Melissa Rawat

In John Weyrr’s first book, Deep Country, we gladly follow the American, Ed Ford, (yes, like the pickup), who is a somewhat nonconformist but with a good soul of grit and toughness, as he wanders through Cold War Germany and then on to the American midWest, all the while giving the reader keen observations. We, too, naturally are observers. But Weyrr skillfully puts down his images with ink, leaving a well crafted record of us American baby boomers as we contemplate “who are we?” and “what really is the American dream?” which is not Walmartville living but, instead, living deeply. Plug your nose and dive deep with Ed Ford as this hero uncovers a submarine mission with a secret, gets tossed into a creepy retaining cell in East Berlin, maps the leftover tunnels under West Berlin to finally arrive in “heavenly country”, his favorite state. I equate John Weyrr’s first novel with Jack Black’s first movie, Tenacious D. You immediately recognize their raw talent in their simple, good story line sprinkled with chuckles and cuss words that leave you smiling.