The Sasquatch Hunter's Almanac: A Novel

I’m rarely one for magical realism, so I’m surprised by how much I loved this book. I think because it was so unapologetically dark, because its characters and their conflicts were so real, I never found it silly.When Eli Roebuck is a young boy, his mother walks off with a Sasquatch named Mr. Krantz and never comes back. What follows is a series of vignettes, often skipping years at a time, that chronicle Eli’s entire life. His obsession with finding Mr. Krantz affects everyone around him—and they, too, face their own monsters and demons.Certain chapters read like dark fairytales or parables, focusing on different people close to Eli: his first and second wives, his daughters, and even (most interestingly) his mother and Mr. Krantz, who live together happily in the woods for decades.At times funny and clever, disturbing and sad, this is a deeply weird and haunting book about a dysfunctional family that’s surprisingly very moving.

Lovely surprise. Wonderfully eccentric.

Weirdest book I own and I picked it up on a whim due to the title. It is worth it.

This isn't a book I would generally gravitate to, but due to a number of trusted recommendations I had to check it out. So glad I took this wild ride! I agree with other reviewers that this book moves around a ton, tends to seem disjointed at first but the payoff is really in the resolution. As is true to life, all the twists and turns and tears culminate at the end in a sense of "Aha, so that is where we have been going all along!" The characters are not all lovable but are all endearing in their way. Eli is a beautifully flawed person as a Father, as a husband and as a professional. There were a few times I rolled an eye at a seemingly useless introduction only to find, in the end, each piece was necessary to fall into its place. It is beautifully written, Ms. Shields clearly has an exceptional gift with words and draws the reader into her world flawlessly. Jump in, let yourself be carried with the current and enjoy the payoff! It's a wonderful escape into a narrow band of a neighboring reality. NOT TO BE MISSED!

Meh. I wanted this to be awesome. But the plot felt random and disconnected to me, and I never really connected to any of the characters. Mostly they all seemed to lack any amount of self-awareness; they all seemed pretty self-absorbed. I often love magical realism, but this did not do it for me. Seems overrated.