4+ stars
I loved the writing from the beginning and fell for all of these quirky characters, and in the middle of the book I thought maybe this would be a nice story, predictable and sweet. I was partially right. The story ended up being more than that. In this down and out, waning town of Greenstone, MN, not far from Duluth, a lot of tough have things happened and it made perfect sense to rename their annual festival “Hard Luck Days.” Oh it’s humorous to read about them “the frog monsoon” with “thousands of frogs raining down” or when the water tower “slid off its footings”, but there really is a lot of loss and sadness for the people of Greenstone. The mining and the shipping businesses were gone, the jobs were gone and people left. There are two boys who have lost their fathers, a kite flying stranger from Arctic Circle who has lost a son he never knew he had, and there is Virgil, our main character who has lost some of his memory, some of his words, mostly adjectives when his car skids off the road in a near death accident and there are the people whose fate is death.

Virgil Wander, part time city clerk and owner of the The Empress, an old fashioned single screen movie theater that sees few customers, is the center of this beautifully told, albeit odd story. Yet, I fell in love with this quirky cast of characters for their kindness to each other, their compassion and how easily they know the needs of their friends. There’s something sad and melancholy about this place, these characters. I worried about them - Rune, the man with his beautiful kite creations - a dog, a bicycle, a car, a stained-glass window, a cloudberry pie and other wonderful creations that drew the town to him. I worried about ten year old Galen, who knows he has to get that sturgeon, the one his father tried to catch. I worried about Virgil and whether he’d get his adjectives but mostly whether he’d find happiness. I worried about what would happen to this place whose inhabitants were full of heart in spite of the humorous and sad things that happened and whether they would survive the evil that also existed here. These were characters I didn’t want to leave and ones that I recommend you come to know. (Peace Like a River by Enger is one of my favorite books and I would recommend that as well.)


I read this with Esil and Diane as our book for September and as always a joy to discuss with them especially when we end up feeling the same way.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Grove Atlantic through NetGalley.

“Maximum Ceiling”

A small Minnesota industrial town is put under the microscope in this beautifully written story of one man’s perspective and love for his home. Young and old are represented as are their hopes, dreams, and past lives. It is all told through the victim of a traumatic brain injury, that injury not being all bad.

Virgil Wander is owner of The Empress, an old and crumbling main street movie house. Virgil’s near death accident when his car goes off the road and lands in Lake Superior, leaves a “new” Virgil in its wake, one with an expanded view of this Midwest town and its inhabitants, a cast of colorful characters who make up the fabric of his community.

Rune is the old kite-flying gentleman who is trying to connect in the only way he knows to his missing son Alec. Rune’s daughter-in-law Nadine and his grandson Bjorn are virtual strangers being transformed into family. It is breathtaking to watch this transformation. The writing is so exquisite.

Jerry Fandeen is the broken man in crisis, looking for a foothold. The Pea family adds weight with their folklore and their familial story of a scary sturgeon. The mysterious Mr. Leer is a seemingly soulless man who brings forth the fear of death in those he encounters.

Virgil’s utter acceptance of all of these characters is the literary glue that lovingly pieces them together, a patchwork quilt of sorts. It’s a love letter to the small Minnesota town that time forgot.

BRB Rating: Read It.

Greenstone, Minnesota
day of release from St. Luke's Hospital in Duluth
world began reorganizing itself- his seeing it shifted


Cannot remember going off cliff- flying like in movies
getting a peek at heaven or hell, glimpse of relatives...

Ever "Wander" why a book doesn't quite work for you?

Virgil Wander is the owner of the local "movie house" when his car goes off the road and into Lake Superior. The accident has left him with memory and language issues and his entire town is unfamiliar to him. Speaking of the town, there are many quirky and interesting characters who remained in their Midwestern town long after others have moved on.

So, I am most likely in the minority on this book, but I have to say that I found parts of this book to be boring. Yes, there are some quirky and interesting characters but at times things just felt flat and the zaniness and the silly situations the characters found themselves in got old fast. I can't fault the writing which was very good, this is just a case of this book wasn't for me. I found myself stopping and starting this book as I found my attention wandering while reading. I believe I picked up and read four other books while attempting to finish this one. In many ways this book reminded me of Fredrik Backman's books but without the charming feel I get from them. This one left me underwhelmed.

Three stars for the beautiful prose. Other's loved this book and I am reminded that we all can't love the same book. It bares to mind the sentiment that not two people read the same book. I really wanted to love this one. I choose it based on a positive review, but it didn't work for me. Was it me and not the book. I don’t know. For me, the book started slowly then got better and by the end began to lose some momentum again.

Thank you to Grove Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A luminous, beguiling, charming book. Virgil Wander drives his car off a cliff in his small Midwestern town; saved by am acquaintance, his new life becomes one of wonder and discovery. Virgil's brush with death leaves him with missing adjectives but new people in his life, including the widow, son, and father of the town's most famous resident, who vanished a dozen years before; the town's celebrity, an unsettling and manipulative man; and others. The entire novel is like a poem, something to be read and re-read and savored.

I'm so happy I read this one! It's a beautiful story filled with unforgettable characters, and I was a little sad when I reached the end of the book. I would have liked to have spent more time in this little town. It's a fantastic story that's beautifully written. I loved the kites!



A big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

There was something rather whimsical about the narration of this book,also something very familiar I couldn't quite put my finger on.
I raced through the first half getting to know who was who,what they did and how they fitted into the town.
Then the story slowed down I felt,and I never quite got to liking it as much again.
It was still charming,and funny and a tiny bit sad... but didn't quite hit the fab read I'd thought it might be.

Virgil Wander is 'my kind of book'--set in the midwest, full of quirky characters and interesting situations. I am so happy to see another offering from Leif Enger!

This is a remarkable book for the artistry of the words, the realistically oddball characters, and the story, with its touch of Northwoods magic realism. The main character, Virgil Wander, has an accident that damages his brain in addition to his body, which Enger describes with delicious clarity, The result is a unique mental quirk: Virgil cannot remember adjectives. But his doctor reminds him that, as any good writer knows, you communicate better with nouns and verbs. Enger demonstrates the power of all parts of speech, in quote-wordy graph after graph, as Virgil creates a new life from the leftovers of his old one. The language alone makes the book a wonder to read.

Virgil, who narrates the book, introduces us to his community in the bad luck town of Greenstone, north of Duluth, Minnesota. People have landed there by chance, as Virgil did, lured by a lake view and cheap real estate; others were born there, as was the mysterious and sinister Adam Leer; and then there's the elfin Rune, who shows up on the shore of Lake Superior flying kits. But these are no ordinary kites—they're so mystical that people passing by stop and wait their turns to fly the giant dog, or anvil, or triangle of Texaco maps.

The characters’ lives move with as quirky precision as the kites and eventually reach a conclusion that ties together story lines and loose strings. I hated when the book ended because I didn't want to leave these people behind.

This is my first Leif Enger book, but I will soon right that wrong. I’d give it more than five stars, if I could.

I thank Grove Press and NetGalley for a free review copy in return for an unbiased review.

A quaint, pleasant, read, almost like listening to Garrison Keillor. No high drama, no gore, no sex, just a lovely telling of small town life amidst wonderments large & small.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for allowing me to read the ARC of Virgil Wander, by Leif Enger.
In the dying mining town of Greenstone, MN, Virgil Wander, who was rescued from the icy waters of Lake Superior, tries to regain his memories, his friendships, and his life. This slow moving, friendly, caring town is the perfect place for him to recover, as he enjoys running The Empress movie house, which brings joy to everyone in town, next to fishing, and playing baseball. When Rune, a kite-flying, pipe-smoking, investigator comes to town, looking for his son, Alec, a baseball player, who has disappeared, he and Virgil become fast friends. There is Nadine, Alec’s wife and her sad son, Bjorn, Tom, a journalist, and his oldest friend, and a cast of many other colorful characters. Virgil is in the right place to put his life back together. This book is a relaxing, entertaining book full of hope and the true meaning of community.

4.5 Stars

“Got nothing against a big town
Still hayseed enough to say
Look who's in the big town
But my bed is in a small town
Oh, and that's good enough for me

“Well I was born in a small town
And I can breathe in a small town
Gonna die in this small town
And that's probably where they'll bury me”
--Small Town, John Mellencamp, Songwriters: John Mellencamp

”If I were to pinpoint when the world began reorganizing itself—that is, when my seeing of it began to shift—it would be the day a stranger named Rune blew into our bad luck town of Greenstone, Minnesota, like a spark from the boreal gloom. It was also the day of my release from St. Luke’s Hospital down in Duluth, so I was concussed and more than a little adrift.”

So begins the story of our narrator, Virgil Wander, of this town, and those who have come to this town, and even the stories of a few of those who have left. The fantastical, multiple stories woven together of the residents and the town, itself looming over all as this story slowly comes to light, unveiling a little at a time, even if some of this feels slightly, weirdly, mysterious.

Greenstone was once an active mining town on the shores of Lake Superior, but those days are now past. Most things you could say about Greenstone were in the past tense: it was once home to a once-famous pitcher whose fame was as long lasting as his pitch – it disappeared along with him after pitching a no-hitter. Even Virgil, himself, was once a different version of the man he is becoming, a man who seems to have lost all of his adjectives since the accident that left him concussed, but also a more congenial, if not necessarily happier, Virgil.

Virgil, city clerk for this town, and owner of the one and only movie theatre, the Empress, a theatre with an unusual collection of films. Add into this mix a cast of characters and a continuous stream of seemingly unreal sequence of events that left me feeling a bit dizzy – if still amused. There’s a very subtle humour in the way this is written, the kind that embraces these people and their quirky, somewhat befuddled ways.

”So it seemed a decent Christmas—maybe even a kind of pinnacle, given the realities of a place like the Empress; and it didn’t escape me that this little group belonged in a movie itself, the fatigued ragtag ensemble unlikely to win the day.”

Perhaps even more than embracing these people, what Virgil discovers, ultimately, is how to embrace life.



Pub Date: 02 OCT 2018


Many thanks for the ARC provided by Grove Atlantic / Grove Press

A charming, picturesque, small town tale with great characters and an odd series of events. A very satisfying read.

I love the style of Leif Enger's writing. I was immediately comfortable with Virgil and the other main characters in the book. Felt as if I grew up there, myself. As the story of Alec Sandstrom's life emerges for his father, we are given little pieces of the puzzle that makes up this sometimes-sad, sometimes heartwarming little town. Everyone has their personal struggles, but somehow they struggle 'together' in their shared existence. I will definitely go back to Mr. Enger's prior writings! This book was a joy to read.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to spend some time in Greenstone.

What an extraordinary book. Powerful and affecting... I loved the warm quirky town and characters, their involvement with each other, and the journey Virgil takes us on. I was really touched by this story and did not want it to end. Thanks to Grove Atlantic Grove Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Grove Press
Pub. Date: Oct. 2, 2018

The author, Leif Enger, is the winner of many awards including the 2008 Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Award Honor Book for Fiction. He captures the heart of small-town life when the town has seen better days. This may be because he lives on a farm with his wife and two children in the Midwest. The title gets its name from the story’s protagonist and narrator. Virgil owns and runs the town’s only movie theater, The Empress. For that reason and other similarities, this novel has shades of the 1971 film, “The Last Picture Show.” But there is also much different. The film is a realistic version of a flagging town. This book is like reading about a small-town while smoking a joint. The writing is playful, sometimes too much so and it can get puzzling.

The book’s pages are filled with quirky characters. Among others, there is, of course, Virgil who survives a near-death experience in the books opening pages. He awakens in the hospital in a fog-like confused state, which sets the tone for the rest of the novel. There is also his friend who was a minor league eccentric baseball pitcher. He has disappeared years ago, leaving behind his beautiful wife and now depressed teenage son. An old man kite-flying Norwegian pied-piper, who has come in search of the son he never knew he had until recently. The son is the disappeared pitcher. There is even a pet a pet raccoon not to mention a killer sturgeon fish who takes the life of a father leaving yet another fatherless son in the story. The towns’ bad luck is every bit as much of a character. Still, expect a fun read. All in all, this is a story that will make you chuckle. You will smile that happiness can be found in hard times. But, the goofiness can begin to feel like overload.

Meet Virgil, a mild-mannered city councilman who has lived and worked in Greenstone, Minnesota for 25 years. His burdening pride is the Empress, the struggling theater where he lives upstairs and also hoards a very valuable closet full of original reels of priceless classic movies left there by the previous owner.
As Leif Enger lays out the town, it’s inhabitants, Virgil’s slow but steady life and his huge misadventure of driving off a cliff into Lake Superior and surviving, only to find that he struggles for adjectives, you may feel things are moving a bit slow but stick with him. This too shall pass. Think “Big Fish” but more believable. The plot includes a murdering sturgeon, a rabid raccoon, Bob Dylan bragging rights (although Dylan’s memory of the place is negative), a family man who flies off into the sunset over the lake and never returns, and a full colorful cast of likable and detestable townsfolk and tourists to pepper the plot. The town itself is struggling to the point that the City Council decides to start an annual event called Hard Luck Days, complete with a parade to reenact the day the water tower fell. And even this celebration takes an unforeseeable quirk on the day of the hapless event.
The characters are wonderful, the Midwestern town is reminiscent of some I’ve visited, and the humanity and selflessness of dear Virgil is worth a big hug. I loved this book, and must now get Leif’s novel “Peace Like a River”.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Grove Atlantic for making it available.)

The last time Leif Enger wrote a book I enjoyed this much, (Peace Like a River), I bought multiple copies to give. I believe I will have to do the same with Virgil Wander. The setting is a once industrial iron ore town on the shores of Lake Superior. The town may have many issues, but the people are coping in strange and wondrous ways. Virgil is a survivor of an unusual accident and the owner of the town’s movie house. His small Midwestern town is populated by characters that embrace him and each other. They seek certain wholeness within their lives and world. The language and descriptions are wonderful, and the story takes unexpected turns. You will feel that you have entered the humor, sorrow and possibilities of Greenstone. This is a book that you will read again and again. (I started it from the first page after I closed the book.) This is a must read, a must gift and a portal into a place where kindness and hope can turn lives around. Highly recommended.

This book was beautiful. The characters were interesting and quirky and mainly people you would like to know. People you can care about. People who are in the process of becoming, even as their town is, just maybe, becoming. Even the few characters who are not good people are interesting and are not villainous so much as, perhaps, just not getting along in this world.

There are interesting themes to contemplate. Memory is a major theme here - the lead character Virgil has lost much of his memory after the accident that begins the book. Rune comes to town, because he never knew he had a son (who died before he found out about him) and so has no memories of him - so he talks to everyone possible about their memories. There are memories of what the town once was.

And kites - the kites that Rune brings to town. Perhaps symbolizing the hopes of renewal?

This isn't a book to be summed up - it's a book to be read and savored. I am still thinking about many of the events in the book, and working through what they meant. I expect it's one I'll want to re-read down the road, because I think there is more to be found in this book.

Warm, lovely, kind…words I might use to describe my fiancée, but certainly not a reading choice. Normally I tend to go for something considerably darker, to match my worldview. So I was somewhat reluctant to read this slice of small town Americana with a distinct Midwestern flavor. And yet the gamble paid off. When done right, kind and lovely apparently can do well on the page, and this book is positively suffused with warmth, incongruous as it is with its Minnesota setting. Virgil Wander is a man who, despite his name, stays in one place and shies away from excitement. His grand adventures are played out on silver screen, one belonging to the movie theatre he owns, operates and lives above. It’s a quiet life in a quiet town classic, until Virgil drives off the road and nearly dies. Rescued, he survives and befriends a stranger in town, a Norwegian man by the name of Rune who’s come to trace the life of a son he never knew he had, Greenstone’s beloved son, high flying baseball playing neon sign creator who has disappeared ten years ago prompting much speculation. Rune is one of those magical characters that brings everyone together, the man positively twinkles, he bakes bread and he infuses the place with magic by flying kites. Awesome, awesome kites. And on the opposite end of the magic spectrum there’s another visitor to the town, the long gone Leer, a man of money, panache and apparently evil nature. And so it is the two magnetic opposites that oscillate and orient the town, each with their own gravitational forces. But, of course, the good wins out in the end, it’s just that kind of a story, a praise of genuine goodness of character embodying all the traditional Midwestern qualities of steadiness, good manners and taking care of your neighbors. Presumably…I don’t know, I’ve never been to Midwest or lived in a small town, but this is exactly the sort of place that city dwellers tired of it all suppose/dream/assume is on the other side of the fence. Greener grass, slower pace, quiet grace of quotidian pleasures. That’s the place the author created. Took his time too, first book in a decade, but it’s so good. It positively oozes charm. Uncharacteristic of a choice as it was for me. It’s like a literary equivalent of a warm blanket on a winter evening. It makes you slightly happier for having read it…kind of like seeing a creatively made kite flying in the sky. It read somewhat slow for the page count, but it was well worth it. Enger’s a natural storyteller, his command of language is terrific and he turns out subtly lovely sentences, humorous at times and occasionally a thing of pure beauty. So yeah, warm, lovely and kind…in a book and it’s a pleasure to read. Go figure. The real world is going to be difficult after this one. But this was a great find. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.