It’s a cliché to say the latest and greatest novel is a modern classic. You can safely place Virgil Wander by Leif Enger in the true masterpiece modern classic category. This rich book that centers on the life of Virgil the recent recipient of an accident that leaves his vocabulary of adjectives impaired is full of treasured metaphors, images, and spine-tingling page turning plot lines. Virgil owns The Empress, an old movie theater in Greenstone, Minnesota. The father, Rune, of legendary missing Alec Sandstrom baseball, surfer and pilot drives the narrative.  Rune is obsessed with flying kites and thorough out the novel, the image of the various kites fill your head with mystic beauty. The other recurring theme relates to capturing a giant sturgeon. This unabashedly lovely book is a brilliant way to start 2019.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leif_Enger