Part one of term paper
, a deeply affecting novel by Ron Hansen, opens in winter on the high plains of Colorado to the tropics of Mexico, as well as from the realm of whodunit detective mystery to the larger realm of the Mystery, which has its own heartbreaking, consoling, and redemptive logic. Misunderstanding, dissolute, prodigal, wayward, wastrel, alias, and bri ...

Part two of term paper
... one character dies, it zigs into a murder mystery, and by the end has zagged into something entirely different, a parable, let's say, in which characters find redemption. Cody, Colorado cattle rancher turned oilman, appears at first to be a remote and judgmental dad, but as we observe the gentle, persistent concern he shows for his wayward son Scott, we discover nothing less than the ideal dad. Scott's testing of his father's love goes way beyond normal bounds: his alcoholism and general irresp ...