Montana 1948 (Watson)

Montana 1948 
Larry Watson, 1993
Milkweed Editions
186 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781571310613


Summary
From the summer of my twelfth year I carry a series of images more vivid and lasting than any others of my boyhood and indelible beyond all attempts the years make to erase or fade them...

So begins David Hayden's story of what happened in Montana in 1948.

The events of that small-town summer forever alter David Hayden's view of his family: his self-effacing father, a sheriff who never wears his badge; his clear sighted mother; his uncle, a charming war hero and respected doctor; and the Hayden's lively, statuesque Sioux housekeeper, Marie Little Soldier, whose revelations are at the heart of the story. It is a tale of love and courage, of power abused, and of the terrible choice between family loyalty and justice. (From the publisher.)

Author Bio 
• Birth—1947
• Raised—Bismark, North Dakota, USA 
• Education—B.A., M.F.A., Unversity of North Dakota; Ph.D., University of Utah
• Awards—(see below)
• Currently—lives in Milwaukee, Wisoconsin

Larry Watson was born in 1947 in Rugby, North Dakota. He grew up in Bismarck, North Dakota, and married his high school sweetheart. He received his BA and MFA from the University of North Dakota, his Ph.D. from the creative writing program at the University of Utah, and an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Ripon College. Watson has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (1987, 2004) and the Wisconsin Arts Board.

Watson is the author of several novels and a chapbook of poetry. His fiction has been published in more than ten foreign editions, and has received numerous prizes and awards. Montana 1948, published in 1993, was nominated for the first IMPAC Dublin International Literary Prize. The movie rights to Montana 1948 and Justice have been sold to Echo Lake Productions and White Crosses has been optioned for film. His most recent novel, As Good as Gone was released in 2016.

He has published short stories and poems in Gettysburg Review, New England Review, North American Review, Mississippi Review, and other journals and quarterlies. His essays and book reviews have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, and other periodicals. His work has also been anthologized in Essays for Contemporary Culture, Imagining Home, Off the Beaten Path, Baseball and the Game of Life, The Most Wonderful Books, These United States, and Writing America.

Watson taught writing and literature at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point for 25 years before joining the faculty at Marquette University in 2003.

Awards
Milkweed National Fiction Prize,
Mountains and Plains Bookseller Award,
Friends of American Writers Award,
Banta Award,
Critics Choice Award,
ALA/YALSA Best Books for Young Adults Winner
(Author bio from the publisher.)

Book Reviews 
This story is as fresh and clear as the trout stream fished by its narrator, David Hayden, growing up near the Montana-Canada border.... As universal in its themes as it is original in its particularities, Montana 1948 is a significant and elegant addition to the fiction of the American West, and to contemporary American fiction in general.
Howard Frank Mosher - Washington Post Book World


One of the top 100 novels of the West.
San Francisco Chronicle


Watson' prose is as clean, vivid and uncluttered as the Montana sky. Much like Larry McMurtry and Norman Maclean, Watson takes aim at the great myths of the American West in this page turner.
Book Magazine


Meditative, rich, and written close to the bone, Montana 1948 is a beautiful novel about the meaning of place and evolution of courage. It is a wonderful book.
Louise Erdrich

(Starred review.) Watson indelibly portrays the moral dilemma of a family torn between justics and loyalty; by implication, he also illuminates some dark corners of our national history.
Publishers Weekly


A quiet, almost meditative reflection on the hopelessly complex issue of doing the right thing.
Booklist


A literary page-turner, morally complex and satisfying.
Kirkus Review

Discussion Questions
1. Bentrock is a fictitious prairie town in Montana that recurs as a setting in Larry Watson’s novels. How would you characterize Bentrock? In what ways is the setting, both time and place, reflected in the characters?

2. What is the role and importance of loyalty in the Hayden family and how does it influence Wesley’s reaction to the accusations brought against his brother? How would you characterize the relationships between the Hayden men, Grandpa Hayden, Frank, Wesley and David?

3. How would you characterize Wesley’s opinions about the Indian characters in the novel, such as Ollie Young Bear and Marie Little Soldier? Do you think his prejudices complicate his role as sheriff?

4. David idolizes many of the adult characters in the novel—for what qualities does he admire Marie, Gloria, Uncle Frank and his parents? How do these affections contradict one another as the story unfolds? How do David’s opinions of these characters evolve as the novel progresses?

5. Did you form any predictions as to why Marie was reluctant to see Dr. Frank Hayden, and if so, how accurate were they? At what point in the story did you begin to suspect Frank’s character?

6. David’s mother, Gail readily accepts Marie’s allegations against Frank, while Wesley is reluctant to investigate. What factors do you think make Wesley hesitant to investigate Marie’s accusations and what factors prompt Gail to believe her?

7. Toward the end of the novel, David observes a reversal of his parents’ roles: “My mother now represented practicality and expediency; my father stood for moral absolutism” (144). What, in your opinion, causes this reversal? Do you agree with the assessment that releasing Frank is the practical and expedient option? Do you
agree with the alternate implication, that prosecuting him is morally absolute?

8. At the novel’s conclusion, it is decided to keep the scandal a secret from the larger Bentrock community. What do you think motivates this decision? If the accusations against Uncle Frank were publicized, who would it have affected and how?

9. In the epilogue David states that he “could never believe in the rule of law again” (164). Why do you think he is disillusioned with the justice system? To what extent do you think his father’s, uncle’s and grandfather’s actions in 1948 shaped this opinion?

10. Montana 1948 has been featured as required reading for high school students while simultaneously appearing on a few banned books lists. In what ways and to what degree is Watson’s novel controversial? In
what ways is it educational?
(Questions issued by publisher.)

top of page (summary)