in my world. Here we have a meditation on love and color -- that an advantaged whitey like myself or, for that matter, our protagonist Susan, cannot even begin to imagine what it's like......more