Email
Jonathan Kepler was in the ER only two days ago for a coronary. Since it was a false alarm, Kepler, a Taos writer, decides climbing 13,000-foot Spoon Mountain on his 65th birthday would be a great way to celebrate. Besides, it would be a wonderful way to reconnect with his grown children, Ben and Miranda. They’d jump at the chance to hike up Spoon with their old man, just like when they were kids, right?
Of course, Ben and Miranda think it’s an utterly crazy, almost suicidal, idea. Kepler is overweight, has a bad heart, is asthmatic and is, as the expression goes, “of advanced years.” He has no business climbing one of New Mexico’s highest peaks. Sally, Kepler’s latest in a long string of ex-wives and girlfriends, agrees.
They just don’t get it, Kepler complains. He was once a celebrated novelist, a literary somebody and a Hollywood screenwriter who didn’t sell out. And he also had been an environmental activist, battling to save everything wild he loves about where he lives.
 |
||
|
“On Top of Spoon Mountain” by John Nichols UNM Press, $24.95, 232 pp. |
|
|
OK, so he’d also been a philanderer. In Sally’s opinion, “a randy old goat,” to which Kepler counters, “At least I don’t wear a toupee.”
And, sure, he’s made mistakes. “I may have my faults, but I’m a serious human being,” Kepler protests.
But as a serious person, he knows a window of opportunity is closing on his chance to make restitution for his bad choices and, most important, to re-establish his frayed bonds with Ben and Miranda. Can Spoon Mountain offer the redemption Kepler craves?
Author John Nichols is certainly no stranger to readers across the country and especially to those here in New Mexico, where he has lived since 1969.
“On Top of Spoon Mountain,” his latest novel, continues in Nichols’ fine-honed tradition of rollicking action, quirky characters, snappy dialogue and majestic natural settings. It’s yet another trip well worth taking.
Robert Woltman is an Albuquerque poet and writer.
John Nichols signs “On Top of Spoon Mountain” Wednesday, Sept. 19, at the KiMo Theatre, Fifth and Central NW. He is expected to sign from 5-6:45 p.m. and following the 7 p.m. screening of the film “The Milagro Beanfield War.” Besides the screening and book signing, there will be an architectural tour of the theater, the unveiling of historic landmark plaques and a reception, all part of a program celebrating the KiMo’s 85th anniversary. The event is free.
