Beyond the Bestsellers, Authors
M-Z
McColley, Kevin THE OTHER SIDE
Parallel almost to the Civil War raged a separate but affiliated action in Kansas and Missouri. A
series of events lead teenager Jake Wilson away from his Ohio home (his family had harbored
runaway slaves; he in turn killed a Yankee sergeant), eventually to Charlie Quantrill's Raiders
and psychopath Bill Anderson, a ruthless group devoted more to plunder than the Confederate
cause. The Other Side is a true fiction (the murdered sergeant flies benignly or
ominously in various states of decay above Quantrill's troops) while also historically true and
graphic and violent. 2-for-1: good reading, and good history. (Spring, 2000)
McCracken, Elizabeth THE GIANT'S HOUSE
At first glance, the premise here--lonely librarian (yuk, yuk) and young soon-to-be giant James
Carlson Sweatt, who eventually reaches eight feet--seems prone to comedy. Guess again. It's a
romance, set in 1950's Cape Cod, a could-be freak show that isn't, a book that succeeds almost in
spite of itself. This later won a National Book Award. (Fall, 1996)
McLarey, Myra WATER FROM THE WELL
Some novels take the express route from A to Z; some are more local, insisting you look at B, C,
D, etc. along the way. This fine first novel, which begins with a 1919 interracial baseball game
in rural Arkansas, is of the latter. Years of history, layers of detail, a secret rape and a
correspondingly secret murder are among the offerings in a book as clear and deep as its title.
(Summer, 1996).
McCrumb, Sharyn SHE WALKS THESE HILLS
Third (If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O, The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter)
in McCrumb's Tennessee "ballad" series, and they keep getting richer, more complex: parallel
lives, parallel deaths, ghosts, an almost-ghost, and a college prof studying the first ghost all
traverse the same trails--with crimes of passion, crimes of intent and crimes a volatile mixture of
both. Don't miss this book. For my money, this is the best of the series. The series continues on. (Fall, 1994)
MacDougall, Ruth SNOWY
It's pure coincidence that Snowy was on the same list (back when these were lists) as
Smilla's Sense of Snow; it's hard to imagine two less similar books. This unexpected
sequel updates 1973's The Cheerleader, a book which may now seem dated (check out
the cover art on the paperback, if you get a chance), but which many found compelling at the
time. The much more mature Snowy takes the same characters from college into their
troubled 40's. (Fall, 1994)
McFarland, Dennis SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND
What an exceptional book this is, about the dynamics of the past, about recollection. It features
a murder-mystery, but almost as an afterthought in the backdrop behind world-hopping
photographer Francis Brimm and his stay-at-home sister Muriel, both in their 70's, both trying to
make palpable sense out of very different lives, and of a birth. (Spring, 1995)
McGarrity, Michael MEXICAN HAT
In his second outing, Kevin Kearney finds himself unexpectedly embroiled in murder
investigations, also a would-be murder victim, while working a seemingly routine part-time job
for the forest service, as an ancient murder provokes new ones, and very few people are what
they seem (except the sheriff, who is just what he seems). The ending is, OK, a little
too neat, but it's the getting there that counts. A Tony Hillerman read-alike. (Winter, 1998)
McNamer, Dierdre ONE SWEET QUARREL
Strong second effort from McNamer, although nothing like Rima in the Weeds except
for the Montana setting. The center, this time, is the Malone family (Daisy, a failed singer;
Jerry, a failed farmer; Carlton, a just plain failure), the end of the 1920's Montana oil boom, and
the unlikely but successful effort of a tiny town (Shelby, pop. 1,000) to land a heavyweight title
bout--Dempsey v. Gibbons. Episodic, melancholy, intense. (Summer, 1994)
McNeal, Tom GOODNIGHT, NEBRASKA
Actually, it's the name of a town--a town that takes in 17-year-old eight-fingered football-star
misfit Randall Hunsacker after his father's death and an incident involving stolen cars and guns.
This amazing first novel acts at the start like a character-based comedy, but it soon turns much
darker, deeper, dustier like the Nebraska soil. One relationship surprisingly survives, another
finds a grim denouement: marital discord in the Hawkeye State's neighbor. This is quintessential
small-town (eight-man football, the local bar, field days, town gossips and grudges) fiction that
avoids the trite or nostalgic; if you dislike small towns, avoid it. (Fall, 1998)
Magnuson, James THE HOUNDS OF WINTER
Literary agent David Nielsen plans to spend Christmas in his Wisconsin cabin, getting
reacquainted with his daughter. He even talks to her on the phone 15 minutes before arriving,
but when he arrives, he finds her bludgeoned to death. Quickly becoming the prime suspect,
David chases those he suspects ( a sheriff, a bartender, an ex-Governor) while being chased, a
contemporary Fugitive. Underneath the Midwest calm, a lot goes on, and David discovers
myriad plots and schemes, none of which turn out to have much to do with the murder, as he
makes one impossible escape after another. Faster than XC skis on an icy slope. (20 February
2006)
Magnusson, Mike THE RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB
This
gritty, incendiary (literally, at its critical point) first novel cruises the hoods of Columbus, Ohio
during a hazy October, with an ethnically-mixed pair of repo men, doomed to reclaiming tawdry
furniture into a van decorated with a huge smiling face. Shades of Pelecanos, with a couple of
interesting central relationships, but not for the overly squeamish or "P.C." (Summer, 1997)
Maillard, Keith THE CLARINET POLKA
It's 1969, and Jimmy Koprowski returns from the service to his West Virginia home with
intent to head to Austin, TX. Instead, he detours into an alcoholic haze, his trip through Hell
interrupted by management of his sister's all-girl polka band and an impossible attraction to the
16 year-old star clarinetist. Great reconstruction of a working-class Polish community, and if
you're inclined to be dismissive of polka music (no, it's not all Frankie Yankovik), you'll receive
an education that will cause you to think again. (2003)
Mallon, Thomas DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN
Delivering on his "nouns trump adjectives" theory of historical fiction, Mallon gives us NY's
Thruway's (Dewey Thruway always seemed oddly--and badly--poetic) namesake's home town of
Owosso, Michigan, in the eventful period leading up to the '48 election. Set against the town's
charm are a love triangle or two, a lost-love story, and an ancient, buried suicide. Mallon is
about the best of the people currently working in this genre. (Summer, 1997)
Mapson, Jo-Ann SHADOW RANCH
Mapson (Hank and Chloe, Blue Rodeo) continues to grow, her passionate
approach here aimed less at sex than in the past. This is a novel of California and its lost lemon
groves replaced by slab cities, of loss (of the old west, and of a precious four-year-old) and hope
(notably provided in one case to the family patriarch in the form of a new wife, an ex-stripper
met via the Sally Jessy TV show). Also stars a Frank Lloyd Wright house. For some reason,
after this, Mapson keeps writing the same book--not as good as this one--over and over, in an
effort to capture the Thelma and Louise vote. (Summer, 1996)
Martin, David Lozell PELIKAN
The subtitle says it: "a novel of love, redemption and felony theft." New Orleans comes to seedy
life in this story of a small-time antiques dealer and avid clown hater gone south to help his
uncle with a big-time heist for the benefit of some nuns. It's often hilarious, and the population
of clowns, mimes, hookers, cops, nuns, crooks, drunks et al. offers something for everyone and
something to offend everyone. Definitely rated "R," anything but politically correct, but fun and
full of color, local and otherwise. (Spring, 2000)
Martinez, A. Lee GIL'S ALL FRIGHT DINER
Can a Werewolf and a Vampire (named Duke and Earl--heh, heh), with assistance from a ghost,
a
tough matriarch of a diner-owner and a bemused sheriff sick of dealing with zombies, save the
World from the Old Gods? Tune in to this book from Christopher Moore territory, and the only
tome I know to feature bovine zombies, to find out. Funny and suspenseful at once, this is quite
a
debut; as t he cover says, "Now serving Armageddon with a side of fries..." (July 6, 2005)
Miscione, Lisa SMOKE
Lydia Strong is a busy true crime writer, busy enough that she forgets to return a semi-frantic call from an ex-student. Then she and her partner/husband, ex-FBI guy Jeffrey Mark receive an unanticipated visit from a police detective, at his wit's (and resources') end about the student's disappearance. As Lydia and Jeffrey investigate, clues and realities dissolve into the titular wisps; the presumed dead are not, the presumed alive are not, and the quasi-religious organization, The New Day, unfortunately, is. True page-turner with several smoky twists; also fourth in a series. (15 January 2006)
Mitchell, James C. CHOKE POINT
Reporter April Lennox hires PI and former Border Guard Brinker to help with an investigation of
corruption and murder in Mexico. He balks though, at going south of the border, so she goes
without him, and is soon dead. Feeling some guilt, Brink investigates, only to find the atrocious
labor practices a tip of an iceberg that would make a crime syndicate (whom Brinker gets some
help from) proud. Explosive ending. (20 February 2006)
Mizner, David HARTSBURG, USA
Hartsburg, OH was once a thriving industrial town so "normal" that media used it to gauge elections. Times have changed. The economy dried and a large contingent of evangelical "right-"mindeds have settled in, now galvanized by one of their own, Bevy Baer, running a Christian campaign for School Board. Unopposed, she sort of solicits and opponent, a burned-out failed lefty screenwriter, Wallace Cormier. Interestingly, both candidates have ties to national political operatives (think, Rove), and this small-town campaign soon becomes national itself when issues like Bevy's "porn" video and Cormier's mother's lesbianism come into play. Yeah, it's funny at times, but it's also spot-on. (5 December 2007)
Moore, Christopher FLUKE
Ever since introducing us to a
salt-munching genie in Practical Demonkeeping) a decade ago, Moore has been a little
off-plumb. Here he offers up an organic macrobiotic cosmos called "Goo" located 600 feet
below the ocean and ruled by a madman who wants to destroy its benign culture and the
whaley-boys (don't ask). Whale-ships (looks/acts like a whale--isn't a whale) capture researchers
who venture close to the truth, and take them to Gootown, where it becomes the errand of one to
save, in essence, two worlds. Sound complicated? Uh-huh--also a funny
socio-political-scientific-cultural fable. (2003)
Morris, Bill MOTOR CITY
Corporate intrigue in 1954 Detroit, as Buick division manager Ted Mackey drives to outsell
Plymouth for #3 in sales, behind Chevy and Ford, of course. With cameos by: Marilyn Monroe
and Joe D., Elvis, Jack Kerouac, Vladimir Nabokov, Ray Kroc, and more. Features a flying
Buick on the cover. Lots of chrome. (Winter, 1993)
Mosher, Howard Frank THE FALL OF THE YEAR
Mosher specializes in local color from the Vermont/Canada border, and strings together
vignettes that produce a virtual reality, although sometimes one a little askew, as in the case of
disappeared bottle-picker savant Foster Boy Dufresne. The key love story here is a little
transparent, but the priest/historian/third-baseman is a great creation. And there's a set-piece
mid- book about a seedy magician, Mr. Moriarty Mentality, that really stretches the limits, and
another about a circus visit that begs probability, but in a unique way. For Vermontaholics.
(Spring, 2000)
Murdoch, Anna COMING TO TERMS
Quirky family story set in upstate New York, this is another relatively light "good read" book
that has stood the test of time. Uncle Percy's fixation is truly one-of-a-kind; you'll never forget
the protagonist's (arrived back to care for Percy, pursued by bumbling hoodlums) first reading of
a note left for her. Good characters inhabit this charitable and humorous book. You can even
read it without knowing who Carlos Santana is. (Fall, 1992)
Naumoff, Lawrence SILK HOPE, N. C.
Naumoff's less bizarre this time out, by comparison to Taller Women, although there's
still your occasional happy pig or talking catfish. Most reviews will probably describe this as
funny, hilarious, as they did Rootie Kazootie, but, as with Rootie, it's the
pensive, serious side that seems most winning. (Fall, 1994)
Nesmith, Michael THE LONG SANDY HAIR OF NEFTOON
ZAMORA
Yes, that Michael Nesmith (can you say "Hey, Hey, we're the
Monkees"?), and his first novel is a cool, new-agey almost science-fiction venture into
mysticism, the nature of reality, and Real Love. With laid-back humor and surprisingly stylish
writing, he takes us in blues-time to a new Lost Horizon, where time matters, but may not exist.
Includes an experimental psychedelic chapter mid-book, which is weirdly interesting in its own
right. (Summer, 1999)
Norman, Howard THE BIRD ARTIST
It is early in the (last, now) century, and along the spare seacoast of Witless Bay, Newfoundland,
20-year-old bird artist and coffee addict Fabian Vas has killed the lighthouse keeper. Although
not quite as quaint in depiction, this Newfoundland will surely seem familiar to readers of
Proulx's The Shipping News with its colorful characters, coves, and not-so-colorful
cormorants. (Fall, 1994)
Oliver, Julia MUSIC OF FALLING WATER
This one is from Sharyn McCrumb country, backwoods Alabama, and is as full of the local
scents, topography, and ghosts as the Appalachian novels. It's set in World War I, and involves
mysteries of relationship and parentage, and the disappearance of the mystical, free-spirited third
daughter of the Holloway family, of Hackberry Hill. The mysteries resolve without sleuthing as
the story (also a coming-of-age story of the youngest daughter, Lola) flows like water through
the landmark Mill, to its conclusion. Elegant, beautifully-observed and engaging. (Winter, 2002)
O’Nan, Stewart LAST NIGHT AT THE LOBSTER
A small book full of details: a Red Lobster in Connecticut plays out its last day, in a Nor’easter, no less, just before Christmas. This breaks up a “team” of many years standing, only 5 of whom can transfer to a nearby Olive Garden. Among these is the manager, Manny, who mourns the loss of his beloved restaurant, his beloved (who can’t and won’t make the transfer), and his recently deceased abuelita. Some of his staff remain loyal, some defect, some remain loyal and sabotage at the same time. In time for the holidays, a book full of personal insight and restaurant mechanics. (5 December 2007)
O'Nan, Stewart SNOW ANGELS
Not quite as fraught or supercharged as an Anita Shreve novel, this riveting
wrong-side-of-the-tracks tragedy should appeal to her readers, or to Rosellen Brown's. Deft
characterizations and a smooth, spare style draw the reader in and through the winter gloom as
the narrator recalls small-town Pennsylvania in the early 70's, and a child's sad death. (Winter,
1995)
Palliser, Charles BETRAYALS
This is called a "novel," but isn't, exactly. It's a series of pieces connected by theme, unexpected
character repeats, by clues and tricks and games. The writing is stunning, similar to that in
Palliser's sinisterly magisterial Quincunx. The title holds the key, variations to the
theme are many, and the book gets full value plus out of the connotations (think about them) of
"betrayal.". (Spring, 1995)
Paul, Jim ELSEWHERE IN THE LAND OF PARROTS
Drawn to South America to care for and study conyers, scientist Fern thus first encounters one of her subjects: "The big scarlet macaw evidently decided that Fern was approachable. It gave a squawk and flapped clumsily to the floor of the cage, Then it waddled over in her direction. When it reached the bars, it ducked its head three times and said very clearly, in a deep voice that startled her, 'Don't give me any crap.'" Oddly, an unproductive poet named David finds himself also at this parrot enclave for very different reasons. This book has it all: offbeat humor, dovetailing plots from two leads, a catchy love interest, crime-mystery-suspense-escape, and of course the parrots. (July 2003)
Payne, David BACK TO WANDO PASSO
Payne (Early from the Dance) has long specialized in Sturm und Drang, heavy on the Drang. No change here, as parallel stories from the Civil War and the present visit the same Plantation house with themes of passion, love, racial equity, justice, houdou and relative sanity. Heavy? Yes, with elegant descriptive prose only occasionally overwritten. Think Anita Shreve (esp. Weight of Water in the South. Worth the trip. (28 June 2006)
Pearson, T. R. POLAR
Pearson, master of digression, the periodic sentence and the 50-cent word in an Appalachian
setting, is back with the tale of a backwoods seer nothing like McCrumb's Nora Bonesteel, and a
missing child. The seer is former porno movie maven Clayton, who is transformed in a grocery
line into a dispenser of cryptic, useless (but accurate) prophecy, and a sort of "channel" for
long-dead polar explorer Titus Oates. The missing girl? Well, Pearson eventually gets around to
that. Necessary for lovers of literary weirdness. (Summer, 2003)
Pelecanos, George THE BIG BLOWDOWN
The unheralded Dean of Hardboiled Fiction shifts to the past here, giving us a history of Nick's
Woodward Grill (at the end, the Nick Stefanos we know--cf. Nick's Trip, e. g.--is a
child) and of Washington, D. C. in the 40's. Loyalty, retribution, extortion, unvarnished violence
and sex combine with well-varnished prose and dead-on characterization. To DC what Estleman
is to Detroit, or Dexter to Philly. Look: all Pelecanos novels are great in their own way. My favorites are still the Nick Stefanos books (see below), but in trimming down "Beyond" in 2007, I decided I needed to trim these out. Your library catalog can tell you what the other titles are. (Summer, 1996)
Pelecanos, George NICK'S TRIP
Vintage Pelecanos. Private-eye fiction so cooked as to make almost all others seem softboiled. When Nick Stefanos, bartending at a seedy spot called "The Spot" between (few and far between) jobs, is hired by an old high school friend to find a missing wife, nothing, except for the very hard drinking and very hard driving, seems to be what it seems. Toughness aside, make no mistake, this guy can
write. I was talking about this book at a library once, about the
nonstop booze and drugs, saying some people really live like this, when a guy looking like the Lloyd guy from "Taxi" looked up blearily from audiocassettes and said, "Yeah, oh, yeah." Hmm.
(Fall, 1993)
Pelletier, Cathie WEIGHT OF WINTER
Often hilarious, sometimes poignant (esp. the recollections of the 107-year-old Mathilda
Fennelson from her nursing home bed, while the community believes her to be vegetating), this
is third in an inspired series of books based in the more-or-less fictional town of Mattagash,
Maine. This series, which starts with The Funeral Makers(see picture, left, of my
beloved first edition) and Once Upon a Time by the Banks, and is later continued by
Beaming Sonny Home, is a real find, capitalizing on the virtues of series-fiction just as
Trollope did in his Barsetshire and Palliser books, or Robertson Davies in his trilogies. If you
haven't read these, you've missed a major achievement in modern writing. (Fall, 1992)
Perec, Georges A VOID
Not strictly au courant (actually, first out in 1969--just now in translation), this is
that book, with insomniac protagonist Anton Vowl, wondrously
lacking (most unusual limitation!) a particularly common non-consonant. Parody, wordplay,
fulmination and plot cohabit its world amiably. Don't miss Vowlishly "original" lyrics to, say,
"Ozymandias," or "Black Bird" by that tintinnabulary Baltimoric bard. Hard to bring off for only
a paragraph or two (just look!), only think about pulling this trick off
for 283 pp.! Bravo to translator, also. (Cold months, 1996)
Peterson, Ray COWKIND
Bucolic upstate fiction from a North Country writer (born in Oswego, I hear) about a troubled
60's farm family (stress, youthful rebellion, the draft and the war) and their thoughtful,
ceremonial, ritualistic bovine herd--ruminating ruminants. The farm folks worry, unaware that
the cows do too; the cows know quite well what the people are up to--although there is some
mistake about the possible militarity of a milk tank. Nice mix of realisms, ordinary and magical.
(Summer, 1997)
Power, Susan THE GRASS DANCER
The Library Journal review of this first novel begins, simply: "This is a stunning
book." And it is. As ghosts drift in and out, modern Native American reservation life co-exists
with Dakota Sioux legend, a tragic love affair from the 1860's shades the present love of
Charlene Thunder for Harley Wind Soldier, and a white teacher, Jeannette McVay, tries to
fathom the Sioux. Exquisite writing, and a sort of a scroungy dog named Chuck Norris. (Fall,
1994)
Proulx, E. Annie THE SHIPPING NEWS
Here, surprisingly, is a classic comedy. Not Three Stooges/Lucille Ball type stuff, but the real
thing, with death, dilemma, dreams fulfilled and deferred, leading up to comedy's usual closing
scene. Not soon to be forgotten Newfoundland scenery and characters (Quoyle, Nutbeem,
Wavey, the Aunt, the old cousin), comic and otherwise. The party at Nutbeem's is in itself
worth the price of admission, and the fate of the car is like vintage Cathie Pelletier, whose
Maine is a few miles south. Great book, later National Book Award winner. And pass the
seal-flipper pie. (Fall, 1994)
Quindlen, Anna OBJECT LESSONS
Sharp, 60's-set coming-of-age novel, with memorable characters in Maggie Scandlan and her
family, and a good look at Irish/Italian dynamics. This really takes you back to when housing
developments were new. Similar to Rima in the Weeds (see
above), Quindlen's book has become part of the curriculum in some schools (to its and the
schools' credits). (Fall, 1992)
Rehder, Ben BUCK FEVER
Blanco County, Texas Game Warden John Marlin at first thinks his problems are "limited" to
land predation by a corrupt wealthy lobbyist, poaching, and the antics of a couple of beer and
whiskey swilling yahoos. He's wrong, and the result is a wild, hilarious, nightmarish
Hiaasen-among-the-rattlers debut. Whoever said that Game Wardens have jobs more dangerous
than Sheriff in many rural counties must have had this book in mind. Read it with a Lone Star
longneck, if you can find one. The followers in this series are great too. (2003)
Reynolds, Marjorie THE STARLITE DRIVE-IN
Human bones excavated during the razing of an abandoned drive-in cause a flashback for Callie
Anne Benton to her coming-of-age summer of 1956, the summer a charming, mysterious drifter
named Charlie Memphis alters her life, and the lives of her bitter, trapped father and
agoraphobic
mother. They also "solve" a 36-year-old murder mystery. This first novel has it all; it's like
Anita
Shreve amalgamated with Robert James Waller, if such is imaginable. (Winter, 1998)
Rigbey, Liz TOTAL ECLIPSE
A taut first novel, an astronomical (literally) thriller, from the first woman editor of "The
Archers,"
the BBC program that A. N. Wilson loves to parody. This book is slow to start, so give it 60-80
pages or so; after that it jumps, with a Perry Mason-esque courtroom ending followed by an
unexpected double-twist. (Fall, 1995)
Robotham, Michael LOST
In his earlier Suspect, Robotham delivered a twisty thriller with psychologist Joe
O'Laughlin pursued by DI Ruiz for multiple murders, O'Laughlin a victim of the ultimate bad
patient. Here, roles are reversed as O'Laughlin helps Ruiz, victim of gunshot wound, near-death,
memory loss and the ultimate gangster, prove that he is not "bent," that a girl gone missing is not
dead, and that a creepy child porn collector is not a murderer. Read both, they're great: major
new talent. (20 February 2006)
Rock, Peter CARNIVAL WOLVES
Not so much a novel (although called that) as a series of vignettes, Rock's second book takes us
across country with museum guard/mechanic/dognapper Alan Johnson, in sections named after
state
nicknames, past demented taxidermists, tiger breeders, survivalists, polygamist enclaves, and
more.
Johnson is sometimes key, sometimes a cameo, sometimes absent, but his progress gives
structure to
the kaleidoscope backdrops. A "trip," in the old sense of the word. (Winter, 1999)
Rogan, Barbara ROWING IN EDEN
Full of plot, and almost a textbook of conflicts (jew/gentile, townie/nouveau riche,man/woman,
gay/straight, pro-life/pro-choice, old/young, Hispanic/ . . . well, you get the idea), this
upstate-NY-set novel is hard to put down. The characters are a little too true to type, but that's
what
makes this kind of book work, almost on a parabolic level. Title courtesy of Emily Dickinson.
(Fall, 1996)
Russo, Richard STRAIGHT MAN
Once one of NY's hidden treasures (now Maine's), Russo gives up here his usual proletarian
environment, delivering instead the most dysfunctional English Department (at a
small-but-would-be-big state college in PA) since Grudin's Book. Hank Devereaux,
the
50-year-old department chair, is blocked both physically and writerly, which may account for his
threat, while wearing fake glasses/nose/mustache, on the life of a goose (duck) on regional, then
national, television, or his maiming at the hands of a feminist poet. Or maybe not. But in the
end,
he becomes unblocked. As his arch-rival, Prof. Paul "Reverend" Roarke, likes to say, "Lucky
Hank." Hands-down Weird Academic Parable Award winner. (Fall, 1997)
Sallis, James DRIVE
Thin elegant noir tough guy fiction: a man named only Driver is a stunt driver by day, hired
"driver" by night. One of his night jobs leaves him with a big bag of money, which he returns to
owner, hoping to get out of the loop, who naturally comes after him anyway. From then, it’s
one match-up after another on the Mean Streets of L. A., and Arizona. (20 February 2006)
Schultz, Robert THE MADHOUSE NUDES
John Ordway, a successful painter of the nude, and his girlfriend Jamie escape New York for
small-town Iowa, seeking renewal. But Jamie, feeling stifled, soon flees, and John finds himself
in
the middle of a full-scale nervous breakdown, accused of an assault on one of his models that
even
he can't be sure he didn't commit. This complex epistolary first novel
with a profound mystery (but no murder) ends with a powerful love story that shames that of
Schultz's one-time just-down-the-road (Schultz teaches at Luther College in Decorah) neighbor,
Robert James Waller. (Summer, 1997)
Schwartz, John Burnham RESERVATION ROAD
This anguished second-novel starts with a fatal hit-and-run on a dark New England back road,
then
gives two first-person (the father of the dead ten-year-old, and English prof at a local college,
and the
driver, a failing lawyer and father), and one third-person (the mother) refractions on guilt, grief,
getting-away-with-it. Lamenting lost life, lost talent, the book ends in a snowy showdown at a
resort. Tense and mesmerizing, right from Rosellen Brown territory (and she in fact contributes
a
blurb for the book). (Spring, 1999)
Schweighardt, Joan HOMEBODIES
Liz Arroway's life might almost be said to be normal, except for her sister's schizophrenia, her
father's stroke, her ghostwriter-husband's flirtations with his gorgeous and willing new assistant,
her
prying neighbor, her first daughter's ghost, and a bunch of other things. Nice comedy, with some
serious side-orders. (Winter, 1995)
Shepard, Roy THE LAST EPISTLE OF JIM
"A Day in the Life," you could call this contemplative first novel; the life is that of the Rev. Jack
Andrews--and during the day he mediates a funeral and wake while meditating his faith, calling,
marriage, and the contents of a letter that he carries with him that may offer change, promotion
to a
large, suburban, academic church. This quiet ecclesiastical book is not, for sure, Grisham
(maybe,
like the soft drink, it could be called the un-Grisham? Or, more theologically apropos, the
anti-Grisham?), but it has its charms. (Fall, 1997)
Sherwood, Ben THE MAN WHO ATE THE 747
Wow! The second "Beyond" book about a "verificationist," (see Antrim, above) this one has an
"authenticator" from a Guiness-like record book sent to Superior, Nebraska (unlike his usual
gigs,
foreign, exotic) to check out what's referred to in the title. But he finds, in the flat, lovely
landscape
something much more. The book is funny in more a thoughtful than har-har way, and if the love
story(ies) is predictable, well, maybe that's how life is, or should be, too. (Spring, 2001)
Shields, Carol THE STONE DIARIES
Wonderful, wistful Feminist fiction from the author of Republic of Love, tracing the
lifeline of an "ordinary" Canadian woman from birth (literally--possibly, as with Tristram
Shandy from conception) to death, from the frontier to urban affluence. Often unusual,
always
insightful, the chapters are artfully designed to mimic life-phase. It's about the "self"--who can
understand a life except the person living it, and maybe, the person "reading" it? Later a
National
Book Award winnner. (Summer, 1994)
Shreve, Anita STRANGE FITS OF PASSION
Vintage Shreve--and she never really found herself again after Oprah found her less-than-compelling Pilot's Wife. Compelling, troubling, harrowing novel about abuse, solace, escape, redemption, guilt--
territories Shreve has made her own in subsequent years. This is bittersweet and heartbreaking (emblems:
the warmth of the community bonfire, the damp cold of Maine), but also impossible to put down.
See also Shreve's first novel, the haunting, eloquent Eden Close. For "Beyond's" money, this is still her quintessential and best book. (Fall, 1992)
Shreve, Anita THE WEIGHT OF WATER
Shreve is back (with her best work since Strange Fits of Passion) with her patented
harrowing themes--love, doubt, betrayal, guilt. Finely written against a backdrop of a real 19th
century murder on an austere granite island--one of the Isles of Shoals, Smuttynose--off the coast
of New Hampshire being researched by the narrator, weaving in and out of past and present,
Shreve's novel (tragedy?) demands of the reader care and patience in exchange for the ample care that
went into its creation. And the tension certainly does build, as passion beckons and death delivers. This book compelled me to visit the storied Isles, so I couldn't leave this off. (Spring, 1997)
Slavitt, David GET THEE TO A NUNNERY
The prolific Slavitt here serves up a pair of tasty "Shakespearian Diversimentos." The first sets
"Measure for Measure" in the frontier town of Hotdog, NM (a new "Vienna"--get it?), where
wisecracking easterner Luke (Lucio) arrives on the scene just as Duke outlaws the brothel,
disappears, then comes back in religious disguise that fools no one. The second gives us Romeo
as a
clod, and Juliet as Lolita (sort of). How much Bard you need to know to appreciate these is open
to
debate, but a little should do, and these are real treats. Read alongside Nye, above. (Winter,
2000)
Smith, Diane LETTERS FROM YELLOWSTONE
A turn-of-the-century expedition to study the ecosystem at the great park with diverse
constituency
(a raven-besotted Ph. D., a pair of students named Rocky and Stony, the mountain-man driver, a
botanist who turns out to be, to the director's initial chagrin--a woman!) generates the letters
from the
title, and they are full of lore, of natural observation, of human nature, and of political
intrigue--maybe even of love, and certainly of passion. This is one of those rare first novels so
accomplished, so polished, that it seems impossible that it's the author's debut. (Winter, 2000)
P>Smith, Scott A SIMPLE PLAN
The Latin axiom "cupiditas radix malorum est" is commonly mistranslated to "money is the root
of
all evil." Still, this book tests the mistranslation, as a downed airplane in the middle of a lonely
field
containing four-plus million dollars turns a "normal, decent" man and his wife into--well, what?
To
say more would give the book away--let's just say the "simple" in the title is heavily ironic. Read
along with Harrison'sBodies Electric (above) for action novels that also explore
consequences. This was later adapted into a sort of dopey movie. (Winter, 1994)
Smolens, John COLD
Very. Set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Cold takes readers on an Odyssey with
fugitive Norman Haas, who simply walks away from a prison work detail in a blizzard. Looking
for how his life went wrong leads the oddly sympathetic Norman to leave a woman for dead,
lead a truck driver to a fiery death, lead Yellow Dog Township Sheriff Del Maki to an
out-of-season lodge in the wilderness where bears are harvested, and where a deadly conclusion
ensues involving Norman's erratic "girlfriend" and her daughter, her criminal father and his
Japanese "business partner," Norman's psychotic brother, and Sheriff Maki and the woman left
for dead. Whew! (Summer, 2002)
Stone, Robert BAY OF SOULS
A Midwest English Prof, generally content in marriage, paternity and career at a backwater
Midwest
U., becomes passionately entangled with exotic visiting Prof. Lara Purcell. They arrange a
supposed
diving trip to her revolt-plagued native island, where she seeks to reclaim her family reputation
and
her soul--but the only diving Michael does, to retrieve contraband from a downed taildragger,
nearly
costs him his life. Back in the Midwest, sick and a Pariah, he drifts about, and a late backroads
encounter near a redneck honky-tonk with Lara (she on horseback) is almost (or really)
phantasmagoric. Wow. Starts like Richard Russo, evolves into Joseph Conrad, and resolves as
Daniel Woodrell. (7/17/03)
Stroud, Carsten BLACK WATER TRANSIT
Because of childhood association, Black Water Transit owner Jack Vermillion is perceived as
"connected." When he tries to cut a deal to upgrade prison terms for his miserable excuse of a
son,
he becomes involved with psychopath Earl V. Pike--and when he tries to turn Pike in, he is set
up
because of his alleged ties to crime by barracuda ATF agent Valeriana Greco. Things go from
bad to
worse, and the body count is high in this page-turner reminiscent of Tell No One, with
noir prose like George Pelecanos's (and both TNO's Harlan Coben and Pelecanos contribute
back-cover blurbs for Stroud). (Winter, 2002)
Swados, Elizabeth THE MYTH MAN
The first two-thirds of this unusual novel is set in the world of the experimental theater of Sasha
Valotny, as seen through the eyes of Rikki Nelson (yes, named after the singer), a mute
11-year-old
girl. The last third becomes a new Heart of Darkness. Really--no hyperbole. If there's
justice (big "if) in literary academia, this will be part of some curricula in 50 or so years.
Whoa--I've just now found out (10/97) that it is now used in some
drama
programs. (Spring, 1995)
Swain, James MIDNIGHT RAMBLER
With a soundtrack from the Rolling Stones (check Let It Bleed), who were known to get down and dirty, comes a book that gets, well….you know. Jack Carpenter is a disgraced South Florida detective who was good at tracking child-molesters, and who got too violent with a serial killer who preyed on “unknowns.” Now, a well-orchestrated conspiracy is on foot to free the killer, and inculpate Jack. The bad guys in this book are really, well….you know. If you like Lee Child, this is for you. (15 November 2007)
Tartt, Donna THE SECRET HISTORY
An exclusive coterie of student classicists attempts a Bacchanal. Surprising themselves with
success, they kill a farmer in their "frenzy" (and see the very dissimilar book by Everett about
Bacchanalia, above) . Unfortunately, an unincluded member of their group learns of this, and
"must" be disposed of. Tight, superbly-written novel about friendship, knowledge, guilt,
Secret
History was working towards cult status for a while--by the 21st century, it seemed to have
arrived. (Spring, 1993)
Taylor-Hall, Mary Ann COME AND GO, MOLLY SNOW
Music, loss and recovery are the themes in a novel as finely crafted as the rock-maple-backed
violin
owned by its central character. The reader meets Carrie Mullins as she recuperates on a
drought-struck farm, tended to by two caring old women who understand the healing power of
the
day-to-day, from the loss of her beloved daughter, and the consequent misplacement of her
"self."
(Spring, 1995)
Thayer, Cynthia STRONG FOR POTATOES
From the coast of Maine (the "Bubbles" are in clear view) comes this debut coming-of-age-plus
story of Blue Willoughby, almost child-star left with scars and a glass eye from an on-set
accident.
Her mother is dreamy, and her father hides behind a lens, leaving Blue with a support staff of her
dead twin sister, one friend, and her grandfather, a full-blooded Passamoquoddy (the title refers
to
how a specific Indian basket needs to be). It's driven by vignette: the frog dissection is appalling
and
unforgettable. Then it sinks in: coming-of-age memories are defined by vignette.
Think
about it. The book ends with stunning losses, and stunning gains. (Summer, 1998)
Toksvig, Sandi WHISTLING FOR THE ELEPHANTS
From a British author comes a most American book. 10-year-old Dorothy is relocated with her
neurotic mother and bureaucrat father to Sassapaneck, NY (around Albany) in 1968: there
Dorothy
learns to drive at night, arranges a dog funeral, watches a mayoral race between a corset-dealer
and
the dogcatcher end in gunfire (at an elephant) and works to save a derelict zoo. Colorful, funny
and
touching, and loaded with anachronisms. Dorothy's voice is perfect, though.
From the land of Lorna Landvik and Cathie Pelletier. (Winter, 2002)
Townsend, Sue THE QUEEN AND I
From the "Adrian Mole" author: What would you expect to happen were the Royal Family
dispossessed, forced to live in the projects, deal with gas meters, food stamps and the like? You
might predict a book like this would be mean-spirited, but it isn't. It's shrewd, kind, gracious,
and
very funny. See who cuts it in the "real world," and who doesn't. (Winter, 1994)
Troy, Judy WEST OF VENUS
The last time Venus figured as a place in a "Beyond" list was in Dufresne's Louisiana Power
and Light; this aptly-named Venus, in Kansas, gives us a set of
good working-class people looking for love, or a way out (in one case, by suicide). Troy's book
got
a really hostile review in Library Journal. Other readers have said that they
wished it never ended. Go figure. Features a symbolic motorcycle (like Inman's book,
above)--symbolic of what, is up to you. (Fall, 1997)
Unsworth, Barry MORALITY PLAY
In tight but measured prose, a murder mystery develops when a troupe of 14th century players
decides to stage a "real" play in the bleak, wintry English countryside, a version of a local crime
of
which a local deaf-mute girl is all too conveniently accused. Subtle title, given what the players
perform, and great cover art courtesy of Breughel. This book is wonderfully crafted. (Spring,
1996)
Urquhart, Jane AWAY
More superb Canadian fiction, this co-winner of the Trillium award (along with Margaret
Atwood's
Robber Bride) moves through powerful recollection from the Irish potato famine to
modern Canada. Lyrical and imagistically intense, surveying both natural and supernatural
realms,
Away will remind many readers of Shields' The Stone Diaries. (Fall, 1994)
Van Der Vyver, Marita ENTERTAINING ANGELS
Shocked out of suicide by a cockroach in the oven (!), then nearly overcome with oven-cleaning
fumes, Greit Swart tries to deal with loss (stepchildren, unborn children, husband, hours, etc.)
through the fairy tales she interprets and creates. Best Feminist novel on fairy tales since
Shields'
Republic of Love. Loony, sexy, sad, this book has been both a prize-winner and
bestseller
in South Africa, Van Der Vyver's homeland. (Summer, 1995)
Vidal, Gore THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
One of Vidal's "inventions," like the unforgettable and semi-obscene Duluth,
Smithsonian gives us a time-bending central character named T. (for Time?) who
alters
history (no European theater in WWII, no Wilson presidency) to save his own life. The science
is
on the edge, the prose is Vidal-solid, and the cast includes Lindberg, Einstein, Disney--and
Central
New York's own Grover Cleveland, in a prominent role especially since T. finally marries the
first
Smithsonian incarnation of Cleveland's wife (these women are on display--Clevelandserved split
terms), while Cleveland remains married to the second. Fun, but way out there.(Fall, 1998)
Walker, Mary Willis UNDER THE BEETLE'S CELLAR
Because of an article she once wrote about cults in Texas, Molly Cates is plunged into the heat
of a
terrible situation; a charismatic cult leader and his associates have hijacked a schoolbus and are
holding hostage the driver and 11 passengers in a buried bus in their heavily fortified complex.
Gripping. Title courtesy of Emily Dickinson. (Winter, 1996)
Waller, Robert THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY
OK, OK, I know. What's the bestseller of the 90's doing on a "Beyond
the Bestsellers" website? Here's the original write-up, from back when "Beyond" was a printed
booklist: "Robert Kincaid, a National Geographic photographer shooting covered
bridges
in Iowa, encounters by chance a farm wife, Francesca, and two lives are joined, separated and
forever changed. Obvious, but sentimentally powerful." Yours truly
knew Waller when we were both on the faculty at the University of Northern Iowa; I read the
book
(just) at the quasi-recommendation of friend Scott Cawelti--before it took off, and thought
(correctly,
apparently) that it would find an appreciative audience--it has an undeniably potent "hook," as
do
some pop songs that aren't all that important in the grand scheme. So I'll stand by the inclusion;
how
could I have known that it would become a cottage industry? A friend has informed me that
there's
now even a "Bridges" perfume. And at least grant me that I did say it
was "obvious." Later, Clint Eastwood of course made a movie version, superior to the book
probably largely because Meryl Streep insisted that the whold thing be less Sexist. (Winter,
1993)
Weller, Anthony THE SIEGE OF SALT COVE
A pudgy engineer comes to a quaint Massacusetts coastal village and announces that its
landmark
wooden bridge must go. The villagers, led by a reclusive lighthouse-keeper pinball-wizard
hippie
ex-lawyer, an eccentric 73-year old spinster, a sewage disposal pro, a wealthy inventor of
bathroom
fixtures, and an ex-porn star, rebel--then secede (no joke, from the US). The ensuing siege
entails
fireworks a couple of villager fatalities, a disabled Army Humvee and tank, and a government
conspiracy against the village. Weller does an astonishing job of weaving in multiple voices in a
book with a lot of feeling and humor, even more politics, and an edgy Harold and
Maude
relationship. (July 23, 2004)
Wheeler, Richard AN OBITUARY FOR MAJOR RENO
Reno, if you don't know, was one of the Division leaders at the Battle of Little Big Horn. He
saw the first action, ordered to charge the massive encampment of Sioux and all, without
support. He was driven back and fought for his unit's life as Custer went on his solitary fatal
way. History, aided by a demented novelist and Custer's zealot wife, has tended to blame the
obeyers of bad orders (Reno's, to charge; Benteen's, to reconoiter) instead of the issuer. Veteran
western author Wheler adds some corrective, while not backing away from Reno's later alcohol
problems and a strange "peeping tom" allegation, in a fine and fact-driven narrative. (July 6,
2005)
Wilcox, James GUEST OF A SINNER
As the liner notes say: "Everything had been going well for him, until the cats--and that rather
mousy woman." Feline catalysts (pun acknowledged) lead off a chain of odd events for
Manhattanite pianist Eric, and friends. Well-written and humorous book from an underrated
writer.
A magazine article several years back talked about quality writers trying to get by as
only writers (not writing professors, etc.), and Wilcox was one of those
under discussion. If the world were just--well, a lot of things would be different from a 2004
post
9/11 post-Dubya perspective . . .. Wilcox is now Director of the Writing Program at LSU.
(Summer, 1993)
Willard, Nancy SISTER WATER
Partly about the fate of a disused museum featuring an indoor stream where fish surface, then
disappear, partly about human perseverance, Willard's (she's a noted childrens' author) book
resembles a Michigan equivalent to the magic south in bookis like Alice Hoffman's Turtle
Moon and Robert McCammon's Gone South, where the worldly and the
other-worldly share space. And although hinged on two drownings and a murder trial, it's
quietly
optimistic. The last few pages will remind readers of the ascension at the end of Watership
Down. (Fall, 1993)
Williams, Philip Lee BLUE CRYSTAL
In Kentucky cave country, the abandoned tourist cave "Blue Crystal" serves as both setting and
metaphor. As Sam Preston, who inherited the cave, and his new love approach each other, their
peace is shattered by a gang of misfits led by a psychotic ex-con. But as a river begins to flood
the
cave, the power balance shifts. Suspenseful: may (although not as lyrical) remind some of
McCrumb's Tennessee books. This book has proven oddly, enduringly popular. (Fall, 1993)
Wilson, A. N. HEARING VOICES
James Petworth Lampitt (d. 1947) is Wilson's fictional Victorian literary curiosity--kind of a
cross
between Ruskin and Strachey. His life defines and is defined by two biographers, family-friend
and
narrator Julian Ramsay, and Ramsay's horrid Doppelganger rival in bography, love, and
everything
else, Raphael Hunter. Comic, like the other Lampitt books (Incline Our Hearts,
Bottle in the Smoke, and the skippable for all but completists Daughters of
Albion), but with a Fatalistic backdrop. Did Wilson see from the start how truly "evil"
Hunter
would be? (Summer, 1996)
Winegardner, Mark THE VERACRUZ BLUES
Finally, a baseball novel for Spring--but no ordinary baseball novel. With humor, insight and
great
detail, Winegardner takes on the seminal Mexican League season of 1946, flavor added by his
interviews with actual participants like Danny Gardella and Ray Dandridge. Plus, cameos by
Babe
Ruth, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Hemingway and more. And now, after writing several fine novels of his own, Winegardner has signed on to propagate the tired "Godfather" franchise. (Spring, 1996)
Witt, Lana SLOW DANCING ON DINOSAUR BONES
It's eastern Kentucky and the bones have transmuted to coal; the greedy coal
company, represented
by the memorably-named Ed Toothacre, is to this book what the land developers are to
McCrumb's
(see above). Pitted against the coal interests are a memorable cast including musician and
general
hell-raiser Gilman Lee, antisocial, pigment-deprived Gemma, California transplant Tom Jett, the
Long Tall Texan, and Rosalee, pursued by a semi-sympathized world-class villain. Towards the
last
books on this list: probably among the first you should read. (Fall, 1996)
Woodrell, Daniel TOMATO RED
Rural hardboiled to counteract Pelecanos' urban, Woodrell's spare book presents vivid imagery,
lessons in underclass economy, and a memorable golf course trashing. It's set in the Ozarks, in
Venus Holler (named for acts of "love" that used to occur there), poor beyond poor;
brother/sister
Jamalee and Jason adopt drifter Sammy Barlach to give some muscle to plans to"rise above," but
most characters here know they're on the losing side, and meant to stay that way. A slice of life,
from the guy who once wrote The Ones You Do. (Winter, 1999)
Wright, Edward WHILE I DISAPPEAR
Beautiful dusty, smoky Pre-WWII Los Angeles almost-noir fiction, featuring former B-western
actor John Ray Horn, now turned detective. In a bar one night, on an errand for his boss and
former
co-star The Indian, he sees through a glass darkly a woman he used to know--his female lead in
the
one decent picture he ever made. But? But she'd been disappeared for decades. When John Ray
goes to her shabby rooming house to check on her, he finds her strangled. Trying to find out
what
happened leads him to the core of 20s Hollywood, the movers and players, and the horrors of an
opulent gala from the past. Second in a series: one to watch. (13 January 2005)
Zigman, Laura ANIMAL HUSBANDRY
Home of the "old cow, new cow" theory of sexual relations, based upon the apparent truth that
bulls,
once having mated, prefer to deal again only with "new" cows--and are even creative in
detecting old
cows in disguise. Extrapolated, you have men leading women towards commitment, only to bolt
to
a "new cow." Like Naumoff's best books, the humor here is more sly than rollicking, and there's
a
real emotional punch. Zigman, in interview, said she doesn't think her book is male-bashing, but
she
fears her future ability to get dates. Maybe, on both counts--but she's written a winner.
(Summer,
1998)