So Far Gone

There are a lot of folks in the Northwest who want to get away from it all. One of them is Rhys Kinnick, an ex-journalist who pissed off his family, chucked out his smartphone, and disappeared into the woods north of Spokane. But he's drawn back into the world by the surprise arrival of two grandchildren on his front porch, and what follows is an adventure that brings the heart and ramshackle humor of Charles Portis (and Jess Walter, for that matter) to some of the most seemingly intractable madnesses of our times. (True Portisheads will appreciate a side character named Sheriff Glen Campbell, a nod (I assume!) to the star of the film version of Norwood.) As Rhys tries to rebuild a family fractured by conspiracy theories, Christian-militia nationalism, and his own stubborn knuckleheadedness, we get just the kind of story—part comedy, part thriller, part raccoon expose—that we all might need right now.