Spooner by Pete Dexter
Sometimes you read the back cover or jacket of a book and think, “this book is going to be amazing.” Other times you may think “well… it looks alright, so and so has written some good stuff before, so why not?” And still other times you say “not in a blue moon would I read this!”
Spooner’s back cover description, I would have to say is closer to the last of those three choices. After I finished Forever War I was looking for something fiction and something that had some potential. Spooner has been sitting on my bookshelf for awhile and when I saw it there the other day (it’s bright yellow) I decided I’d give it a whirl despite what the blurb on the back said.
It’s a good thing that I didn’t completely base my decision on the publishers poor taste in attempts at marketing this book via the blurb. I really liked this book. What’s more, because my copy is an ARC (advanced reading copy, that my mom procured) the author included a note at the front of the novel explaining a few of the hardships in the publishing of this book. One of which was the fact that he had to cut 250 pages from his original. 250 pages which I’m guessing, based on how I enjoyed the 400+ pages I read, would have been equally as enjoyable and made the book smoother.
I use the word “smooth” because I felt as though there was more of a story to be told here than there was. The idea behind the story is that of the relationship between a son and his step-father and I get the feeling that those 250 pages which are missing possibly would have pulled the story together a little bit better.
Alright, those pages are irrelevant though. This book was good. The story shadows Spooner from the time he was born and from when Calmer was discharged from the Navy. It shadows their budding relationship when Calmer marries Spooner’s mother and the hardships which Spooner inflicts on the family by being a miscretant. The story takes us to late in each of their lives and thoughtfully displays how their respective lives have played out and the effects of their relationship on one another.
It was moving, funny, thought provoking and for the most part fun to read. Like the old addage says “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover.” Or in this case, the back cover.
