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    Virgil Wander
    Virgil Wander
    Virgil Wander
    Audiobook10 hours

    Virgil Wander

    Written by Leif Enger

    Narrated by MacLeod Andrews

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    The first novel in ten years from award-winning, million-copy bestselling author Leif Enger, Virgil Wander is an enchanting and timeless all-American story that follows the inhabitants of a small Midwestern town in their quest to revive its flagging heart Midwestern movie house owner Virgil Wander is "cruising along at medium altitude" when his car flies off the road into icy Lake Superior. Virgil survives but his language and memory are altered and he emerges into a world no longer familiar to him. Awakening in this new life, Virgil begins to piece together his personal history and the lore of his broken town, with the help of a cast of affable and curious locals?from Rune, a twinkling, pipe-smoking, kite-flying stranger investigating the mystery of his disappeared son; to Nadine, the reserved, enchanting wife of the vanished man, to Tom, a journalist and Virgil's oldest friend; and various members of the Pea family who must confront tragedies of their own. Into this community returns a shimmering prodigal son who may hold the key to reviving their town. With intelligent humor and captivating whimsy, Leif Enger conjures a remarkable portrait of a region and its residents, who, for reasons of choice or circumstance, never made it out of their defunct industrial district. Carried aloft by quotidian pleasures including movies, fishing, necking in parked cars, playing baseball and falling in love, Virgil Wander is a swift, full journey into the heart and heartache of an often overlooked American Upper Midwest by a "formidably gifted" (Chicago Tribune) master storyteller.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateOct 2, 2018
    ISBN9781980011705
    Author

    Leif Enger

    Leif Enger was raised in Osakis, Minnesota and has worked as a reporter and producer for Minnesota Public Radio since 1984. He lives on a farm in Minnesota with his wife and two sons.

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    Reviews for Virgil Wander

    4/5

    238 ratings33 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Quirky literary fiction somewhat in the vein of Gilead by Marilyn Robinson. It's the kind of book that I would read again. Slow paced with homespun wisdom about life. A restful read beautifully written

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      This is a low-key book about life in a small town in Minnesota. Protagonist Virgil loses part of his memory after a traumatic accident. We meet the various people of the town and Virgil tries to piece together his lost memories. There is a man investigating the disappearance of his son. People experience accidents. Some die. The story starts out well but lost my attention as it meandered on. If you live in the region, you may find more to enjoy. I liked it, but I much prefer Peace Like a River.
    • 5/5
      Great book, must read for the whole family.
      Peace like a River by this author is another great one.
    • 2/5
      Book moved much to slow, story bogged down by a lot of boring details, it got interesting maybe the last 10 chapters.
    • 5/5
      Someone recommended this book to me because of the character who makes kites. However, she also told me that she genuinely liked the characters. I'm tired of books in which I find all of the characters pretty self absorbed.
      I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and wish there were more like them. However, if there were, they wouldn't be special, I guess.
    • 4/5
      Well written, nicely narrated. Well written and very well narrated.
    • 3/5
      Good thing I had book club to explain the ending to me. This book didn't have much plot, was full of lots of flowery language, but had some charming parts.
    • 5/5
      Simply fantastic. Leif Enger is on my shortlist of favorite authors. The kind of book that is both enjoyable for its story, sublime in its crafted writing, and lingers in the mind afterwards due to its depth.

      May he write more.

      I listened to this on audio. It was narrated by MacLeod Andrews who did a wonderful job: real easy on the ears.
    • 4/5
      This took me an inordinate amount of time to read and I'm not sure why. Virgil Wander is a bachelor, approaching middle age, who landed in fictional Greenstone, MN as a young adult after his parents were tragically killed in a train accident in Mexico. He used the pay out from their death to buy The Empress movie theater, which he runs and lives in the apartment above the theater. The book opens in early autumn with Virgil driving off into Lake Superior and being rescued by a local man. Virgil has a brain concussion as a result of the accident, which gives a dream like quality to much of the book. His perceptions are hazy, his strength & balance waxes and wains, and he has difficulty with words, especially adjectives. As the story progresses there is a large cast of quirky characters from the community populating the story. It's very much like a Lake Woebegone story. The village of Greenstone is down on it's luck and part of the narrative focuses on a May celebration with the theme Hard Luck Days which occurs at the end of the book, with some surprise outcomes.This is essentially a small town, feel good story.
    • 3/5
      I'm certain that to a particular kind of reader, this novel is amazing - the tale of a man recovering from a near-death accident and seeing the world of his small midwestern town through new eyes - but I, alas, am not that reader. This novel definitely had its moments - I did not expect the events of the last few pages - yet overall my impression of the book was lackluster. Perhaps because I myself come from a small, midwestern town, the locale and the characters have little magic or romantic appeal for me. Still, this is a decent read and if you're the type of reader who might enjoy this type of book, it's certainly worth the read.
    • 4/5
      Picked this out at a LFL since I liked an earlier book of this author. Interesting and introspective. A satisfying book.
    • 5/5
      I thoroughly enjoyed this quiet, rich book about characters in Greenstone, a small dying mining town not far from Lake Superior, told in first person POV by Virgil Wander, a man approaching middle age. It reminds me a bit in tone of A MAN CALLED OVE, though Virgil is more cheerful and almost childlike at times in his openness to the world and to others. One day Virgil drives his car off the road, to find himself rescued but with a concussion that has changed him. He runs the old movie theater, the Empress (made me think of that movie, *Cinema Paradiso*), where he still plays films from reels. The characters are carefully drawn, unusual and interesting--Rune, the man who flies kites and is in search of the truth about his missing son Alec; Nadine, the beauty for whom Virgil has carried a torch for years, based on a flawed memory; the teenage boys Bjorn and Galen who do the weird things we expect of teenage boys. One strong point of this book was, for me, the nuanced and delicate language, the perfect turns of phrase. Sentences are never as powerful when taken out of context, but here are a few of the many I underlined: "For more than twenty years I'd felt at home, in my home. Now I stood weirdly slack in the middle of my kitchen ... The evidence of my life lay before me, and I was unconvinced." "I moved here largely because of the inland sea ... Who could resist that wide throw of horizon, the columns of morning steam?" "He had a hundred merry crinkles at his eyes and a long-haul sadness in his shoulders." "A scatter of sparrows surfed along in the torrent, dipped and spun, and were gone." I was sorry to have this book end.
    • 4/5
      Audiobook performed by MacLeod Andrews.The title character, Virgil Wander, is a small-town cinema owner (and town clerk), who survives an accident on a snowy night when his car breaks through a barrier and “flies” off a bridge into frigid Lake Superior. When he awakes in the hospital, he’s told he has some “minor brain injury” and his memory is somewhat affected. Slowly he begins to piece together his personal history, as well as that of the town in which he lives – a former mining town, now struggling along after one hard-luck event after another. He’s helped – or hindered – in his recovery by a cast of interesting people: among them the town beauty Nadine, an old Norwegian who constructs and flies elaborate kites, a young boy after a legendary giant sturgeon, a depressed handyman who never seems to have the tools he needs, and a prodigal son returned to town with big-city connections and plans to revive the town’s economy.I love character-driven novels and this one perfectly fits the bill. I love Enger’s way with words, the way he paints the landscape and draws his characters who so perfectly fit the scenario he gives us. Enger’s town is small, but the people in it are larger than life. There is a spirituality, or mysticism about Enger’s story-telling that captures my attention as well. In his recovery, Virgil spends a lot of time thinking and reflecting – on life, on the town, on love, on death, on friendship. He feels he is a changed man and refers to his pre-accident self as “the previous tenant.” Virgil seems to be more open now – to possibilities, to enjoying life, to finding love. There are moments of humor and tenderness, and some evil and tragedy as well. All the elements of any life – the life of a person or of a town. However, the overall feeling is one of hope and resilience and of looking forward to the future, whatever it may bring. MacLeod Andrews does a marvelous job performing the audio edition. He uses a Minnesota accent that sounds spot on to this Wisconsin resident.
    • 5/5
      Names play a humorous role, pay attention. Kites make you look for carefully and bring joy to a small down and out rust belt town. Accidents and accidental meetings bring drama and self discovery to Greenstones slow recovery. Virgil is our pathetic hero, Rune is the magical kite flier and the mysterious Loss of Alec Sanderstrom in a small airplane accident ties them all together. Humorous language, apt metaphors and a loss of adjectives by Virgil. This book is for readers who like warm, heartfelt stories but with a bit of edge. Very character driven and the writing is great.
    • 5/5
      VIRGIL WANDER is about inhabitants of Greenstone, Minnesota and about Greenstone, itself, narrated by Virgil Wander. While it is a novel, I wouldn’t call it so much a story as stories about each character. I usually give this type of construction a poor review, but in the hands of Leif Enger, it shines. His writing is delightful. There is no better adjective. And you’ll see the store Virgil Wander puts in good adjectives.VIRGIL WANDER begins with Virgil’s accident, when he and his car end up in Lake Superior. From there he gives example upon example of how this has made him a changed person. You’ll delight in his descriptions of the “new" Virgil Wander's interactions with the people of Greenstone and in each one of their stories.
    • 5/5
      If you have spent any time in a small Midwestern town, this novel will feel like coming home--or make you glad you left. Eclectic characters populate this small North Shore town that is drying up since the mine closed down. Virgil keeps the local movie house open by clerking for the town government on the side, but one day, a Norwegian stranger comes to town seeking news of his long-lost son and he strikes up a friendship with Virgil.The one character that isn't fully dealt with the the mysterious Adam Leer. Why do bad things happen whenever he is around? Is he a shape-shifter? I suspect we are supposed to be in the dark about this, but I wanted a more real-life reason.
    • 5/5
      Wow! I do not know where to begin. The writing? The characters? The great story? The imagery? The themes? Seriously, Leif Enger is a writer extraordinaire! His use of language is clear, precise & evocative. His characters are so very complete and true. A small community protect and care for one another in crisis and over time, while rebirth & renewal, thread their way through the characters. At once poignant and uplifting, the reader soars as do Rune's kites and Virgil's car. I crave conversation about this book which is so straightforward and yet finely layered and mysterious. This is a great book because it is fulfilling as a story yet full of imagery and metaphor just waiting for contemplation. Enjoy the experience which Enger has offered up. I am grateful to him for this novel!
    • 4/5
      Virgil Wander should be dead. In fact, rumor has it that he did die when his car sailed through a retaining wall in a blizzard, ending up in the churning icy waters of Lake Superior. In reality, he was saved by the unlikely presence and courage of a local salvage yard operator who fished him out of his sinking Pontiac. The incident has left Virgil concussed and disoriented, at a loss for adjectives, and more than a little accident-prone. It has also, understandably, changed his outlook on life considerably. Virgil, and his hometown of Greenstone, Minnesota, both seem headed toward a vague and pointless future until Rune Eliasson, an old Norwegian with mad kite-designing skills, shows up looking for information about a man who disappeared years ago. This novel is full of slightly off-plumb characters, at least one of whom is utterly creepy in an unfathomable way. It took me a little while to get invested in them, but once I did, I couldn't stop hoping for a happy ending for most of them. It also made me a little ashamed of complaining about NE PA winters...
    • 4/5
      Virgil Wander begins his story with a car crash into the lake. His head injury sets the tone for the rest of the novel... There is the completely rational and educated man who sometimes gets lost in his head. Because of the accident, Virgil looks at his life differently and he begins to take actions he wouldn't have before... Not on purpose exactly. I liked how Virgil gradually builds a family around him and it is only at the end that I began to think again about the accident that started it all. The writing is genuinely beautiful and masterfully crafted.
    • 3/5
      VIRGIL WANDER is a novel that is true to its name. Virgil, its narrator/protagonist, wanders through multiple plot lines most of which are not well resolved (some not at all) or resolved in a chaotic ending that seems rushed and ill conceived. In fairness, the narrative is generally well written and at times amusing but the plethora of puzzles and the way they are handled generates little suspense or enthusiasm. Instead the narrative seems to have been excessively influenced by the Garrison Keillor picaresque approach, talking about a small town filled with eccentric people.If these stories have any overarching themes they may be notions of fatherhood, how people mend from trauma, and second chances all viewed through a lens of magical realism. Enger successfully evokes small-town Minnesota with Greenstone, a place on the shores of Lake Superior that has seen its best days. Virgil splits his time between acting as a city clerk and running a failing movie house called the Empress Theater. He sees himself as “cruising at medium altitude, aspiring vaguely to decency, contributing to PBS, moderate in all things including romantic forays, and doing unto others more or less reciprocally.” Does that not sound a little like Keillor?The stories Enger presents are indeed varied. A failed baseball pitcher mysteriously disappears without a clue, until miraculously one shows up. His Norwegian father discovers his existence and belatedly shows up to solve the mystery of his disappearance, but spends most of his time making and flying exotic kites. People are intrigued by this activity and begin to tell him about his son. Virgil has cheated death by flying his car off a cliff into the lake. This leaves him with strange feelings and visions of a ghost-like man walking on water. In the meantime, he develops a romantic relationship with the missing ballplayer’s widow. A man named Pea dies at the fins of a homicidal sturgeon and his toddler son embarks on a quest to kill the offender. Alec Leer, the prodigal son of the town's founder, returns with plans for its revival, but strangely seems to always be on the scene when bad things happen. Meanwhile, Virgil is illegally harboring films never returned to the studios that own them. A failed handyman experiences marriage failure and seeks solace by attempting mass murder. The village plans a celebration of its worst times with a festival it calls "Hard Luck Days." Through it all a pet raccoon named Genghis, inexplicably goes rogue roaming around town threatening just about everyone. Despite vague links, Enger never succeeds in bringing all of this together. Instead, he blows it all up in the end with an unsatisfying conclusion.Notwithstanding his plotting exuberance, Enger evokes a kaleidoscopic small town background with deft prose. Unfortunately the low-key storytelling lacks focus tending to wander never gaining much momentum.
    • 3/5
      Based on the reviews I thought I’d love this, but it totally missed the mark. At first I felt maybe I was in the wrong mood for the really overwritten poetic descriptions. Then I decided that I just didn’t believe the down-and-out yet sappy optimistic characters who were trying to get by in their rural MN town that lost it’s mine and factories. Also, the characters could be termed the Orphans of Transportation accidents. It seemed like every character had lost a parent or spouse to some kind of grisly far-fetched accident (car, plane, train, boat). The last quarter of the book turned into a Law and Order episode set in rural MN. Plus, a sprinkling of magical realism was the final blow. The only redeeming quality were the descriptions of one character who makes and flies kites, but this alone is not nearly enough to make me recommend it to anyone. #lasbooklist
    • 5/5
      This is a magical and delightful tale. Please read!
    • 5/5
      This is a wonderfully written book about a down-and-out small town on the north shore of Lake Superior where theater owner, Virgil Wander, lives among other quirky inhabitants. He survives an automobile accident which leads to personality changes. He makes friends with a newcomer to the area and interacts with long-time residents in different ways than he has in the past. There is humor and beautiful descriptions of the region and its people.
    • 5/5
      He presents a much more reasonable and hopeful message about the Northern plains. He also writes about "different" people. Like his style of writing.
    • 5/5
      “I made a fist and held it out. It didn't look like much—not like a fist anyone would count on for protection. If war came seeking a person I loved, that undernourished fist was not going to be enough. I would have to put my whole body in the way”  “A person never knows what is next--I don't anyway. The surface of everything is thinner than we know. A person can fall right through, without any warning at all.”  Virgil Wander is the owner of a movie theater, in Greenstone MN, on the banks of Lake Superior. He is an amiable bachelor and long-time resident. After his car went into a skid and he plunged into the frigid lake, he is rescued, (a virtual miracle) and while he recovers, starts seeing his world in a whole new way. This coincides with his meeting with a kite-flying stranger, from Norway, who is searching for his long-lost son. They bond immediately and Virgil begins a new chapter in his life. It has been nearly twenty years since Enger broke on the scene with, Peace Like a River, (which I adored) and then followed it up with, So Brave, Young and Handsome (which I have not read) and we had not heard from him since. Well, he sure came back like gangbusters, with this one. The writing is beautiful and the characters, leap off the page. Think of Richard Russo, based in the upper Midwest, but with a tad more warmth and a touch of magic. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      I read Peace Like a River several times as it grabbed me from the first page. Virgil Wander didn't grab me from the first page but the pull of the book kept increasing as I read it. Kind of like the kites and the kite strings. Such wonderful characters, such a different plot which did bring in relevance based in reality at the end. Such wonderful writing and use of vocabulary. How does one learn some of these obscure words that I enjoyed looking up and will probably never get to use and will shortly forget. I plan on putting Enger's middle book on my reading list as it will probably be excellent also.
    • 4/5
      After sliding on snow and sailing off the road into Lake Superior, Virgil Wander finds many of his memories, some fine motor control, and a lot of words are missing. Wander lives in a small town, though, so there are lots of folks willing to help him, especially as he seems to have had a personality transplant along with his amnesia. Greenstone, Minnesota is a town that’s hit the skids. The mining is long gone. The ships no longer put into their port. There is very little money coming in, and a lot of people have left for good. So Wander’s home and business, the Empress movie theater, where he shows old movies, is doing poorly to say the least. Enter Rune, a Norwegian senior citizen who makes kites in unlikely forms: a man, a dog, a cast iron stove… Rune (who is possibly Odin- or Santa) is there to try and find a son he never knew he had until a short time ago. Sadly, the son is long gone- presumed dead- but he himself left a son, now a teenager, who Rune hopes to get to know. Wander invites Rune to stay in a spare room- Wander can’t quite be left alone for a bit or he’s apt to leave the tea kettle on until the place burns down or something. Meanwhile, we meet the quirky population of Greenstone as Wander tries to orient himself in a place he doesn’t quite remember and Rune seeks his son through the memories of others. And then there are the animals: a tame raven, a pet raccoon who is reverting to feral- possibly because of rabies- and a huge sturgeon who lures a man to his death. Oh, and the frogs that rain down during one storm, but they aren’t really personalities so much as a plague. It’s part Lake Woebegon, part Red Green, and possibly a bit of Discworld. There is not much in the way of plot. It’s about finding oneself, it’s about being kind to others, it’s a novel of place as well as character. The writing is beautiful, and makes you cheer for the characters. It’s not fast paced but it does keep you pulled in. It’s warm in feeling but certainly not a ‘cozy’ story. It’s full of symbols and myth. Four and a half stars.
    • 5/5
      Virgil Wander is just one of those books that tells a story. It's no mystery. No ulterior motive. No hidden message. The book opens after Virgil has driven his car off a cliff into Lake Superior and is rescued by _________ __________. Simultaneously, Rune, a kite flier comes to _________ to meet the son, Alec, he just found out about, only to learn Alec had disappeared many year ago. Rune asks all the towns people about Alec, while meeting and getting to know his daughter in law Nadine and grandsone, Bjorn. Virgil runs a run down movie theater. After his accident, he is less physically and mentally less stable. Words come more slowly. His equilibrium is off. Yet he is pivotal in the town and in the story.The characters are all quirky. The story is quirky, as part of it revolves around a huge sturgeon. Virgil Wander, the book and the person, is all about family and friends and friends that become family. There are no laugh out loud moments but there are plenty of warm your heart moments. Probably one of the best books I've read in a very very very long time.
    • 4/5
      Virgil Wander should not be alive. Twice he has escaped from death. The townspeople all heard rumors that he had died and felt it was because of some miracle that he was alive.Virgil is a humble, simple man who is a fixture in his small community. He owns the local theatre, The Empress, and is the town clerk. It takes his near death experience for Virgil to make a change.He comes home to a place that doesn’t seem like it’s his own—looks in a mirror at a man he feels he doesn’t know. He starts to question things about his life. Then slowly Virgil begins to live again, much more boldly than he did before.Virgil wandered his way into my heart as I read his story. It’s not a fast-paced, exciting story, but a calm, meandering tale that demands reflection from time to time. It’s a story that requires the reader slow down a bit and think about life and those things most important. It’s a story where readers get to know Virgil and many of the townspeople that have had an impact on his life throughout the years.I enjoyed this latest novel by Leif Enger. It felt a bit rushed at the end, but all in all, a solid read.Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic, Grove Press for allowing me to read an advance copy and give an honest review.
    • 5/5
      4+ In Northern Minnesota there is a small town called Greenstone. Having lost it's industrial footing, those who remain are a hardscrabble, kind of stuck in a rut, group of people. Virgil, is our narrator, he lives above and own the local movie theater, a theater that sells few tickets, but is s community staple. At the beginning of our story, he has just been rescued after driving, accidentally or so he says, off a cliff into a body of water. Recovering he finds out that not only does his memory have glaring gaps, but his use of adjectives has been seriously hindered.Into this down on it luck town, come a man named rune, a man who loves and flys kites, looking for information on the son, he recently discovered he had fathered. There are small mysteries here, and a town full of quirky characters, very different people, but all intriguing. The town itself, as expected is z bit of a throwback, things happen here that seldom happen elsewhere. It has rained frogs, yes frogs not men, they have a huge vole problem, and a former pet raccoon seems to have turned rabid. There is magic, certainly magic in the kites, those flying them become calmer somehow, and more liable to talk. There is a man, a sort prodigal son, who returns and seems to want to aid the town in its recovery. Somehow though, everyone who comes into contact with him seems to suffer some misfortune. There are other characters, all unique, all intriguing and liksble.There is humor here, in the lines, in the situations characters find themselves in, willingly of not. I enjoyed this novel immensely, the people, or rather most of them seem emblematic of some I could identify in my own small town. They are flawed, likable and pull together to help each other. Virgil,himself is a wonderful character, with hopes and dreams of his own, who often reaches out a helping hand to those in need. It's been quite a few years since this author has written a new novel, and I for one think it was worth the wait. Though I hope he doesn't wait as long before writing his next.ARC from Edelweiss.