Devouring Time

Jim Harrison, a Writer’s Life

By: Todd Goddard

Narrated by: Dan John Miller

Devouring Time is the definitive biography of Jim Harrison—one of America’s most beloved writers—and a penetrating deep dive into the life of the talent behind Legends of the Fall, Dalva, and True North.

Jim Harrison (1937-2016) was widely considered one of the finest voices of his generation. His twenty-one books of fiction and fourteen books of poetry influenced a generation of writers. Harrison helped to shape the course of contemporary American literature, revitalizing in particular the novella form, of which he was a recognized master.

Harrison’s literary achievements were matched only by the literary persona that he cultivated during a fecund time in American letters and in the company of a remarkable cohort of friends, writers, actors, and artists, including Thomas McGuane, Peter Matthiessen, Jimmy Buffett, and Jack Nicholson. His articles for such magazines as Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Esquire, and Outside in the 1970s won him a loyal readership who reveled in his high spirits and prodigious appetites.

For all his notoriety as a writer of prose, however, poetry remained his first and longest-abiding love. He cherished his geographic remoteness from what he called the “dream coasts” of New York City and Los Angeles, preferring to hunt, fish, and drink in the backwoods bars of Michigan, Arizona, and Montana.

Based on more than one hundred original interviews and drawing upon Harrison’s collected papers, Devouring Time is the first and only literary biography of this beloved author, whose playful, irreverent, and spiritual work continues to find and delight new audiences.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2025 Todd Goddard (P)2024 Blackstone Publishing

A Great, Honored, Honestly

An honest and considerate view of a literary great. Todd Goddard successfully navigates the delicate flows of a writer’s existence, honoring while simultaneously capturing the idiosyncrasies of the big personality of that creator. A creator who in another century will likely be seen as a progenitor of prose and poetry in the eclipse of the American century and the onset of it’s successor.

Hearing the story of Jim Harrison’s life.

It is a great story well told. Just so disappointed that Joyce Bahle’s name was mispronounced throughout. A serious discourtesy to Jim’s and his family’s faithful helpers over his entire career. Audible has done Joyce an injustice, and it was hard to listen to. I hope you correct that error for future listeners.
I was a friend of Jim’s and Joyce remains a friend of mine.