Josh Ritter is a singer/songwriter. This is his first novel and he's created a unique, magical universe. Weldon Applegate is ninety-nine years old and on his death bed. As his life dwindles away, he recounts the story of his life. He grew up in the small town of Cordelia, Idaho hearing stories of his ancestors, legendary lumberjacks. Weldon wants to grow up to join the ranks of his ancestors. He had to use all that inherited skill to keep his father's land, the Lost Lot, out of the hands of the evil Linden Laughlin. Ritter fills the story with ancient magic, murder, intrigue, saloon songs and a lot of heart! Readers will enjoy this new voice in popular fantasy/literature. Many thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.

"Memory has a way of growing things, of improving them. The hardships get harder, the good times get better and the whole damn arc of a life takes on a mystic glow that only memory can give it." "...when you get as old as me...people want to hear your whole life story...life back then...when you live to be ninety-nine years you pretty much got the living part down...".

Weldon Applegate was born into a family of lumberjacks of meteoric reputation. Tom Applegate, Weldon's daddy, had promised Weldon's mama that he would no longer brave the dangers of a jack's life. Tom had "conquered his true nature and found safe harbor...the steady sureties of settled life." Now a widower, Tom ran a general store with his thirteen year old son, Weldon in the tiny timber town of Cordelia, Idaho. Tom had inherited "the most lumberjackingest place on the face of the Earth...The Lost Lot...a murderous, glorious ground with the biggest white pines there ever were...". Sohvia the Witch's prognostications advised against it, however, Tom threw caution to the wind, partnered up with Linden Laughlin [the best jack that had ever lived] and hired a team of jacks who were promised double pay to take down trees in the mountainous area, an area subject to avalanches and brutal winter storms. Upon Tom Applegate's death, thirteen year old Weldon acquired the Lost Lot and his granddaddy's ax.

"The woods are no place for a wee bairn" according to Linden Laughlin. "Maybe Linden wasn't a man at all but...a kind of forest spirit...he was seven feet tall and had three rows of teeth...as a woods boss he could strike fear and respect...lead...jacks up any mountain with the knowledge that the timber would get taken out..." Linden called Weldon "cub". With granddaddy's ax in hand, Weldon made the ten mile trek to the Lost Lot. "There was a time before I'd ever seen the ornery side of myself. All that changed-that long ago December night...I would be transformed into a lumberjack."

"...even at my age of ninety nine years...knowledge of [Joe Mouffreau's] essential wretchedness has come to shape my belief that our mortal enemies can keep us alive...[Joe] lying, foolish, condescending, big talking...convinced his daddy to start a 'fancy new way' just to log the holy hell out of the St. Anne."

The town of Cordy was now empty, silent, with no jacks stopping by...no laughing...no cussing. "The jacks are dying out. Their time has come. The World has been coming for a long, long time." With humor, magic and a dose of profanity, singer-songwriter Josh Ritter weaves a tale of lumberjacking in the American West at the beginning of the twentieth century. Weldon's pluck and
stick-to-itiveness to uphold his family tradition created a fun-filled adventurous read. I absolutely loved it!

Thank you HARLEQUIN/Hanover Square Press and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I so wanted to love this book. I found the writing to be all over the place. and hard to understand. I understand that it was part of the story and "dialect" but I was left confused rather than charmed.

Thank you to Libro.fm and Netgalley for the ALC/ARC. I LOVED the beginning and liked the rest. The voice and constant swearing felt believable and true. I rooted for the main character. Ultimately though it felt thin to me.

Weldon Applegate was 13 when he and his father moved to Cordelia, Idaho. Weldon's father wants his son removed from the civilizing influences of starched collars and Sunday services, but still intends to honor his promise to Weldon's late mother not to go to work again as a lumberjack. Instead, he will run the general store while Weldon makes friends around town, and some pocket change, as he delivers the local hooch to its various hiding places.

But when the near-mythical lumberjack Linden Laughlin comes to town, promising the elder Applegate that they can both make a fortune if they partner together to clear the Applegate family's "Lost Lot," Weldon's father can't resist. Weldon looks back on the results of that fateful decision from his deathbed 80+ years later and gives the reader the benefit of his acerbic observations.

From the very first sentence, readers will be transported into the rough world of lumberjacks, with all its coarseness and danger. Filled with boldly written, exaggerated characters, this lush, yet gritty tale will captivate readers who appreciate authentic dialogue and a strong sense of place.

I did not expect to like this book so much! The writing is beautiful and the story is compelling. Gives the Paul Bunyon folktales a run for their money.

What a rip-roaring ride of a tale! One of the best books I’ve read in a long time.
If you are offended by profanity this book will offend you. But if you want to read a well written story of lumberjacks and living in a hard world, this book is for you.

Hooray, Mr. Ritter. Well done.

I loved this coming of age story set during the waning logging days of the lumberjacks. It was an outsized fantastical tale told with humor, heart and humanity. Would highly recommend. For fans of Fredrik Bachman or Overstory.

Ninety-nine-year-old Weldon Applegate, in the hospital after being shot, recalls the year his father died falling trees in early 1920s Northern Idaho. Then 13, Weldon inherited the deed to the Lost Lot, a legendary and cursed strand of forest where many loggers lost their lives, and has to decide what path his life will take - if he'll be the fourth generation to go into the woods or if he'll leave. A story of legends out of tall tales, and of growing up and growing old. I've been reading excerpts from this book to family members and co-workers for the past two days - Weldon's narration begs to be shared.

The GGG of it All was not the book I was expecting it to be and I flipping LOVED it! Josh Ritter really has a gift for story weaving. The story, stars Weldon Applegate (the best turn of the century name ever) as he recounts his life for the reader while he's on what maybe his death bed.

Weldon's recounting of the early 20th Century and the dying trade of lumber jacking is both amazing and incredibly sad. Weldon really captures the way of life during that time and how it could all come crashing down as "progress" continues to move forward. What I absolutely LOVED more than anything is the sense of magic we get from Weldon as he tells his tales. Parts, he admits, might have been because he was a young man, but mostly both Weldon and the reader are never REALLY sure if there was magic at work or if it was all in how Weldon's perspective was at the time. That's what really made this book feel so genuine to me, the slightly over the top details and humor throughout gave me the feeling it was my own grandfather narrating the novel and not the mind of Josh Ritter. Awesome book!

** Side note, any violence written in the novel is done very well and Weldon's changing understanding of what is happening/ what happened is noted throughout.

I just finish reading "The Glorious Goddamn of it All" by Josh Ritter. Set in the times of lumberjacks and adventure in the old settler times, this book captures a time in history where people survived on instinct and reputation, and had to fight for everything they were given. There were no rules in place, so people had to use their wits to make the best life possible.
In this book, the main character wants to be a lumberjack against the wishes of his father and sets off to claim what is his and profit from an wild plot of land where claiming the trees could make him a fortune but could also lead to his death.
The story follows his life and although the language is rough, it is properly used because it sets a tone for the reality of the time in which it is set.
The author, Josh Ritter, does an exccellent job of using descriptive words that portray the emotion and harsh reality of the time, and the reader is transported back to that era in part because of the imagery created through the auhor's words.
This book is heartwarming because the reader wants the boy to succeed, and make his life better, and the journey, although filled with sadness, is a journey worth taking with this book.
Although not my normal choice of genre, I decided to take a chance with this book and was not disappointed. I loved the characters and felt engaged in what was happening in the story. Thank you to Net Galley for giving me an advance copy of this book to enjoy.

Readers who love magical realism, tall tales about logging life, in-the-woods small town lore, movies like Big Fish or Secondhand Lions will really enjoy this book. As will anyone who can simply appreciate some colorful swearing. I devoured it!

A beautifully written, almost lyrical story about growing up, family loyalty and the dangers and beauty of nature.

A rollicking just-this side-of-tall tale of lumberjacks in the American Northwest. Young Weldon Applegate inherits a bounteous but nearly impossible-to-log plot. He joins forces with and then faces off against the legendary jack Linden Laughlin. The plot is less satisfying than the prose and characterizations. Singer-songwriter Ritter has a real gift for putting words together and for capturing a specific place and time.

I really hate to say it.....but I think I might be too stuck in my youth to have enjoyed this novel at face value. I think it would probably appeal to an older audience, who like to look back on their youth and think about the choices they made and how they changed the course of their lives, but I'm in my early twenties and did not connect to this story at all.

I will say, however, that the story itself (when looking from the outside in), was well-paced, nicely written, and overall a good story. This is NOT a bad book - it just wasn't my cup of tea.

A fantastic, albeit not really my scene, type of book involving lumberjacks, family drama, and witches from Finland.

Absolutely THE BEST book I have read in years. A literary masterpiece crafted by a gifted writer. I didn't want it to end! Set in the waning days of the lumberjack, the life long recounting of his experience holds you rapt as RItter takes you on a magic carpet ride back in time. Well done Mr Ritter!!