“A smart, rich country noir” from the acclaimed author Kentucky Straight and The Good Brother (Stewart O’Nan, bestselling author of Henry, Himself).
Chris Offutt is an outstanding literary talent, whose work has been called “lean and brilliant” (The New York Times Book Review) and compared by reviewers to Tobias Wolff, Ernest Hemingway, and Raymond Carver. He’s been awarded the Whiting Writers Award for Fiction/Nonfiction and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Fiction Award, among numerous other honors. His first work of fiction in nearly two decades, Country Dark is a taut, compelling novel set in rural Kentucky from the Korean War to 1970.
Tucker, a young veteran, returns from war to work for a bootlegger. He falls in love and starts a family, and while the Tuckers don’t have much, they have the love of their home and each other. But when his family is threatened, Tucker is pushed into violence, which changes everything. The story of people living off the land and by their wits in a backwoods Kentucky world of shine-runners and laborers whose social codes are every bit as nuanced as the British aristocracy, Country Dark is a novel that blends the best of Larry Brown and James M. Cain, with a noose tightening evermore around a man who just wants to protect those he loves. It reintroduces the vital and absolutely distinct voice of Chris Offutt, a voice we’ve been missing for years.
“[A] fine homage to a pocket of the country that’s as beautiful as it is prone to tragedy.”—The Wall Street Journal
“A pleasure all around.”—Daniel Woodrell, author of Winter’s Bone
Genre: Literary Fiction
Chris Offutt is an outstanding literary talent, whose work has been called “lean and brilliant” (The New York Times Book Review) and compared by reviewers to Tobias Wolff, Ernest Hemingway, and Raymond Carver. He’s been awarded the Whiting Writers Award for Fiction/Nonfiction and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Fiction Award, among numerous other honors. His first work of fiction in nearly two decades, Country Dark is a taut, compelling novel set in rural Kentucky from the Korean War to 1970.
Tucker, a young veteran, returns from war to work for a bootlegger. He falls in love and starts a family, and while the Tuckers don’t have much, they have the love of their home and each other. But when his family is threatened, Tucker is pushed into violence, which changes everything. The story of people living off the land and by their wits in a backwoods Kentucky world of shine-runners and laborers whose social codes are every bit as nuanced as the British aristocracy, Country Dark is a novel that blends the best of Larry Brown and James M. Cain, with a noose tightening evermore around a man who just wants to protect those he loves. It reintroduces the vital and absolutely distinct voice of Chris Offutt, a voice we’ve been missing for years.
“[A] fine homage to a pocket of the country that’s as beautiful as it is prone to tragedy.”—The Wall Street Journal
“A pleasure all around.”—Daniel Woodrell, author of Winter’s Bone
Genre: Literary Fiction
Praise for this book
"A lean, mean meditation on family, boundaries, and what a good man will do to protect the ones he loves. In this blood-and whiskey-soaked landscape, I'm reminded of both Faulkner and Steve Earle. A morality tale where grit and heart hold equal weight." - Ace Atkins
"I've waited nearly twenty years for another novel by Chris Offutt, and boy is Country Dark worth it! From its excellent title to its last page, this one will pull you in and immerse you in the lives of its myriad characters...Offutt is a terrific writer with impressive range." - Tom Franklin
"Country Dark is grim and funny and touching. It's a crime story, a novel of backwoods manners, and a family saga. It's many things at once, all of them great. Masterful descriptions of the natural world bump up against scenes of shocking violence, and you're left in awe, wondering how the hell Chris Offutt managed to pull this book off." - Richard Lange
"Like the late, great Larry Brown and the late, great William Gay, Chris Offutt delivers a hardscrabble, mythic South with a laconic voice that turns sly to describe the follies of Man...Country Dark is a smart, rich country noir." - Stewart O'Nan
"Chris Offutt's work about mountain life earns high praise from other writers, and Country Dark, his return to fiction, is entirely welcome and a pleasure all around....Offutt writes so well, with such deep knowledge of the language and people, that Country Dark is likely to be read straight through, no resting places." - Daniel Woodrell
"I've waited nearly twenty years for another novel by Chris Offutt, and boy is Country Dark worth it! From its excellent title to its last page, this one will pull you in and immerse you in the lives of its myriad characters...Offutt is a terrific writer with impressive range." - Tom Franklin
"Country Dark is grim and funny and touching. It's a crime story, a novel of backwoods manners, and a family saga. It's many things at once, all of them great. Masterful descriptions of the natural world bump up against scenes of shocking violence, and you're left in awe, wondering how the hell Chris Offutt managed to pull this book off." - Richard Lange
"Like the late, great Larry Brown and the late, great William Gay, Chris Offutt delivers a hardscrabble, mythic South with a laconic voice that turns sly to describe the follies of Man...Country Dark is a smart, rich country noir." - Stewart O'Nan
"Chris Offutt's work about mountain life earns high praise from other writers, and Country Dark, his return to fiction, is entirely welcome and a pleasure all around....Offutt writes so well, with such deep knowledge of the language and people, that Country Dark is likely to be read straight through, no resting places." - Daniel Woodrell
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