The Hearts of Men: A Novel - Softcover

A sweeping, panoramic story spanning a half century, from the Vietnam War to the modern day, The Hearts of Men begins at Camp Chippewa during the summer of 1962: Nelson Doughty, age thirteen, social outcast and overachiever, is the Bugler, sounding the reveille proudly each morning. Yet this particular summer marks the beginning of an uncertain and tenuous friendship with a popular boy named Jonathan, who, in scrambling to protect Nelson against the merciless bullying of the other boys, finds he has much to learn about the extent of his own courage and empathy. Over the years, Nelson, irrevocably scarred from Vietnam, becomes scoutmaster of Camp Chippewa, while Jonathan marries, divorces, and turns his father’s business into a highly profitable company. When something unthinkable happens at a camp get- together with Nelson as scoutmaster and Jonathan’s daughter-in-law and teenage grandson as campers, the aftermath demonstrates the depths—and the limits—of Nelson’s selflessness and bravery.

Nickolas Butler was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison as well as the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and the author of the novel The Hearts of Men, the internationally bestselling and prizewinning novel Shotgun Lovesongs, and the acclaimed short story collection Beneath the Bonfire. He lives in Wisconsin with his wife and their two children.