Michael Lee

At its core, Walking to Gatlinburg is a story about 17-year-old Morgan Kinneson, who leaves his home in Vermont in 1864, a sad and terrible time in America, and heads south to find his missing brother, Pilgrim. In the hands of Howard Frank Mosher, a somewhat formulaic plot becomes something original and unconventional.

Over the course of his journey, young Morgan meets, fights and loves a cast of characters—including a woman who lives in a tree and an elephant named Caliph—that in lesser hands could be perceived as over the top. But Mosher has an uncanny ability to render both character and setting highly believable. His eye for detail, especially in describing the Great Smoky Mountains, is reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s rendering of the greater Southwest, and his dialects sound spot-on to this reviewer’s ear.

There is also a mystical quality to Morgan’s odyssey, seen in the constant depictions of runes that act as both guide and symbol throughout the novel. Very early on in the story, a dangerous group of killers are on Morgan’s trail for befriending a black man named Jesse, who helped slaves run away to Canada. Morgan knows in his heart that his brother is still alive, somewhere in the South; but in his quest to find Pilgrim, he must now also defend himself against these deadly men, who pop up at the most inconvenient times.

What is so satisfying about Walking to Gatlinburg is that it can be read on so many levels. It is a wonderful adventure story, full of intrigue and plot twists, and it is the story of a young man coming of age, through many trials and travails. And finally, it is a story of love—not only the brotherly love Morgan has for Pilgrim, but the love he develops for his country and its people, in all their variations.

Mosher is a rare storyteller, able to both instruct and entertain, and he brings all his talents to this unforgettable and unique novel.

Michael Lee is a member of the National Book Critics Circle.

Life is not easy for Oscar Wao. He's a grossly overweight nerd with a sci-fi writing jones and the social skills of a three-toed sloth. If that's not enough of a burden for a young man with testosterone coursing through his system, Oscar also has the regrettable habit of falling headlong in love with a litany of women. Sometimes all it takes is a brief encounter on a bus and Oscar's heart runs aflutter.

We know Oscar is doomed from the book's title, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, but what the reader might not be prepared for is the whopping scope of Junot Diaz's highly entertaining first novel. Oscar is the launching pad for a rollicking family saga that examines a myriad of places and issues, among them life in the Dominican Republic, New Jersey, Rutgers University, immigration, poverty, politics, a family curse and, yes, the curious layers of unrequited love.

Relegated to secondary status through generations of sexism, the real heroes of this novel are the women. D’az intricately traces the tumult in the lives of Oscar's sister Lola and their dazzling mother Belicia. As we become familiar with their history, Oscar returns to the Dominican Republic, where he finds the love of his brief life, the prostitute living across the street. Somehow this talented author makes it all plausible.

Upon the release of his short-story collection, Drown, in 1996, Diaz's distinctive voice, which interspersed Spanish with American street lingo, made him a new literary star. His first novel, arriving a decade later, proves well worth waiting for. The real entertainment is the marvel of Diaz's voice, which is hip, high-energy, multilingual and often hysterically funny. Diaz turns in a bravura performance that will win him new fans and thrill those of us who celebrated his story collection. Now we can only hope it won't be another 10 years before his next book.

Michael Lee is the author of the essay collection In an Elevator with Brigitte Bardot.