The Good Hand

A Memoir of Work, Brotherhood, and Transformation in an American Boomtown

By: Michael Patrick F. Smith

Narrated by: Michael Patrick F. Smith

"Remarkable...this is the book that Hillbilly Elegy should have been." (Kirkus Reviews)

A vivid window into the world of working-class men set during the Bakken fracking boom in North Dakota.

Like thousands of restless men left unmoored in the wake of the 2008 economic crash, Michael Patrick Smith arrived in the fracking boomtown of Williston, North Dakota, five years later homeless, unemployed, and desperate for a job. Renting a mattress on a dirty flophouse floor, he slept boot to beard with migrant men who came from all across America and as far away as Jamaica, Africa, and the Philippines. They ate together, drank together, argued like crows, and searched for jobs they couldn't get back home. Smith's goal was to find the hardest work he could do - to find out if he could do it. He hired on in the oil patch where he toiled 14-hour shifts from summer's 100-degree dog days to deep into winter's bracing whiteouts, all the while wrestling with the demons of a turbulent past, his broken relationships with women, and the haunted memories of a family riven by violence.

The Good Hand is a saga of fear, danger, exhaustion, suffering, loneliness, and grit that explores the struggles of America's marginalized boomtown workers - the rough-hewn, castoff, seemingly disposable men who do an indispensable job that few would exalt: oil field hands who, in the age of climate change, put the gas in our tanks and the food in our homes. Smith, who had pursued theater and played guitar in New York, observes this world with a critical eye; yet he comes to love his coworkers, forming close bonds with Huck, a goofy giant of a young man whose lead foot and quick fists get him into trouble with the law, and The Wildebeest, a foul-mouthed, dip-spitting truck driver who torments him but also trains him up and helps Smith "make a hand".

The Good Hand is ultimately a book about transformation - a classic American story of one man's attempt to burn himself clean through hard work, to reconcile himself to himself, to find community, and to become whole.

This audiobook edition includes an original score and seven songs performed by The Good Hand.

©2021 Michael Patrick F. Smith (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Smith brings an alchemic talent to describing physical labor.... With a playwright’s talent for dialogue, storytelling in miniature and staying out of the way, he writes dozens of scenes of men moving, joking and endlessly talking...his writing keeps people alive in their histories, talents, humor and mistakes...[bringing] perspective, on how people, including Smith, can sometimes rise above their worst selves through unglamorous, demanding, difficult work...a book that should be read.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“[A] sprawling, heart-smeared-on-the-page howl of rage and pain. The Good Hand is a rambling honky-tonk of a book, with the soul of a songwriter and the ache of a poor White boy who grew up rough. It is big and it is pretty and it is amazing.” (Los Angeles Times)

“The Good Hand ’s scenes in ‘the patch’ are beautiful, funny, and harrowing, constructed with metal hooks, workplace lingo, poetic profanity, and the author’s palpable fear.... As someone whose immediate family bears the scars of physical labor in another Great Plains state, and who rarely sees her native class convincingly portrayed, I relished these anecdotes and the validation they provide.” (Sarah Smarsh, The Atlantic)

much better than I thought

great story, well read and told, with interesting characters and insights from the author. highly recommended

Good story

After 1 year you’re only starting to figure that part of the oilfield out. Great book overall but feel like his main reason for going was to write a book about it but honestly appreciated that a liberal went out and experienced the life rather than writing a book about the horrors of the oilfield without actually experiencing it first hand. Thank you for that.

Good story but weak ending

It was a fascinating story. The intertwining of the author’s life and background with that of so many oil field workers was interesting given the varied backgrounds everyone came from. However after the build up of so many months of working in the oil fields it just became a “time to go home. The end” sort of ending. I was looking for a little more insight and introspection than I received.

Wonderful engaging story. A true artist.

I loved the insight this author developed about childhood trauma, the search for his own manhood the revelations along the way of feeling so different and out of place and eventual acceptance into a brotherhood of men. I would and have encouraged others to enjoy this audio. Loved having the author read his own work. Felt like he was personally sharing his experiences with me. Will watch for more by this author.

Good, but...

It's been a couple weeks since I finished listening to this book, and I have mixed emotions:

The story on a whole was good. He captured the people, the lifestyle, the transformation from his start to finish in the fields very well. He was the only one who could do justice to reading this story, and I'm glad he did. I appreciated the commentary on how important oil has become in this world. I was invested in the people in this book and thankful he gave us an epilogue of sorts on where they wound up.

If I stopped there, you might think I loved the book, but...

The singing between chapters was brutal. He speaks in the book of attending a concert where a singer was off-key throughout but how the singer was great because of the words and meaning of the songs...the beauty of the perfomance. Perhaps you have to love someone's music enough to tolerate the off-key singing. With the author, I could not. It was brutal...and as I heard him singing, it took me back to parts where he talked of a famous singer telling him he did a good job after a set or his relationships with other famous artists and left me feeling that I couldn't trust the story because it seems he thinks he is a good artist. I could not get past the voice to even understand his lyrics...and then the name dropping and talking up about his music got irritating. It would have been better had I never heard him sing.

Also, the ending seemed ranging, lost, and while I understand perhaps that captured the author at the time, his editor failed him here.

So I guess, even though I think I liked the book overall, I would not recommend it to my friends unless they outright showed an interest in the oil fields or blue-collar struggles in general—and only then would I recommend the book vs. the audiobook.

Woody Allen drills for oil

I saw the rating for this book and thought, great – a Hillbilly Elegy for the Bakken Oil Fields. In a word, no. Unlike Mr. Vance, Mr. Smith is not introducing you to people that he knows and for whom he empathizes. Mr. Smith takes great pains to repeatedly tell the reader that he is an artist who is there for a suffering tour. He spends most of the book describing how horrible and dysfunctional these people are, how sensitive and artistic he is, and how mean to him they are to him. The reader gets jarring cuts of his bluegrass music that seem as out of place with the prose as he is to the people. Mr. Smith rails against every left-wing boogeyman, but never actually does much of anything about them. But he is quick to inform you again and again and again, that he has talked to people who have. The book deals with damaged people doing difficult and dangerous work. These people are far from perfect, but I had a lot more empathy for them then I did the author who came across like the stereotypical neurotic whiney New Yorker who is between visits to his therapist. If however, your view of the middle of the country is that it is filled with semi-literate, knuckle-draggers who drool at the mouth, this book will reinforce all of your prejudices. You will love it.

way to go magic!

thanks for your honesty
can't wait to see what you do next!
this is a story that needs to be shared

Musical interludes

The author’s original songs added greatly to the sense of authenticity and his narration feels honest and sincere.

A Great Listen!

Interesting memoir about something I knew nothing about, working in an oil field. Hard to believe he’s not a professional writer, very descriptive audio book and I enjoyed how they incorporated his music into the story. Spoken by the author himself, he does a good job narrating his own story. Highly recommend!

Well done.

I enjoyed this book. I have family members who have worked on rigs, albeit not in winter in North Dakota. Hats off to these guys.