The Bitter Roots

When fourteen-year-old Pauly takes a swim in the Clark Fork River one summer day, he doesn't expect to see a boy drown. Surrounded by everyday violence in his Montana town, Pauly is determined to prove himself, navigating the awkward fumbles of boyhood against a backdrop of strikes, gang fights, soldiers headed for war, and Prohibition.

First published in 1941 and never before reissued, The Bitter Roots is a largely autobiographical novel full of evocative details of a time and place, includ...