The Good Son is a portrait of unending combat between passion and discipline. Nova's first three novels, Turkey Hash, The Geek, and Incandescence were energetic, eccentric, exquisitely written tales of people who were on the whole, well, just not like us. As readable and demanding as any of them, The Good Son differs in that its people are like us except that they have a lot more money. Their difference seems to have little to do with the passed-on effects of corrosive passion and everything to do with the dignity of the self…. For Pop Mackinnon a man's importance and character may be found in how he does things, whether it be driving a car, hunting a deer, preparing and consuming a mint julep, or facing up to the responsibilities of his class. He understands the world to operate according to precise codes of discipline in law, society...