Cliff is a sixty-year-old farmer and former high school English teacher from upper Michigan. His wife of thirty-eight years is divorcing him, he's had to auction off the farm, which belonged to his wife's father, and his beloved dog, Lola, has died. What's a man to do? Why, go on a road trip of course.
Cliff's humorous, self-deprecating first person narrative, woven with country wisdom, quotes from his favorite poets, and R rated advice from his friend AD (alcoholic doctor), takes the reader west to Washington, south to Arizona and New Mexico, back north through the Rockies and home again to Michigan. Along the way Cliff reconnects with a former favorite student, Marybelle, now forty-three, frisky and, it turns out, delusional; his successful gay son living in San Francisco; on old friend harboring a recovering female meth addict on a snake farm in New Mexico; a stunning teenage waitress in Bozeman; and numerous other characters of the American west.
Cliff fishes, hikes, takes pictures of cattle, passes judgement on roadside cafe cuisine and free associates about life, time passing, loss and the remaining prospects for a man in later middle age, already consigned by younger women to "the biological dumpster." I laughed out loud often enough for my wife to say "Cut that out" because I was breaking her concentration when we were laying in bed reading at night. I wouldn't necessarily say that "The English Major" is a man's novel, but my guess is that women might not find it as humorous or charmingly elegaic, especially if they've spent the bulk of their lives living with someone who loosely fits Cliff's personality and behavior. I loved the book as did seven of the eight men in my book club. But then again, I'm a sixty-three-year-old former high school English teacher! Take a chance on Cliff. High reward, low risk.
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