Josh Ritter

BorderKitchen, in collaboration with the Arenbergschouwburg, presents a meeting with Josh Ritter.

Singer-songwriter Josh Ritter appears at BorderKitchen on the occasion of the publication of his first novel, The Great Glorious Life of Henry Bright. Ritter, known for albums such as Hello Starling and The Animal Years, has recently made his literary debut with The Great Glorious Life of Henry Bright.

The book
Henry Bright is a farm boy from West Virginia who, during the First World War, ends up in the trenches of France, where he begins to hear voices. They seem to come from many different sources, but Henry believes they are all the work of a single “entity”: his guardian angel. The angel also accompanies him on his journey home. Back in the Appalachians, Henry faces new hardship when his wife dies giving birth to their first child and their house burns down. He takes his son and sets out in search of a better life, while being pushed onward by his unstable in-laws and haunted by war memories. The angel keeps watch over him throughout.

Inspiration
The story of Henry Bright came to Josh Ritter while he was working on his 2010 album So Runs the World Away. Literature has always influenced his work, with inspirations including Dennis Lehane, Stephen King, Philip Roth, Daphne du Maurier and Flannery O’Connor. He had long wanted to write a novel himself, and saw this as his opportunity. The Great Glorious Life of Henry Bright is at times moving and at other times humorous, but always marked by the sense of wonder and imagination that also characterises Ritter’s music.

Press reviews:
“This is the work of a gifted writer” – The New York Times
“Josh Ritter’s debut as a novelist is extremely beautiful, tragic and also funny. It started as a song but proved to be too rich for that form, Ritter said. He was right, there is too much in it for a song.” – Los Angeles Times