Fired from his advertising job in his 50’s, Robert Goolrick turned to an ambition of his youth -- writing. His first book, a memoir, chronicled his Virginia family’s life. I just finished his second, a novel, A Reliable Wife, which was inspired by the 1973 non-fiction Wisconsin Death Trip by Michael Lesy, which I haven’t read. The year is 1907. A woman with an unsavory past answers an ad and lands in a small town not far from the Canadian border. The winters are long, bleak, leading many of the inhabitants to suicide or murder. “Such things happen” the author cites throughout the narrative. The story is grim. The characters are damaged psychologically and not at all appealing, yet I was absorbed, interested in the outcomes. The themes are many: sexual repression, temptation, the difficulty of change, redemption, letting go of the past, forgiveness. I identified with the protagonist's struggle with his fierce sexuality, which is in stark contrast to what he has been taught. I also understood the desire of the characters to forget everything else and jump head long into a life of vice, an escape that will lead only to a premature death but one that will at least end the pain of living. “It was just a story about despair,” the author states in the closing line of the penultimate chapter. Yes, and it is unrelenting. The fortunate few who are happy are envied but only glimpsed. Granted, this is 1907 and life expectancy is 50; death is a constant even among the very young; but the tone of the novel had me wondering why anyone would want to live at all. The prose and dialogue are sound, making for an easy read. The book’s drawback aside from its dark tone is its repetitiveness. Still, I was enthralled, eager to see who would succumb and who would be redeemed. I suspect the author believes that no life is beyond redemption, but that redemption must be chosen, embraced. Unfortunately, sometimes the best efforts of those willing to forgive and help are shunned. The ending feels more like resignation than hope. “Such things happen.” On a scale of five, 3.5. The book was published in January of 2010. It is still selling, its ranking just below 20,000 at Amazon, where more than eight million books are listed.
Just when you thought the Obama administration had maxed out on scandals, along comes news of the repression of information about the sexual antics of Hillary’s traveling entourage. The story was held back so that the re-election effort wouldn't suffer. One guy prefers his prostitutes underaged. And now there is a lawsuit from fellow travelers, the ACLU and NYCLU, regarding phone and email surveillance. Hope and change has evolved to dopes and strange.
It was a banner day for the floating book shop. My thanks to former Exchange fellow traveler Kevin Perau and his lovely little daughter Sophia, who purchased Exchanges and Killing. Kevin left the Exchange in 2007 and began trading out of an office. He recently bought a house in Staten Island and was then let go by his employer. He is currently on unemployment and is thinking about pursuing a degree in counseling. He finds books on psychology fascinating. He is only 38. Best of luck, sir. My thanks also to all the other kind folks who made purchases, especially the middle aged gentleman who overpaid for two works of non-fiction, one of them Dinesh D'Souza's Letters to a Young Conservative, another fellow traveler. The windfall should tide me over if the forecast for two days of rain proves correct.
Vic's 4th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/bszwlxh
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
Vic's Website: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/
Vic's Short Story Collection (Print or Kindle): http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/6b86st6
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/94t5h
Vic's Screenplay on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3
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