My apologies for my tardiness...on to the book.

I have a completely different take on Joe from the get.  I really liked him.  He seems to be a bit of a contrarian, what with his opposition to the war, his love of art, and his desire to work hard despite his privileged upbringing.  Twenty-one straight days banging in fence posts seems like no small task from where I'm currently sitting.  And I truly admired his confidence....confidence that he could earn the respect of Overstreet and his fellow wranglers, confidence that he could win over Ellen, and confidence that he could handle Billy - though not in the most traditional of ways.  I wish I could have displayed more of that when I was his age.

Overall, I think we are off to a great start.  McGuane has set a wonderful backdrop for what I expect to be the future crux of the story - the encircling of the "upstart" family farm set against the expanse of the Overstreet behemoth.  I suspect the Ellen will certainly come back to the fore, making for an interesting turn of events.  I look forward to pressing on, happy to have guysWHOREad on the front burner once again.  Cheers. - Ryan