Goat Mountain: A Novel
Since the publication of A Mile Down (2005), a true account of Vann’s misadventures at sea, his highly acclaimed works have won 15 awards and been translated into 18 languages. Yet perhaps none have drawn more deeply on Vann’s own violent family history than this latest novel about an unnamed 11-year-old boy on a hunting trip with his male elders. While camping with his grandfather, father, and family friend on their ancestral 640-acre northern California ranch, with Goat Mountain looming above, the foursome stumbles on a poacher whom the boy, on an inexplicable impulse, shoots and kills. Recounting the incident decades later, the boy, now a man, describes the harrowing aftermath of his actions, from his father’s decision to hang the corpse in full view of their camp, to a hellish night on the mountain alone after snagging his first buck.  Weaving biblical themes around bloodshed and sacrifice into visceral, graphic language, Vann’s novel is not for the faint of heart, yet it just may be his finest, most contemplative work to date. --Carl Hays