Distinctly Montana Magazine

16 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 5 Last Best Books Presents ISLE OF BOOKS 511 W. MENDENHALL BOZEMAN 406.219.3581 ISLE OF BOOKS & BOOKS 43 E BROADWAY ST. BUTTE 406.782.9520 THESE AND OTHER BOOKS AVAILABLE AT EITHER LOCATION WWW.ISLEOFBOOKSSHOP.COM THE SMOKE IN OUR EYES BY JAMES GRADY We are honored to be able to say that James Grady, author of Six Days of the Condor and a wealth of other thrillers and literary novels, is a Distinctly Montana contributor. We can also assure you that it shouldn't cast any doubt on our neutrality when we tell you that you should most certainly go out and buy a copy. Like The Bitter Roots (see below), The Smoke in Our Eyes mines gold out of the combination of a flashpoint in American history with a small-town Montana setting depicted with a penetrating eye for detail and authenticity. Grady, born in Shelby, has brought the authenticity of a Montana boy and the talent of a veteran novelist to his tale of a ten-year-old boy, living in the fictional town of Vernon, Montana, who is blessed and cursed with unim- paired vision for the first time. Out of what he sees in his small town is weaved a tapestry of nostalgia, crime, vengeance, and the aching confusion of youth. We strongly recommend this novel. If you were there at the time, it rings true. If you weren't there, you will feel as if you have been by the time Mr. Grady is done leading you through this beautiful, exciting, layered novel. Thankfully, a sequel to The Smoke in Our Eyes is forthcom- ing—American Sky will be available in bookstores everywhere, but especially at Isle of Books in Bozeman and Butte, on July 1 of this year! THE BITTER ROOTS BY NORMAN MACLEOD The Bitter Roots, initially re- leased in 1941 and never re- published until now, is rich with specific details of histor- ical Montana life. Its narrative follows the fourteen-year- old Pauly, living in Missoula against the backdrop of Amer- ica's entry into World War I, who witnesses a prank go wrong, resulting in another boy's death by drowning. It is a tough and violent world, col- ored by conflicts as seemingly insignificant as schoolyard pu- gilism or, on a larger scale, the violent clash of workers, agita- tors, and mining corporations that marked the period. By the end of the novel the town of Missoula, though not on the front line and planted thousands of miles away therefrom, still finds itself ravaged by the Great War. The rediscovery of this coming-of-age novel should be consid- ered a major event in Montana letters. The Bitter Roots observes the local consequences of a world-altering global event through rich and well-written prose that captures Missoula and Butte (warts and all) as they were more than a hundred years ago. It is a novel that could not take place anywhere else. THE REDISCOVERY OF THIS COMING-OF-AGE NOVEL SHOULD BE CONSIDERED A MAJOR EVENT IN MONTANA LETTERS. IT IS A NOVEL THAT COULD NOT TAKE PLACE ANYWHERE ELSE.

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