REBEL IN COVERALLS

Comprising 10 short stories, this debut memoir recounts a lifetime of outdoor pursuits in the Canadian wilderness and elsewhere.

Nathom’s book opens with a tale entitled “Swaziland,” in which he recalls growing up in the country now known as Eswatini in Southern Africa. The author remembers a remarkable childhood during which he would dog-paddle under cows that were wading in crocodile-infested waters and guard the cane fields by firing slingshots at hippos. The next story, “First Moose,” adopts a tripartite structure. Here, Nathom describes his journey to becoming a seasoned hunter, beginning in his early 20s with a moose-hunting expedition near Mica Creek, British Columbia. Set in the same province, “End-of-Season Whitetail” focuses on deer hunting in the Kootenays. “Camarones Café” offers an abrupt change of scenery, describing an impromptu fishing adventure after the author befriended some locals in downtown Sayulita, Mexico. Meanwhile, “Death Rapids” depicts whitewater rafting. In “Nakimu Caves,” Nathom’s drive to explore underground caverns led to a brush with the law. “Eagle,” the collection’s most unsettling story, recalls an escapade that resulted in tragedy and a strange, supernatural occurrence. In his scenic memoir, the author’s writing deftly records the procedures of hunting, offering rich, intriguing details. But his prose captures little of the emotion: “Bruce brought his gun up over the back of the truck and took aim. I don’t think he’d even seen the bull yet, but no sooner had he taken up a shooting position than the bull stepped out into the open between the two trees, and BANG.” Nathom has a laconic style that perhaps reflects the quiet poise of the hunter. Unfortunately, it struggles to conjure a sense of the wilderness. He includes a poem by Robert Service that powerfully captures the vastness of the Yukon: “The winter! the brightness that blinds you, / The white land locked tight as a drum.” It is this type of evocative description that Nathom’s writing often lacks. The author delivers scant comparisons, much akin to field notes: “A magnificent mountain that is visible from downtown Revelstoke, an iconic landmark, coated in glaciers and snow most of the year.” Nathom’s exploits are sufficiently varied and engaging to appeal to other outdoors enthusiasts, but they will fail to transport readers less familiar with adventures in the wilds.

A lively but underembellished account of an intrepid life.