Emerging Man — Steve McEllistrem

Ryan Connelly, nearing 40, returns to the small Minnesota town where he grew up, hoping to reconnect with his father. But their relationship was strained even before the death of his mother many years earlier. As he struggles to overcome the pain in his past, he assists an old sculptor in carving out a boulder that takes on the shape of a man emerging from the soil.The two men bond while contemplating the mysteries of the world and their place in it. For Ryan, who has been going through the motions for many years now, stuck working jobs instead of pursuing a career, life is beginning to have some flavor again. And he comes to realize that much of the blame he put on his father for his troubles rests instead on his shoulders.Slowly, piece by piece, Ryan emerges into the wider world, wiser and more accepting of the frailties of others, and of the need to move beyond his comfort zone if he wishes to achieve a meaningful life. As one reviewer wrote: Emerging Man is an excellent study of an intelligent man struggling to climb out of a rut that he has created for himself. I found my toes curling at Mr McEllistrem's description of a family meal and my heart going out to the old sculptor who worked on the standing stone. An enjoyable, if haunting, read.From the very first line, They bury her today, this novel seduces us into its powerful narrative, a river of carefully crafted prose pulling us inevitably toward its satisfying conclusion.