So Far Gone - Jess Walter

So Far Gone

By Jess Walter

  • Release Date: 2025-06-10
  • Genre: Literary Fiction
Score: 4
4
From 60 Ratings

Description

National Bestseller

"A warm, funny, loving novel. . . . It's an American original."—Ann Patchett, New York Times bestselling author of Tom Lake

"Who better to give us the latest version of a recluse with a heart of gold than Walter?... It’s a gleeful, kooky and tender homage to Charles Portis’ “True Grit” with echoes of Tom Robbins and yes, Elinor Lipman too.” — Los Angeles Times

A Vogue “Best Book of the Year” * An Amazon “Best Book of the Year” * A Publishers Weekly "Most Anticipated" * A Washington Post “Most Anticipated” * An Oprah's Book Club “Best Summer Read” * An Esquire “Best Book of the Summer” * A Los Angeles Times “Must Read Book for the Summer” * A New York Times “Book to Read This Summer” * A Good Morning America "Kate and Charlies Ultimate Summer Read" * A CBS Sunday “New Summer Read * An NPR “Dark Tale to Hit the Shelves” * An Elle “Best Book of the Summer” * A Lit Hub “Must Read Book for the Summer” * A Chicago Tribune “Summer Book” * A Minnesota Star Tribune "Terrific Book for the Beach" * An Alta Magazine "Book of the Month" * A New York Times "New Book We Recommend" * A Lit Hub "Best Reviewed Book" * A NY Post "Best New Book" * A New York Times "Book Readers Are Most Excited About This Summer" * A Huffingting Post "Book that Should Be on Your Summer Reading List" * An Airmail “Best Read of the Week” * A Publishers Weekly Starred Review * A Kirkus Starred Review * A Library Journal Starred Review

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins—and in the propulsive spirit of Charles Portis’ True Grit—comes a hilarious, empathetic, and brilliantly provocative adventure through life in modern America, about a reclusive journalist forced back into the world to rescue his kidnapped grandchildren.

Rhys Kinnick has gone off the grid. At Thanksgiving a few years back, a fed-up Rhys punched his conspiracy-theorist son-in-law in the mouth, chucked his smartphone out a car window and fled for a cabin in the woods, with no one around except a pack of hungry raccoons.

Now Kinnick’s old life is about to land right back on his crumbling doorstep. Can this failed husband and father, a man with no internet and a car that barely runs, reemerge into a broken world to track down his missing daughter and save his sweet, precocious grandchildren from the members of a dangerous militia?

With the help of his caustic ex-girlfriend, a bipolar retired detective, and his only friend (who happens to be furious with him), Kinnick heads off on a wild journey through cultural lunacy and the rubble of a life he thought he’d left behind. So Far Gone is a rollicking, razor-sharp, and moving road trip through a fractured nation, from a writer who has been called “a genius of the modern American moment” (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Reviews

  • 4/5

    4
    By benrob713
    Really enjoyed the book. My only critique is that I feel like the authors political views came through at certain points.
  • Not Bad, Not Great

    3
    By juliusa
    Interesting read, somewhat timely and depressing through its dark humor, but also rambling and trying too hard to be relevant. We now know the craziness of the radical believers in this book, and their devastating effect on our country. This book is almost too late for that. A well written book, just not as timely as it thinks it is.
  • So far gone

    1
    By Jhbjhvhgcgrd
    I could not read Chapter 1 due to a technical glitch. How do I get this fixed or my money back?