DRIFTLESS (2008) is a book I absolutely loved and didn't want it to end. And at four hundred-plus small-ish print pages, it almost didn't. With its unique, and mostly likable, cast of small town characters, it has been compared to Sherwood Anderson's WINESBURG, OHIO and Edgar Lee Masters' SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY, both very apt comparisons, albeit with some modern twists. But David Rhodes does for the Driftless region of southwestern Wisconsin what Willa Cather did for frontier Nebraska, or, closer to home, what Aldo Leopold did for the Dells in his SAND COUNTY ALMANAC, with a touch of Mayberry in the mix. There is nothing I enjoy more than a character-driven novel, and the denizens of Words, Wisconsin are a pure pleasure to meet and get to know, from the mysterious farmer, July Montgomery, to Pastor Winifred Smith of the Words Friends of Jesus Church, to the repair shop proprietor, Jacob Helm, to dairy farmers Grahm and Cora Shotwell (up against big business and government). And there is paroled petty criminal Wade Armbuster, who falls for the crippled spinster, Olivia, picking her up off the ground in a casino parking lot and taking her on a wild and hilarious night ride through the countryside, first chasing her purse snatchers, then fleeing the police. (And later he takes her to a dog fight, followed by another wild ride.) And there is Rusty Smith, a retiree who learns to respect and trust his Amish neighbors who come to work on his house repairs. And Moe Ridge, a survivalist who is training a secret militia in a forest encampment. And on and on, until all these separate story threads are woven together, sometimes in the most surprising ways.

There are perhaps a dozen or more fascinating folks that populate this story of a tiny rural community, and David Rhodes makes sure you come to know them all intimately. There is comedy here and there is also tragedy. This is storytelling at its very best. My very highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER ( )

Using small-town life to explore the boundaries of identity and community is hardly a new concept, but I found this story to be sympathetic and insightful, with some piercing moments and beautiful language.

I chose this book only because the driftless occupies a somewhat mythical patch of my mental landscape. I knew that had nothing to do with the actual story, but I chose it anyway. ( )

Wow, when I started reading this the first chapter showed serious promise, but then it started seriously drift all over the place. I nearly stopped reading it. But kept going. I am glad I did the story starts to come together about half way through.
A small town in southwestern Wisconsin, and it quirky citizens, and how they are all bound together.
This isn’t an exciting book but it is a well written book and has a interesting number of things to learn from it if you are patient. ( )

A perfectly composed book by yet another Wisconsin author. Some chapters become too heady, but I loved the characters and the writing. ( )

Words is a tiny town in the middle of the Driftless area of southwest Wisconsin, a place where the glaciers didn't move through and flatten the land. The inhabitants of Words represent varying degrees of drift themselves; some seem to be wandering through live without an anchor, while others are very firmly tied to the land and the local way of life. I loved this novel, both for the beautifully drawn characters and how their stories all come together in different ways, and for the lovely rendition of this area of Wisconsin. Having grown up on a farm and also having lived in the Driftless for nearly a decade, I can attest that Rhodes' depiction of farm life, life in SW Wisconsin, and the people who inhabit the two is 100% accurate and lovingly told. I have only a couple of very minor quibbles: there's one character whom I can't stand and so the sections of the book focused on her were not to my taste, and there were bits here and there that seems to drag and could have used some editing. Otherwise, though, a fantastic novel. ( )