The River Swimmer
Novellas

Jim Harrison is one of Americas most beloved and critically acclaimed authors, and this collection of novellasis Harrison at his most memorablea brilliant rendering of two men striving to find their way in the world, written with freshness, abundant wit, and profound humanity. In The Land of Unlikeness, sixty-year-old art history academic Clivea failed artist, divorced and grappling with the vagaries of his declining yearsreluctantly returns to his familys Michigan farmhouse to visit his aging mother. The return to familiar territory triggers a jolt of renewalof ardor for his high school love, of his relationship with his estranged daughter, and of his own lost love of painting. In the title story, The River Swimmer, Harrison ventures into the magical as an Upper Peninsula farm boy is irresistibly drawn to the water as an escape and sees otherworldly creatures there. Faced with the injustice and pressure of coming of age, he takes to the river and follows its siren song all the way across Lake Michigan. The River Swimmeris a striking portrait of two richly drawn, profoundly human characters and an exceptional reminder of why Jim Harrison is one of the most cherished and important writers at work today.