This outstanding novella is a master class in fiction writing -- perfectly paced, perfectly plotted, filled with dark, sardonic humor, age-old themes, and unlikely heroes. Or to put it another way, it's a Coen Brothers movie turned into prose: combining the questing gumption of O Brother, Where Art Thou? with the dark modernization themes of No Country for Old Men, populated with the small-town heroes and thugs of Fargo. It's elegantly simple, the outcome is rather predictable, and yet it's impossible to stop turning the pages.

Set in the depressed backwoods of Vermont logging country over the course of a summer day, the story kicks off when the town sheriff discovers a haggard young woman asleep in her car outside his office. It seems a local thug named Blackway scared off her boyfriend, killed her cat, and is stalking her. Unfortunately, as the sheriff points out, there's not a whole lot he can do unless she has a witness to any of this -- which she doesn't. Unwilling to send her away emptyhanded, he suggests she go to the old sawmill, where a crippled old-timer sits court amidst a revolving cast of local men, playing cards, drinking beer, and generally passing the time. There, he suggests, she will find someone to go with her and talk to Blackway.

She does indeed find someone to go with her, but not the person the sheriff thinks. Instead, two locals -- a crafty old-timer and a dour young colossus -- agree to help her. The odd couple are entirely unlikely heroes, and as she travels with them to various motels and bars to track down Blackway, she grows increasingly uneasy about what she's gotten them into and their ability to emerge unscathed. Meanwhile, the story continually returns the reader to the sawmill, where the Greek chorus of local men discuss this and that, gradually filling in a newcomer on the lay of the land, and just what a sticky situation the young woman is in. The overall effect is of a slightly surreal, somewhat mythic confrontation, all deeply tinged in black humor and a rural noir sensibility reminiscent of Scott Wolvern's excellent short stories in Controlled Burn. Brilliant stuff worthy of multiple readings.

Castle Freeman's Go With Me is complete hit for me, mordantly funny, sly, great dialogue, fine indeed. This is one to pass along to your friends, or you could wait for December when it would make a terrific gift. I wouldn't wait, though. It's just that fine.

That was some book. It was? Wasn't it? Suppose so. What was? The book. You said it. This book had me laughing at almost every page. If you read it then you know what that first sentence is all about. If you haven't then you should. Never a dull moment with this one. I'd give it 10 stars if I could.

I thought this book was OK, but not as great as some of the reviews stated. It's a quick, somewhat comical and quirky little book, but I would not say it was gripping, as some of the reviews stated. The method of dialogue became a little boring towards the end of the book. It was OK, but definitely not on the list of books I would recommend.

Being a New Englander, I recognized the people in this book! It captures the tone and atmosphere perfectly. We New Englanders (especially the old timers in small, remote towns) are a breed in ourselves. Why use 10 words when 1 will do - and when you live in a small community, experiences are shared and remembered together. This book tells the story of one day in the life of such people - with flash backs explaining story line and setting characters. I loved it! Great read - would like to see more such stories from the author.

"Chivalry isn't dead; it has just retreated to the backwoods of Vermont. Far beyond the range of leaf-peepers, quaint B&Bs and wealthy liberals lie millions of acres of dark forest, the kind of rich soil that chivalric romance has grown in for centuries. James Fenimore Cooper first saw the possibilities of moving the knights errant of medieval Europe to New England's woods, and now Castle Freeman Jr. performs an equally radical transplant with Go With Me, his oddly witty tale of a damsel in distress." Ron Charles

Remember Daryl, Daryl and their brother, Daryl of the old television series with Bob Newhart? Quadruple their force and you have the setting for a small group of townsmen who gather every day at the old chair mill. They discuss, they foretell and they are the old Greek wise men. Throughout this novel, they speak and reminisce and give each other advice. Whizzer is the leader of the group. He was a logger until one of the trees got him, and now as a paraplegic, his job is to keep this group together, with and without beer, on a daily basis.

Lillian, a young woman with long brown hair to her ass, as we are constantly reminded, comes to this group one day. She has been harassed by Blackway, the area's mafia bad guy. He sent her boyfriend scurrying out of town, broke her car window and then killed her beloved cat. She went to the local Sheriff Wingate who told her he there wasn't anything he could do to help her. He advised she leave town, she said no. A 'pistol' he thought, she was. He sent her on to Whizzer for help.

Whizzer looked for volunteers and Nate the Great, "a tall, long-boned, heavy-wristed kid: not a scholar, not a talker. Smarter than a horse, not smarter than a tractor." The other is Lester, an old man with a heavy limp. "Was he seventy?" Lillian wonders. "Was he eighty?" These three started out to find Blackway and to do what, exactly?

A small suspenseful novel, filled with humor, a smile on almost every page, but yet, a novel that has grace and charm and so well written. A profound novel filled with the wit of the Vermont old timer. No flatlanders allowed here.

Highly, Highly Recommended. prisrob 07-06-08

Go With Me: A Novel

Judgment Hill: A Novel (Hardscrabble Books)

GO WITH ME is a novel written very much in the spirit of Cormac McCarthy. Freeman is frugal with the details, and relies on sparse realism to guide his very simple tale to its very simple conclusion.

Novels this short and this quiet can be quite deceptive. It's called hiding in plain sight. Just as a glance across a crowded courtroom can be both straightforward and frought with complexities, so can the right kind of unadorned writing bristle with the sort of import and passion and depth that most English Lit professors never dare dream of.

Freeman's story is about a woman named Lillian who has caught the attention of a local disease, a dangerous villain named Blackway (let's not analyze the name). Seeking a cure against his destructive attentions, Lillian finds aid in an elderly fellow named Lester and a beefy young lad named Nate.

Saying any more would give away what little punch this novella has to offer (c'mon, folks; this is NOT a novel). I'm not saying it's not entertaining. A fellow named Whizzer and his round-table of good-old-boys spend the entire novel drinking beers and chewing the fat, and their authentic back-and-forth is what really gives the book the intrigue and humor and pathos that it wants so much to have elsewhere.

However, the core of the plot (ESPECIALLY Nate and Lester's motivations) is not only as fine and as delicate as a spider web, it holds about as much weight, too. I've heard words like "suspenseful" and "thrilling" and "shocking" and "stunning" used to describe the climax and some of the moments that preceded it, but I found the entire novel -- climax, conflict, resolution and all -- to be as whisper-thin as the minimalist writing used to depict it. There are small, delightful moments where the story finds something to really be about, but beyond those brief passages, this is really just a milquetoast snack trying to pass itself off as a hero sandwich.

This timely book is the only full account you'll find of the US role in what has become our greatest security threat, nuclear terrorism.

Reading this has helped me better understand the complicated situation in the Middle East, not an easy feat. And despite the heavy subject, it's so well written that it's an enjoyable read.

The authors clearly document how a series of failed US policies have led to our current situation. Every US administration since Eisenhower has placed short-term foreign policy concerns ahead of a commitment to curbing nuclear weapons. This has allowed Pakistan to first develop, and then sell, weapons of mass destruction. It began as part of a Cold War effort to counter the Soviet Union's influence. The US actually armed Islamic extremists; since these extremist groups later became the Taliban and Al Qaeda, we're partly responsible for their existence.

Our world today is far more dangerous than in the Cold War. Despite President Bush's claim to have stopped the AQ Khan network, most of its members are now free. There is evidence that Pakistan's nuclear proliferation and smuggling continue, so opportunity exists for religious extremists and rogue regimes to acquire WMD.

Because of misguided US strategies, we now live in a world where terrorists can acquire nuclear weapons. This, Armstrong concludes, is "the new balance of terror."

Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden is far more popular than George Bush, possesses a nuclear arsenal built with technology from the U.S. and Europe, and financed with the help of one of America's allies (eg. Saudi Arabia; also Iran and Libya) in the Muslim world. America's supportive role began with President Carter, and has continued through President Bush. We turned a blind eye to gain Pakistan's cooperation in the Cold War and the War on Terror.

Pakistan began its nuclear work in the 1970s, pursuing the use of plutonium chemically reprocessed from spent reactor fuel. The re-processor was to be courtesy of France, the reactor and technical assistance from the U.S. and Canada. This initial effort foundered on technical difficulties and international wariness.

Alternatives included gaseous diffusion (used by the U.S., France, China, and Russia in their initial work - involves passing gaseous uranium through a series of thousands of membranes), and centrifugal enrichment using newly developed 70,000 rpm centrifuges within a consortium in Holland. Pakistan was under considerable pressure at the time, having just lost its foray into Kashmir and India's demonstration of a successful A-bomb. Thus, the timing was perfect for A.Q. Khan, a Pakistani working at the Holland site who had made copies of all the technical material and was anxious to lead a Pakistani nuclear effort. Pakistan welcomed him back; the timing was fortuitous for him as well - Holland had just figured that he was a spy, and was watching him closely after the CIA talked them out of arresting him.

Clearly, the U.S. was aware of Khan's interests and potential even before he began working in Pakistan, and President Carter had restricting nuclear access high on his agenda. Brezezinski, however, convinced Carter to ignore Pakistan's nuclear efforts to gain their cooperation against Russia's push into Afghanistan, and ultimately through Pakistan to an Indian Ocean port. Eventually the Pakistanis also obtained considerable financial and military assistance from the U.S., as well as control over which militant Islamic sects received U.S. funding for their anti-Russian efforts in Afghanistan. (Guess who received the most funding, and got the most credit for it? The most fanatic Muslim militants, and Pakistan - despite the fact that it was U.S. money.)

Pakistan's leverage over Carter was increased further by candidate Reagan's assertion that we should not get involved in others' efforts to build nuclear weapons - "It was none of our business." Thus, Pakistan's leaders knew they could likely get a better deal if Reagan was elected. (President Reagan falsely certified Pakistan as "bomb-free" several times to permit further aid - even after Pakistan was bragging that it had one, to impress India.)

Sophisticated electronic inverters (very high-speed on-off switches) were required to control the centrifuges - Pakistan obtained them from the U.S. Other important components came from a world-wide network that included England, Holland, and Germany. Technical assistance came from China and Russia, though the Clinton administration tried to limit this. Pakistan also went to North Korea for help on a missile delivery system, and ultimately helped them with their nuclear program in '93.

Then the proliferation began. Iran bought parts and designs for centrifuges in '87 from Pakistan, and then designs for newer models and 500 of the older ones in '94. It also built a partially underground facility in the mid-90's to house a planned 50,000 centrifuges. Armstrong also reports that Khan's group approached Iraq as a possible customer in '90, but was turned down for fear that it was a U.S. sting operation. Libya became another customer in '97.

Armstrong's book ends by relating the boarding of a German freighter carrying centrifuge parts to Libya. The U.S. acted as though this was a new development - actually, our leaders had been aware and supportive from the beginning, over thirty years ago. The question now is, "Who else has been shopping at the Pakistani nuclear bazaar?"

"America and the Islamic Bomb" is very similar to another recent book (Deception: Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons"). They both are excellent, quite similar, and complement each other. I'm hard pressed to select one or the other as "the best." Regardless, it is clear that the U.S. has played a major role in today's nuclear proliferation problems.

Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden is far more popular than George Bush, possesses a nuclear arsenal built with technology from the U.S. and Europe, and financed with the help of one of America's allies (eg. Saudi Arabia; also Iran and Libya) in the Muslim world. America's supportive role began with President Carter, and has continued through President Bush. We turned a blind eye to gain Pakistan's cooperation in the Cold War and the War on Terror.

Pakistan began its nuclear work in the 1970s, pursuing the use of plutonium chemically reprocessed from spent reactor fuel. The re-processor was to be courtesy of France, the reactor and technical assistance from the U.S. and Canada. This initial effort foundered on technical difficulties and international wariness.

Alternatives included gaseous diffusion (used by the U.S., France, China, and Russia in their initial work - involves passing gaseous uranium through a series of thousands of membranes), and centrifugal enrichment using newly developed 70,000 rpm centrifuges within a consortium in Holland. Pakistan was under considerable pressure at the time, having just lost its foray into Kashmir and India's demonstration of a successful A-bomb. Thus, the timing was perfect for A.Q. Khan, a Pakistani working at the Holland site who had made copies of all the technical material and was anxious to lead a Pakistani nuclear effort. Pakistan welcomed him back; the timing was fortuitous for him as well - Holland had just figured that he was a spy, and was watching him closely after the CIA talked them out of arresting him.

Clearly, the U.S. was aware of Khan's interests and potential even before he began working in Pakistan, and President Carter had restricting nuclear access high on his agenda. Brezezinski, however, convinced Carter to ignore Pakistan's nuclear efforts to gain their cooperation against Russia's push into Afghanistan, and ultimately through Pakistan to an Indian Ocean port. Eventually the Pakistanis also obtained considerable financial and military assistance from the U.S., as well as control over which militant Islamic sects received U.S. funding for their anti-Russian efforts in Afghanistan. (Guess who received the most funding, and got the most credit for it? The most fanatic Muslim militants, and Pakistan - despite the fact that it was U.S. money.)

Pakistan's leverage over Carter was increased further by candidate Reagan's assertion that we should not get involved in others' efforts to build nuclear weapons - "It was none of our business." Thus, Pakistan's leaders knew they could likely get a better deal if Reagan was elected. (President Reagan falsely certified Pakistan as "bomb-free" several times to permit further aid - even after Pakistan was bragging that it had one, to impress India.)

Sophisticated electronic inverters (very high-speed on-off switches) were required to control the centrifuges - Pakistan obtained them from the U.S. Other important components came from a world-wide network that included England, Holland, and Germany. Technical assistance came from China and Russia, though the Clinton administration tried to limit this. Pakistan also went to North Korea for help on a missile delivery system, and ultimately helped them with their nuclear program in '93.

Then the proliferation began. Iran bought parts and designs for centrifuges in '87 from Pakistan, and then designs for newer models and 500 of the older ones in '94. It also built a partially underground facility in the mid-90's to house a planned 50,000 centrifuges. Armstrong also reports that Khan's group approached Iraq as a possible customer in '90, but was turned down for fear that it was a U.S. sting operation. Libya became another customer in '97.

"America and the Islamic Bomb" is very similar to another recent book (Deception: Pakistan, the United States, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons"). They both are excellent, quite similar, and complement each other. I'm hard pressed to select one or the other as "the best." Regardless, it is clear that the U.S. has played a major role in today's nuclear proliferation problems.