William C. Pack | The Bottom of the Sky
Published: August 31, 2009
The Bottom of the Sky, William C. Pack’s first novel, in many ways parallels the author’s own life story.
Pack is a Montana native, who dropped out of school at 16, married young, and began his career in the financial world at age 21, after obtaining his GED. He went on to become the youngest executive vice president and divisional director of the largest financial firm in the world.
In Pack’s debut novel, Levi Monroe, and his sister, Lam, grow up in a squalid shack in Roundup, raised by alcoholic, abusive parents. Levi emancipates himself at age 15 to take charge of his own destiny.
His unbridled ambition and genius for stock-picking eventually land him a job at a New York City brokerage house. Over the years he works his way up the corporate ladder to amass wealth and gain position within his company and the Wall Street world.
Along the way, his wife leaves him and his sister resurfaces with her own set of troubles that both repel and connect Levi to his past. His ailing mother and “I-have-changed” father remain central to his frequently tormented conscience.
The fast-paced narrative runs the gamut of emotions, from raw to tender, as it careens to a shocking conclusion. Along the way, Pack gives the reader timely insight into the inner workings of the financial world, exposing greed, abuse of power and the fleecing of brokerage customers and shareholders.
His book, writes author Jean Lin, “is a literary page turner with a language and style similar to the best of Pat Conroy, but with a western twist.”
At age 43, illness forced the author to leave his fast-paced life in New York and change course. Pack graduated from Stanford, Phi Beta Kappa, earning a degree in anthropology. He is now at work on his second novel.
The Bottom of the Sky was published by Riverbend Publishing in Helena and sells for $24.95 hardcover.
What a fantastic novel. I read it stragiht through and cannot stop thinking about the issues it examines regarding the way we treat each other and the way that the money-changers treat all of us. I have scarcely read more beautiful and scraping language, or witnessed a greater insight into the brutal and poignant nature of humanity. This is a modern American classic. It’s easy to use superlatives. They’re overused. this book is a stand-alone.
I read this book and was shocked at the power, the authenticity, and the skill of this guy’s writing. More like Larry McMurtry meets Thomas Wolfe meets Annie Proulx. Grit and beauty. Plus, he has something about injustice that isn’t whiny. He knows how to wield a literary hammer and make it sing in the air. And you never see the metaphors coming, you know, like life works. Man, I was totally winded. I was sorry it was over. Does anybody know if William Pack does appearances? Is there another book?
