Genre: Book
Grade: A
Notable People: James Lee Burke
Title: Another Kind of Eden
Review: It’s 1962 and a drifter finds his way to Trinidad, Colorado; a troubled Korean War veteran and would- be writer with demons galore. This is the setting for Burke’s 40th novel- a standalone book with all kinds of wisps and thread to his Bayou Robicheaux and Old West Holland series. Although a novel, this is clearly centered on Burke’s origin story, and it’s a potent piece of writing. The Denver Post has called Burke “America’s Best Novelist”, and Michael Connelly says he is “the heavyweight champion of fiction” (from the cover quotes). Though I think there is some room for debate on this, it can’t be far off. Burke is a combination intellectual literati and roughneck American everyman. His prose is not for everyone- you sometimes need a thesaurus to read a sentence (incubus? succubus…. the kind of words that appear regularly), but his wonderful storytelling with deep dark foreboding about evil and the purpose of man, along with a firm sense of America’s historical roots and their lasting effect on us (think slavery and Indian annihilation). This book is loaded with myth, symbolism and spiritual guide-seeking, all wrapped up in a coming of age story of young Aaron Broussard Holland. Check it out and be patient with it…it’s a marvel.