Remember Ben Clayton

Harrigan, Stephen

ISBN 10: 0307265811 / ISBN 13: 9780307265814

Published by U.S.A.: Knopf, 2011

About this Item

NF/NF. First edition, first printing. Inscribed and dated by author on half title page. 354 pp. Seller Inventory # 15972

Bibliographic Details

Title: Remember Ben Clayton

Publisher: U.S.A.: Knopf

Publication Date: 2011

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Near Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

From the author of the acclaimed best seller The Gates of the Alamo, a new novel that confirms and enlarges Stephen Harrigan’s reputation as a major voice in American fiction.

Francis “Gil” Gilheaney is a sculptor of boundless ambition. But bad fortune and his own prideful spirit have driven him from New York into artistic exile in Texas just after World War I. His adult daughter, Maureen, serves as his assistant, although she has artistic ambitions of her own and is beginning to understand how her own career—perhaps even her life—has become hostage to her driven father’s “wild pursuit of glory.” When Lamar Clayton, an aging, heartbroken rancher, offers Gil a commission to create a memorial statue of his son Ben, who was killed in the war, Gil seizes the opportunity to create what he believes will be his greatest achievement.

As work proceeds on the statue, Gil and Maureen come to realize that their new client is a far more complicated man than he appeared to be on first acquaintance, and that Lamar is guarding a secret that haunts his relationship with his son even in death. But Gil is haunted as well: by the fear that his work will be forgotten and by an unconscionable lie whose discovery could cost him his daughter’s love. The creation of the statue leads to a chain of dramatic encounters, through which Maureen will test the boundaries of her independence and Gil and Lamar, each in his own painful way, will confront their worth as fathers.

Remember Ben Clayton vividly depicts a rich swath of American history, from the days when the Comanches ruled the Southern plains to the final brutal months of World War I. It ranges from outlaw settlements on the Texas frontier to the cafés of Paris, from Indian encampments to artists’ ateliers to the forgotten battlefield in France where Ben Clayton died. It shows us the all-consuming labor that a monumental work of sculpture demands and the price it exacts from both artist and patron. And with unforgettable power and compassion it presents a deeply moving story about the bonds between fathers and children, and about the power and purpose of art.

Review:

"Stephen Harrigan ranks among the finest atmospheric novelists.... Simply put, storytelling does not get any better than this." --The Dallas Morning News

"One of the best novels of [the year]. . . . Like Ian McEwan's Atonement . . . Harrigan magically re-creates a point in history while engaging readers with a mesmerizing story." --Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

"A poignantly human monument to our history." --The Wall Street Journal

"Remember Ben Clayton is a superior piece of storytelling, a historical novel, a Texas saga, an allegory of art and all the important issues it can raise, an onion of a book with many leathery layers to be unpeeled, eventually revealing our vast capacity to love, and to hurt the ones we love, and to forgive." --San Antonio Express-News

"Magnificently compelling. . . . Stephen Harrigan handles these scenes with immaculate detail, an acute ear for fear and cruelty, and an eye for the unpredictability of human behavior in moments of passion. . . .We are knocked flat with admiration." --The Washington Post

"Like the unforgiving bullets that pierce Clayton's flesh, the story goes unflinchingly deeper into the very human failings of fathers, the need for children to forgive and what it means to create art. . . . A tautly written novel. . . . With Remember Ben Clayton, Harrigan has created art." --Austin American-Statesman

"A stunning work of art. . . . The story builds with determined momentum, providing a grimly vivid sense of place and deep insight into the creative process and family relationships. Harrigan's The Gates of the Alamo has become a modern classic, and his latest historical deserves similar acclaim." --Booklist (starred review)

"The characterizations in this story are superb, enhancing this engrossing novel that never plays out as you expect it to." --The Oklahoman

"A solemn, affecting exploration of the effects of devoting one's life to art at the expense of family, friends and love." --The Texas Observer

"As in The Gates of the Alamo, Harrigan works on a broad canvas. . . . Lying behind the Texas narrative are the bloody remnants of the Indian Wars, fresh enough to reach directly into the lives of the next generation and to provide a mirror to the carnage just concluded in Europe." --The Austin Chronicle

"A heartening novel about art, war, and the tug of family relationships." --Kirkus Reviews

"Thoroughly engaging. . . . Intimate and compelling. . . . Harrigan transports his readers to each scene, as well as inside the tormented minds of his characters." --Southern Literary Review

"Rich in detail about the Texas landscape and the men and women who live there. It is a telling measure of [Harrigan's] skill as a writer that he seamlessly weaves. . . major themes through this new work without allowing his characters to bear the weight of being symbols rather than real people. . . Harrigan is a gifted storyteller whose images at times are as rich as those in the best poetry." --The Washington Times