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    The Hearts of Men: A Novel
    The Hearts of Men: A Novel
    The Hearts of Men: A Novel
    Ebook414 pages6 hours

    The Hearts of Men: A Novel

    By Nickolas Butler

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Camp Chippewa, 1962. Nelson Doughty, age thirteen, social outcast and overachiever, is the Bugler, sounding the reveille proudly each morning. Yet this particular summer marks the beginning of an uncertain and tenuous friendship with a popular boy named Jonathan.

    Over the years, Nelson, irrevocably scarred from the Vietnam War, becomes Scoutmaster of Camp Chippewa, while Jonathan marries, divorces, and turns his father’s business into a highly profitable company. And when something unthinkable happens at a camp get-together with Nelson as Scoutmaster and Jonathan’s teenage grandson and daughter-in-law as campers, the aftermath demonstrates the depths—and the limits—of Nelson’s selflessness and bravery.

    The Hearts of Men is a sweeping, panoramic novel about the slippery definitions of good and evil, family and fidelity, the challenges and rewards of lifelong friendships, the bounds of morality—and redemption.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateMar 7, 2017
    ISBN9780062469700
    The Hearts of Men: A Novel
    Author

    Nickolas Butler

    Nickolas Butler was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison as well as the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and the author of the novel The Hearts of Men, the internationally bestselling and prizewinning novel Shotgun Lovesongs, and the acclaimed short story collection Beneath the Bonfire. He lives in Wisconsin with his wife and their two children.

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    Reviews for The Hearts of Men

    4/5

    68 ratings4 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Upon turning the last page of The Hearts of Men, I have a woman’s heart full of emotions that I am completely unable to express in words.

      That is all.
    • 5/5


      I bought The Hearts of Men this book from Nickolas Butler at the Lakefly Writers Conference in Oshkosh. He is a Wisconsin writer and I loved Shotgun Love Songs. Mr. Butler’s books are quality and quite frankly, so is he.

      Butler read the opening paragraph of this novel and yet I was not prepared for the originality of this story. It follows logical sequences and yet it has twists and turns. I could not have predicted where the story was going to end up.

      Butler’s writing kept me turning pages. He made me care about the characters and they have lived on in my mind. To me that is all you require in a book. Yet, Butler’s description of Wisconsin is vivid in details. He goes into literary detail about the characters.

      The story as a whole centers on a boy scout summer camp in Northern Wisconsin. This unique character Nelson strives to be the best Boy Scout at the cost of popularity. I believe Butler uses Nelson and the other men in the story (don’t worry it has women too) to explore what it is to be a man. As with all good literary work, it leaves the final decision up to you, the reader. I’m still thinking about it.
    • 5/5
      I found this to be a very good book.The did such a great job with Shotgun Love Songs, that I was afraid this book would be a letdown. It most definitely wasn't. There are essentially 3 parts to the book 1. The book begins in 1962 with a boy named Nelson, who has no friends except on occasion an older boy named Jonathan, who Nelson looks up to. Nelson is subjected to bullying the likes of which would get kids arrested for today.Nelson's home life isn't much better.The only thing good in Nelson's life is being a massive overachiever in the Boy Scouts.A number of events take place inNelson's life and he winds up gaining friends and later graduating from West Point.2. Next we jump ahead 34 years. Nelson now runs the summer camp all of the Boy Scouts attend and Jonathan is married with a 16 year old son named Trevor and they are headed to the summer camp. Jonathan as a not so great father tries to teach is son how cold and cruel life can be.3. The 3rd part takes place in the summer and fall of 2019, and Trevor and his mom are headed to the same summer camp.A number of things take place which I don't want to reveal, but this is an excellent story.
    • 3/5
      Like other reviewers, I would really like to add an additional half star. I enjoyed reading this book; the writing is very polished and evocative, and the setting is so lovely I spent a few minutes Googling job ads and real estate in Eau Claire. But also like other reviewers, I liked it best at the beginning, when the main characters were young boys in the early 60s. I would like to have seen a little more of Jonathan's life between his time as a kind-spirited, but not particularly brave, boy and his time as a middle-aged man who has apparently lost that spirit.

      And of course, the part at the end with Rachel's sexual assault was just ridiculous. All the foreshadowing--her musings on being aware of the enemy, her shooting lessons--went in a completely different direction. I don't know if this was supposed to be deliberately misleading or not, but it felt rushed, and wrong.

      Overall, though, I thought it was a really good summer read. Not too heavy, but not too light either. Recommended if you like stories about summer camp and Baby Boomers.

    Book preview

    The Hearts of Men - Nickolas Butler

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