THE BLIND CORRAL

by Ralph Beer ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1986

Old West collides with New in this story of family and territorial ties, set on a ranch in 1970's Montana; an impressive debut by Beer, a rancher himself. Jackson Heckethorn, 27, is coming home. His family has worked the land for four generations. Older brother Summerfield died in Vietnam; Jack was an artillery sergeant in Oklahoma until an accident killed three of his trainees and caused Jack severe trauma, for which he was hospitalized. His plan to make this a short visit, before returning to the rodeo circuit and his Canadian girlfriend, doesn't work out that way. There are old debts to be paid: to his father Smoke, horselogger and champion elk-hunter, and his rancher grandfather Harley, relic of a time ""when men were ranked by the way they handled animals."" Ailing now, grandfather Harley needs Jack to fix his corrals, bring in his cattle, and help him in the fight against Tanners, a lawyer-rich outfit busy fencing off the range. Tanners represents the New West of subdivisions, trailer parks and snowmobiles, but it doesn't win all its battles: The ever-feisty Harley brandishes his gun to retain rights to a dredge pond; arthritic old neighbor Amy scares off some trespassing realtors with her Winchester. Despite himself, Jack becomes involved. Fall turns to winter, Jack's girl finds somebody new, and Jack realizes he is tending a dying man. By the time Harley is dead and buried and Jack has inherited the ranch, it is his father Smoke who suggests selling ""this rock pile,"" Jack who is figuring ways of hanging on. This spare, resonant, utterly authentic work is part elegy, part celebration; an elegy for folk who face the ""certainty of dispossession,"" a celebration of their courage, their capacity for hard, grinding, never-ending work.

Pub Date: June 1, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION