The Last Hunter: An American Family Album
The author, a novelist and outdoorsman, was born in Minnesota and lives there now. In this beautifully written book, he looks back on his family, its history, and its traditions. The title refers to himself, a hunter from a young age (his first gun was a rubber-band rifle he made when he was a small boy) whose own children have chosen not to carry on that particular tradition. But the book is not just a memoir of hunting; it’s also a memoir of growing up on a dairy farm, of leaving the place where he was raised (he spent a handful of years in California, in a writing program) and of returning home, of building a family, of saying goodbye both to loved ones and to a way of life. Weaver writes, at times, with great emotion, although he’s never maudlin, and he infuses his stories with laughter and colorful adventures. --David Pitt