The final novel from a great American storyteller. Donal Cameron is being raised by his grandmother, the cook at the legendary Double W ranch in Ivan Doig's beloved Two Medicine Country of the Montana Rockies, a landscape that gives full rein to an eleven-year-old's imagination. But when Gram has to have surgery for "female trouble" in the summer of 1951, all she can think to do is to ship Donal off to her sister in faraway Manitowoc, Wisconsin. There Donal is in for a rude surprise: Aunt Kate-bossy, opinionated, argumentative, and tyrannical-is nothing like her sister. She henpecks her good-natured husband, Herman the German, and Donal can't seem to get on her good side either. After one contretemps too many, Kate packs him back to the authorities in Montana on the next Greyhound. But as it turns out, Donal isn't traveling solo: Herman the German has decided to fly the coop with him. In the immortal American tradition, the pair light out for the territory together, meeting a classic Doigian ensemble of characters and having rollicking misadventures along the way. Charming, wise, and slyly funny, Last Bus to Wisdom is a last sweet gift from a writer whose books have bestowed untold pleasure on countless readers.
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This final novel by Ivan Doig, an iconic author of the American Northwest, has received the star treatment it deserves in David Aaron Baker’s empathetic and imaginative narration…Baker channels Doig’s humor, kindness, and wisdom and treats us to an unforgettable panoply of characters, including cowboys, crooks, hobos, canasta-playing ladies, plus Donny and his sevebtt-something German pal. Winner of the AudioFIle Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
“One of Doig’s best novels…enchanting…A version of his younger self wound up and set spinning on the long zigzag adventure called life in the American West.”
— New York Times Book Review“A rambunctious adventure packed with color, vitality, and characters worth rooting for…a masterful fusion of picaresque exploits and ripping yarns.”
— San Francisco Chronicle“Plenty of twists gives the author ample room to display his knack for vivid thumbnail sketches and bravura descriptions.”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Ivan Doig (1939–2015) wrote over a dozen books, including the Indiebound bestseller Work Song, the classic memoir This House of Sky, and the acclaimed Montana trilogy. He has been a National Book Award finalist and has received the Wallace Stegner Award, among many other honors.
David Aaron Baker is a voice and film actor. He is an award-winning narrator of dozens of audiobooks, including the Odd Thomas series by Dean Koontz, Paradise Dogs by Man Martin, and The Bartender’s Tale by Ivan Doig. He has earned several AudioFile Earphones Awards and been a three-time finalist for the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration.