Overview
The Run to Gitche Gumee is pure Jones, revealing his wicked humor honed to a gleaming edge. Two boyhood friends on the cusp of manhood-Ben, about to go off to the Korean War, and Harry, college-bound to become a doctor-set off on the final adventure of their youth: a canoe trip down the Firesteel River to Lake Superior, also known as Gitche Gumee. But their idyllic ride becomes surreal as unexpected encounters with millionaires, college girls, hipsters, and lunatics are by turns titillating, nerve-wracking, and deadly.
Fifty years later, Ben and Harry-now confronting their mortality-decide to recreate their canoe trip as a last hurrah. This time the bravado of youth is replaced with the wisdom of their years and the pain of their pasts. This time they have little left to lose.
The Run to Gitche Gumee is Jones at his very best.