A review by alissa417
The Final Case by David Guterson

5.0

One of the most loving, thoughtful portraits of the relationship between a father and son I've ever experienced. This is the first of Guterson's books I've read, won't be the last. His tender descriptions of human relationships are breathtaking, and - as an adoptive mother - I got lost in the actual court case at the heart of this story. Guterson's characters inadvertently spew so many toxic opinions, chronicling the hyperpolarization of this moment in America, totally without making those horrible characters the focus of his gorgeous plot. Yet the judge's words at the end (which I won't spoil here) could be the right (final ?) words for so many of us to us at our dinner tables, family gatherings, etc. I loved this so much and did not want it to end (yet read it in about 3 hours over the holidays). What a beauty.