FULL SYNOPSIS

George Gattling is a man out of place in the world and out of place in his own skin.

He is the owner of the University Custom Auto Shop and the disgruntled patriarch of his family – his divorced sister Precious, and her twenty-year old autistic son, Fred. He’s also the unwitting case study of a ‘life-gone-wrong’ for Betty, a young psychology student who works at his shop.

George seeks salvation in hawks. He dreams of capturing and training the noble birds of prey. It is an ancient art that requires precision – you only have a few days to succeed – and extremes – only through practically killing yourself and the bird are you brought together. It is the obsession he shares with Fred. In the quiet pre-dawn tracking of the birds, George Gattling feels like a man temporarily freed from the absurdity of civilized life.

After several years of failed attempts, George and Fred capture the most magnificent bird they have ever seen – the red-tailed hawk. That night, Fred dies in a freak accident. Grief stricken, George sees his only chance to survive tied together with this bird. He becomes determined to tame her – and to do that he will not eat or sleep, nor will she, until it’s all over. At his weakest moment, he locks himself into a battle of wills with the only creature on earth that would rather die than succumb.

To the rest of the world, it appears George has gone mad; the closer he gets to achieving success, the crazier his family thinks he’s become. Betty is the only one who realizes that George must take himself to the bottom to truly be saved. She watches as George is released into a world where the senses are awakened and emotions are unchecked… a world where one can see and feel the “blood of things.”

The Hawk Is Dying is based on the book by Harry Crews, one of America’s great contemporary authors. In The Hawk Is Dying and his other books such as Celebration, A Feast of Snakes, and The Knockout Artist, Crews’ unique voice elevates the peculiarities and grit of the Southern spirit without being afraid to bare its seedier aspects.

 

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