Work Song Hardback - 2010
by Ivan Doig
An award-winning and beloved novelist of the American West spins the further adventures of a favorite character, in one of his richest historical settings yet. "If America was a melting pot, Butte would be its boiling point," observes Morrie Morgan, the itinerant teacher, walking encyclopedia, and inveterate charmer last seen leaving a one-room schoolhouse in Marias Coulee, the stage he stole in Ivan Doig's 2006 The Whistling Season. A decade later, Morrie is back in Montana, as the beguiling narrator of Work Song. Lured like so many others by "the richest hill on earth," Morrie steps off the train in Butte, copper-mining capital of the world, in its jittery heyday of 1919. But while riches elude Morrie, once again a colorful cast of local characters-and their dramas-seek him out: a look-alike, sound-alike pair of retired Welsh miners; a streak-of-lightning waif so skinny that he is dubbed Russian Famine; a pair of mining company goons; a comely landlady propitiously named Grace; and an eccentric boss at the public library, his whispered nickname a source of inexplicable terror. When Morrie crosses paths with a lively former student, now engaged to a fiery young union leader, he is caught up in the mounting clash between the iron-fisted mining company, radical "outside agitators," and the beleaguered miners. And as tensions above ground and below reach the explosion point, Morrie finds a unique way to give a voice to those who truly need one. "The most tumultous, quirky, and fascinating city in the American West of the last century has finally found a storyteller equal to its stories. ... Ivan Doig brings to life the core of humanity, and a hell of cast, amidst the shadows and sorrows of Butte, Montana -- a city that could say it never slept well before New York made a similar claim."-Tim Egan, author of The Last Hard Time and The Big Burn
Summary
"If America was a melting pot, Butte would be its boiling point," observes Morrie Morgan, the itinerant teacher, walking encyclopedia, and inveterate charmer last seen leaving a one- room schoolhouse in Marias Coulee, the stage he stole in Ivan Doig's 2006 The Whistling Season. A decade later, Morrie is back in Montana, as the beguiling narrator of Work Song.
Lured like so many others by "the richest hill on earth," Morrie steps off the train in Butte, copper-mining capital of the world, in its jittery heyday of 1919. But while riches elude Morrie, once again a colorful cast of local characters-and their dramas-seek him out: a look-alike, sound-alike pair of retired Welsh miners; a streak-of-lightning waif so skinny that he is dubbed Russian Famine; a pair of mining company goons; a comely landlady propitiously named Grace; and an eccentric boss at the public library, his whispered nickname a source of inexplicable terror. When Morrie crosses paths with a lively former student, now engaged to a fiery young union leader, he is caught up in the mounting clash between the iron-fisted mining company, radical "outside agitators," and the beleaguered miners. And as tensions above ground and below reach the explosion point, Morrie finds a unique way to give a voice to those who truly need one.
Reader reviews for Work Song
Write a review for this book
Important Terms and Guidelines
- Please focus on the book’s content and context. Also, add any personal comments as to how you enjoyed the book. Substantiate your likes and dislikes. You may make comparisons to other books.
- Reviews must be at least 140 characters in length.
- Please do not reveal critical plot elements.
- This is not a help line. Contact customer support if you need help.
Your review must not include:
- Obscenities, discriminatory language, or other insulting language not suitable for public domain
- Advertisements, “spam” content, or references to other products, offers or websites.
- Email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, physical addresses or other contact information.
- Overly critical comments about other reviews or reviewers
- Time-sensitive material (i.e. promotional tours, seminars, lectures, etc.)
- Availability, price, or alternative ordering/shipping information
From the publisher
Details
- Title Work Song
- Author Ivan Doig
- Binding Hardback
- Edition First Edition
- Pages 275
- Volumes 1
- Language ENG
- Publisher Riverhead Books, New York
- Publication date 2010-06-29
- ISBN 9781594487620 / 1594487626
- Weight 1.03 lbs (0.47 kg)
- Dimensions 9.28 x 6.6 x 0.98 in (23.57 x 16.76 x 2.49 cm)
- Age range 18 to UP years
- Grade levels 13 - UP
- Category Fiction - Historical
- Library of Congress subjects Historical fiction, Single men
- Library of Congress Catalogue Number 2009042647
- Dewey Decimal Code FIC
Media reviews
About the author
More Copies for Sale
Work Song
by Ivan Doig
- Used
- Hardback
- Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781594487620 / 1594487626
- Quantity available
- 1
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$5.67A$9.20 Delivery to USA
Show details
Work Song
by Doig, Ivan
- Used
- Very good
- first
- Condition
- Very good
- Edition
- First Edition
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781594487620 / 1594487626
- Quantity available
- 1
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$8.49Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Work Song
by Doig, Ivan
- Used
- Good
- Hardback
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781594487620 / 1594487626
- Quantity available
- 1
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$8.91Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Work Song
by Ivan Doig
- Used
- Very good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Very good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781594487620 / 1594487626
- Quantity available
- 2
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$9.63Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Work Song
by Ivan Doig
- Used
- Very good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Very good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781594487620 / 1594487626
- Quantity available
- 3
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$9.66Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Work Song
by Ivan Doig
- Used
- Paperback
- Condition
- Used
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781594487620 / 1594487626
- Quantity available
- 1
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$11.34A$7.09 Delivery to USA
Show details
Work Song
by Doig, Ivan
- Used
- Condition
- Used
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781594487620 / 1594487626
- Quantity available
- 3
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$11.43Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Work Song
by Ivan Doig
- Used
- Good
- Hardback
- first
- Condition
- Good
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781594487620 / 1594487626
- Quantity available
- 1
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$12.76A$5.67 Delivery to USA
Show details
Work Song
by Doig, Ivan
- Used
- Hardback
- first
- Condition
- Used
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781594487620 / 1594487626
- Quantity available
- 1
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$13.16Free Delivery to USA
Show details
Work Song
by Doig, Ivan
- New
- Hardback
- first
- Condition
- New
- Edition
- First Edition
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
- 9781594487620 / 1594487626
- Quantity available
- 6
- Seller
- Item price
-
A$15.97Free Delivery to USA