....The Big Sky. No sexy saviors here. No Shane characters.

It's not a glamour puss cowboy novel.  Set in the mid 1800s, it's about a young man who sets out to live free and untethered on the great American frontier. He becomes not only a mountain man but a first class misanthrope and a great anti-hero. I want to hate his dispicable guts, but I know him too well.

But it's not just about Boone Caudill, a guy entering a profession that was quickly becoming obsolete by the mid 19th century. A lot of American frontier history is embedded in this book and the two that follow.

So if you're struggling with choosing an epic book for your classic lit reading challenge, here's a good one.