LAY DOWN YOUR WEARY TUNE
In this debut novel, a ghostwriter of the memoirs of a reclusive folk music icon—part Woody Guthrie, part Bob Dylan—attempts to glean fact from fiction, only to discover the deeper he digs into the musician’s past, the more his own past rises to the surface
Despite his fame, Eli Page is a riddle wrapped in a myth, inside decades of mask-making. His past is so shrouded in gossip and half-truths that no one knows who he is behind the act. Jack Wyeth, a budding writer, joins Eli in Galesville, a small town on the border of New York and Vermont,
In this debut novel, a ghostwriter of the memoirs of a reclusive folk music icon—part Woody Guthrie, part Bob Dylan—attempts to glean fact from fiction, only to discover the deeper he digs into the musician’s past, the more his own past rises to the surface
Despite his fame, Eli Page is a riddle wrapped in a myth, inside decades of mask-making. His past is so shrouded in gossip and half-truths that no one knows who he is behind the act. Jack Wyeth, a budding writer, joins Eli in Galesville, a small town on the border of New York and Vermont, only to learn that the musician’s mind is failing. As he scrambles to uncover the truth, Jack is forced to confront his own past, his own hang-ups, and his own fears. At the same time, he falls for a local artist who has secrets of her own, he becomes linked to a town controversy, and he struggles to let go of his childhood idols and bridge the divide between myth and reality.
Set against a folk Americana aesthetic, Lay Down Your Weary Tune is an emotionally charged exploration of myth-making, desire, and regret, and the inescapable bond between the past and present.
- Other Press
- Paperback
- January 2016
- 352 Pages
- 9781590517475
Buy the Book
$16.99
About W B Belcher
W. B. Belcher grew up in western Massachusetts and earned his MFA from Goddard College. He lives along the Battenkill River in upstate New York with his wife and two kids. Lay Down Your Weary Tune is his first novel.
Praise
“[A] richly textured novel about folk music…Belcher brings the folk music scene to life, but best of all is his ability to craft a cast of memorable characters.” —Publisher’s Weekly
“Appealing…Mingling elements from both literature and the blues, Belcher has crafted a memorable tale about how the masks and myths we create can become prisons that ultimately disconnect us from ourselves.” —Library Journal
“This story will pluck countless heartstrings.” —Booklist
“A heartening, timeless, and stirring song for the ‘perfectly broken.’ Beautifully thrownback. Openhanded. True. W.B. Belcher is my kind of writer.” —Matthew Quick, New York Times bestselling author of The Silver Linings Playbook and Love May Fail
Discussion Questions
When speaking of Eliza, Eli Page tells Jack, “That’s all I had of
my daughter. The name” (p 343). What is the importance of
names in this novel? Is there any significance to Jack’s name?
On page 237 Eli tells Jack “I wasn’t who they wanted me to
be.” Who is the “they” Eli is referring to? Does Jack have certain
expectations of who Eli should be? Does Eli live up to them?
How does Jack’s knowledge or idea of who Eli is change over
the course of the novel?
Jack says of his father, “John James Wyeth was an idea, a
waking dream” (p 302). Who else in Lay Down Your Weary
Tune is an idea? Do any of the characters ever become more
than “an idea,” and if so, how?
On page 164 Jenny tells Jack, “I have to play the part.” Why
do you think Jenny feels she has to maintain a role that is not
the reality of who she is? Who created the role for Jenny, and
whom does the role appease or please? Describe the ways
other characters in the novel, such as Casey, Eli, and Jack, play
designated roles.
Jack twice calls Eli a “trickster” (see pp 46, 368). In what
ways does Eli fulfill the archetype of the trickster? At the end of
the novel Eli disappears. Do you believe he’s still alive?
How are Jack and Eli similar? How do they help each other
and change together over the course o the novel? On page 340
Eli tells Jack “That’s what I’ve got to give.” What does Jack give
to Eli? To Jenny?
On page 322 Jack observes, “[Jenny had] endured far worse
and with far more grace.” Why do you think this novel is
narrated by Jack and not by Jenny, or Eli himself? How might
the novel have changed if another character were narrating it?
On page 356 Jack says, “I guess we’re all forced to make
decisions—some of them pan out, others don’t.” What choices
does Jack face and what decisions does he make?
On page 284 Jack compares being a storyteller to being a liar.
What do you make of this, considering his object in writing
about Eli is to “provide a note of truth” (p 5)? Do you think Jack
himself could be a trickster?
Are there any musicians or artists who have influenced
your life the way Eli Page has influenced Jack’s? If you could
spend some months living with an artist, who would it be and
why?