Toehold

By Stephen H. Foreman

Book Overview

The residents of Toehold, Alaska, are an odd collection of eccentric souls reveling in the fierceness of the land and determined to live on their own terms. All of them have stories, some ridiculous, some bordering on the Homeric. Summer Joe has a harem of wives and a weakness for Jewish social workers. Six-foot-three-inch Sweet-ass Sue runs the town's only bar. There's Buddy Barconi, an ex-New York fireman with a raunchy sense of humor matched perfectly by a total lack of propriety. And Mary Ellen Madden, known as Mel to her friends, a cash-strapped vagabond with gray-green eyes and a double-wide smile who's trying her luck as a hunting guide.

When her first customer appears, a ruthless Hollywood producer seeking the glory of the kill, Mel and her best friend, Cody Rosewater -- the son of a San Francisco flower child, and now Toehold's taxidermist -- can no longer ignore the tension that's been crackling between them for years.

Always in the background is the raw majesty of the northern wild: crazed moose bolt down Main Street, caribou are violently ambushed by wolves, and the eight-month-long winter night is illuminated by the northern lights.

Funny and romantic, with a cast of unforgettable characters, Toehold is at once a laugh-out-loud comedy, a quirky love story, and a sublime evocation of the beautiful, rugged wilderness of Alaska.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416543317
• ISBN13: 9781416543312
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

Toehold

I was anxious to read this book by screen writer Stephen Foreman, and I was not disappointed. The book is very cinematic; scenes and characters are richly drawn; and the fascination of the place and its affect on people is palpable. The characters are in Alaska for a reason, and while their backstories are not detailed, there is a psychological portrait behind everyone. I am hoping for a movie because Mel would be a great role for any actress!

Toehold

Stephen Foreman's Toehold takes place on the edges of life, literally, a toehold on a sheer cliff can mean the difference between life and death. Towns like this still exist, where freedom is in overdrive, which usually means over-drinking, drugging or screwing. Foreman's characters are blessed with a certain nonchalance with reality, which suits them, does not lead to their destruction; self-delusion as helpmate. What else explains Mel, the outfitter-heroine, who has willed herself forward, self creating as she goes, in a place where everyone worth talking to has done it the same way. This is a good telling of the tale that asks the question, what is civilized behavior anyway? The machinations of movie producers, or the spun life of townsfolk? Each is feuled by delusion, some productive, some reductive. Toehold presents its version of life on the edge tempered with romanticism, also evident in towns like this. Without it, life seems unlivable. Truly impressive first novel, keep going.

Toehold...a real treat

A terrific read! Thoroughly enjoyable! Humor and pathos. The adventurousness of a woman who knows her own mind and gives no ground juxtaposed against the mundane. I loved the dialogue, the tension-filled give-and-take between Mary Ellen Madden, or Mel, as she is known, and Cody, and the no-holds-barred repartee between Mel and Summer Joe, and Buddy, and the jockeying for position among the book's eccentric characters. Great use of similes and metaphors, wonderful use of language, and several entertaining little truisms about life, things we've thought but perhaps have never said out loud or put down on paper. Toehold is highly polished and told in a nonlinear fashion as details of Mel's life are gradually revealed. I see a movie in this. I also loved the scenes of Alaska and descriptions of hunting caribou and bears, and the wild turkey hunt in West Virginia...the detail is fascinating. It all feels very real, especially the tension near the end, where Mel's life seems to hang in the balance. The ending is unexpected and superb, as the need and longing for family come full force.