My New Friend, "FLIMSY LITTLE PLASTIC MIRACLES," by Ron Currie, Jr.

 

Me and my new friend, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie, Jr., who grew up about an hour from where I live.

Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. But that's okay. To paraphrase my new friend, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie, Jr., maybe no man is an island, but I am at least an isthmus. It's clever little lines like this one that make me very glad indeed I have made some new friends by Mr. Currie. But Currie is not only clever, but really working to take a big bite into some of the paramount experiences of being human--- love, grief, guilt, the meaning of truth, and, ultimately, the breaking down of self. And he does all of this with the reputation of being a comic writer. Of course, this makes sense, in actuality. Some of the greatest works of art that plumb the depths of what it means to be human are protected by the candy-coated shell of comedy. A spoonful of sugar, after all, makes the medicine go down, as our favorite British nanny likes to say. 

Only I am not convinced that Ron Currie, Jr. is a comic writer as others say. This is not to suggest that his work is not often funny, because it is. He is often compared to Kurt Vonnegut, though, like Currie himself, I have my doubts that the comparisons are apt. Certainly they both have elements of the satirist. And structure-wise, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles feels most like a Vonnegut novel, one like Hocus Pocus perhaps, with each section being very short, sometimes even a single sentence, and never longer than a few pages. Still, I must say, I find Currie's writing pushing itself to be as raw as it possibly can, to be right on the edge. But when you're on that edge, it isn't always easy to keep the reader with you. It is a testament to Currie's talent that he can keep bringing you back with moments of deep humanity and poignancy. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

As I mentioned in my discussion about my friend God is Dead, (which you can read by HERE),  I first discovered Ron Currie, Jr. because of an interview he did with Carolyn Chute. Since I have been wanting to read more Maine voices (as I am a Maine writer myself), I found three of his books in my local library and checked them out. So now I have made friends with God is Dead, Everything Matters! (which I may write a post about some day), and my newest friend I am discussing here. 

By the way, the interview between Ron Currie, Jr. and Carolyn Chute is pretty cool--- the least pretentious discussion between two authors you will ever hear, I bet. You can check it out on YouTube by CLICKING HERE. 

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles by Ron Currie, Jr., is narrated by a fictionalized Ron Currie, Jr., who, though fictional, has a great deal in common with the Ron Currie, Jr. who wrote the novel. Our narrator, Ron, has gotten back together with his high school sweetheart Emma, who he has never stopped loving, as she is going through a painful divorce. The connect and copulate wildly (and rough), but Emma also needs time to put her life together. Ron, who is a writer, needs to finish a book he is under contract for, so, they decide he should go away to a Caribbean Island where he can write, while Emma works on herself for a while. Once on the island, Ron has major doubts, and Emma grows distant. Between visits from his only friends Dwayne and Hankie, and rough, vicious fights with the locals, Ron feels as though Emma is slipping away from him. Her messages grown scant and, at least to his mind, cold. This makes it easy for him to do a great deal of drinking, and then hooking up with a young woman named Charlotte, who moves in without any real invitation. 

In-between all of this, Ron is clearly still dealing with the immense grief that came with the passing of his father. His father died of lung cancer, and Ron watched as he grew weaker and more dependent, until he was finally gone. This no doubt contributes to his feeling of abandonment from Emma, and his general uncertainty that comes from deep grief. It almost certainly accounts with his obsession on the Singularity, how AI will take over, and perhaps make a world without grief or pain or darkness of any kind (we hear a great deal about the Singularity in the book, and about Ray Kurzweil, who wrote, The Singularity is Near).

This is told in a manner many would call postmodern. It is, as I said before, a series of very short chapters that are non-linear. For example, it is not really much of a spoiler to say that Ron and Emma do not end up together, as he tells us this very early in the book (which somehow doesn't make it any less sad when they don't). And the book jacket describes how one of the major thrusts of the book is Currie faking his own death (in his defense, he wasn't trying to fake it), even though that doesn't really come into the story until more than halfway through the book. It is from here that Currie delves into the theme of deeper truths that can come from made up stories than from facts, in what appears to be a reaction to the hoopla surrounding James Frey and A Million Little Pieces.

The jumping around in a non-linear fashion actually makes the book more accessible in my opinion. It is like Bukowski in a meat grinder with Vonnegut and some Wallace, maybe even a dash of Bret Easton Ellis from Lunar Park.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

Ron Currie, Jr. is a terrific writer, and I like how the structure and form of the book. Currie has a great deal to say, and he doesn't mind throwing unpleasantness at the reader. He asks difficult questions without being brazen enough to suggest he has the answers. Sometimes the excesses can feel like they are too much, but by the very humanistic and poignant wrap up, I began to wonder if the excesses are what make ending not only possible, but also so powerful. 

NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH

Like his other work I have read, Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles is not for the faint of heart and squeamish. There are several depictions of violence, and some very rough (but completely consensual) sex. 

FINAL TAKEAWAY

I am happy I discovered Ron Currie, Jr. and his work. It sticks to my bones and makes me think. It is not always easy, but literature is not supposed to always be easy. Or nice. I think he is a writer who deserves a wide readership. 

And I'm not just saying that because he is a fellow Mainer. 

Oh, and the title? It refers to nicotine patches. 

Thanks for reading my blog about my new friend. Come on back next time when I talk about a new friend, and please feel free to comment below with recommendations! 

My New Friend, "THE SWEET RELIEF OF MISSING CHILDREN" by Sarah Braunstein

 

Me and my new friend, The Sweet Relief of Missing Children by Sarah Braunstein. I'm the one in the hat. 

Hello everyone, my name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. Don't worry about me--- perhaps there is a sweet relief that comes with being friendless except for stories, perhaps even like The Sweet Relief of Missing Children, the new friend I will be talking about today. This is the debut novel of Sarah Braunstein, an MFA alum of the distinguished Iowa Writers' Workshop who currently lives in Maine, and, according to her website (which you can visit by CLICKING HERE), teaches at Colby College. She has also been the recipient of a "5 Under 35" award from the National Book Foundation and a Ronna Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award. So, yeah, she is far too accomplished to be my friend, but at least I have her book. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

Constant readers of my blog (Hello?! Hello?! Do you exist?!) know that I started this project with a number of Maine authors, as I am a Maine writer myself, and wanted to read more from Maine voices that didn't belong to Stephen King. When I was doing some research about writers based in Maine, Sarah Braunstein came up. I was completely captivated by the title The Sweet Relief of Missing Children, found it dark yet lyrical, a mite unsettling. The book proved to live up to these initial feelings about the title. 

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

My new friend was the recipient of the 2012 Maine Literary Award for Fiction, and deserves a higher rating on Goodreads (though many great books are divisive). 

The Sweet Relief of Missing Children begins with a short passage about Leonora, a 12-year-old girl who is taken. This is not a spoiler--- this is how the story begins and is mentioned directly on the jacket. We do not know right away how she was taken or by whom, only that she has been taken. Leonora and her story becomes the structural foundation on which the many wings of this house are built, and meant to be the device which connects them all. In this regard, it mostly succeeds. 

The several threads of the novel, which Bitch magazine called "akin to the film Magnolia (if Saul Bellow had written the novelization)", include Paul, who we meet as a young, serious boy, ditched by his mother "Goldie" on his birthday, who goes out with a photographer in hopes of becoming a model. Unbeknownst to Paul and Goldie, they are often spied on by a genuine Peeping Tom--- Tom Grant, an abortion nurse with a daughter, Jade, Paul's age. The reader will meet Paul and Jade when they are teenagers in what turned out to be my favorite section of the book. 

Other threads include Sam, the only survivor of an "accident" after his mother drove their family into a train. He is adopted by his Uncle Joe and his wife, Constance. Joe is great friends with Hank and his wife Grace, who have a daughter named Judith who one day goes missing. Sam, who would rather be losing his virginity to his high school girlfriend Helen, becomes instrumental in bringing Judith home. 

My friend jumps around in time and in perspective frequently. I am a fan of stories that are not afraid to be non-linear, and was happy to take the journey. There are a few other threads I feel I can't get into without distinct spoilers, but we do see Paul, Sam, and Judith grow up (sadly, I felt that Jade was kind of written away in just a few sentences), and, in-between, we learn more details about Leonora's life, a strange encounter she has with an adult, and, ultimately, her abduction. 

I understand that some people are frustrated by non-linear novels. I understand this fact, but don't quite get it. Novels should stretch your mind at least a little, don't you think?

FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

I like the dark, unsettling feel to much of the novel. Braunstein does well at creating emotional reactions with clear, yet lyrical prose. I wrote down many lovely quotes from the book, sentences that say far more than the number of words would suggest. When a character thinks how he "felt a desire to smash love into his body, to smash love into the world, to allow love to be the violent act he'd always suspected it was," I was struck by the beauty and darkness of the image, and impressed by the very mechanics of creating such a sentence. 

SOME CHALLENGES WITH MY NEW FRIEND

Even the best of friends can sometimes overstay a visit a little bit. After the major threads are resolved, including Leonora's, there are another fifteen pages to the book or so. And while they are not completely out of place, I would be lying if I didn't say they felt a tiny bit anticlimactic. 

FINAL TAKEAWAY

I am very happy I discovered this book. I had to get it on interlibrary loan from the Bangor Public Library. But I am happy I found it and read it. Sarah Braunstein's website says a new novel is in the works, and I will definitely read whatever she puts out next. 

I need as many friends as I can get. 

Come on back to my next post and meet the new friend I have made. Please feel free to comment below about your favorite friends, too. 

My New Friend "GOD IS DEAD" by Ron Currie, Jr.

 

A photo of me and my new friend. I met my new friend at the Thompson Free Library in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine

Hi everybody. My name is Bobby Keniston. My only friends are books. But don't feel sad for me--- after all, a book has never called me up at 2 in the morning wanting to talk about something bad that has happened in their life, causing me to feign interest and empathy while my eyelids keep wanting to close. So... there's that. 

Today, I am going to introduce you to my new friend, "God is Dead" by Ron Currie, Jr. 

QUICK DISCLAIMER

I realize the title alone will activate the blasphemy radar for certain readers. These readers will not even want to go past the cover or title page, and probably shouldn't. While there is challenging content within the book, I would not consider it blasphemous or immoral or anything of the sort. But then, I like to read critically and think about what I've read, and am not the type of person to hide my narrow-minded world view and prejudice behind an appearance of morality and righteousness. That's just me. If you are that type of reader, you may want to skip this post altogether. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

For the many, many readers who have been following along with my posts (is there anybody out there?), you know that I have been trying to discover more Maine authors. One of those authors has been Carolyn Chute, and when I did a search about her, I found a YouTube video of Ron Currie, Jr. interviewing her about her latest book, "The Recipe for Revolution" for the Portland Public Library. You can actually watch the video if you like by CLICKING HERE--- it's a long interview, but worth it. It may be the least pretentious interview between two authors you will ever see. This is what piqued my curiosity about Mr. Currie and his work. 

In full disclosure, I read Mr. Currie's first novel "Everything Matters!" before I read "God is Dead," which is his debut book, though a collection of thematically-linked short stories and not a novel. I may write about my friend "Everything Matters!" in a different post. 

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

As I mentioned above, "God is Dead" is a collection of short stories, starting with the title story in which God comes to Earth as a Dinka woman in the North Darfur region of Sudan. God has come, it seems, to apologize to humanity, but can do very little except sympathize and provide endless amounts of sorghum. God runs into Colin Powell, who, in the world of the story, has come back into contact with his childhood and the racism he faced, and it has made him a "foul-mouthed race warrior" as Lydia Millet said in her blurb for the book. Indeed, Mr. Powell practicing his best Samuel L. Jackson glare is a moment that made me laugh at loud, which I don't do too often when reading. 

In any case, God, while in this human form, dies, and is subsequently eaten by a pack of feral dogs, who have no idea that they are eating the "Creator", and it gives them a strange consciousness, though this  isn't fully revealed until later in the book, the sixth story, titled "Interview with the Last Remaining Member of the Feral Dog Pack Which Fed on God's Corpse", which, despite a title that will turn off readers I mentioned in the disclaimer above, is actually a fascinating tale about meaning and existence, through the eyes of a changed feral dog, who, for all its consciousness, is not deified. 

Indeed, every story after the first is an examination of how our society would change if we had distinct and definite proof that God had somehow died. Suicides for the clergy sky rocket. There is a mass panic for a time. New idols (including children) are put in place to fill the need to worship. New philosophies, the Postmodern Anthropologists and the Evolutionary Psychologists, form, indoctrinate, create zealots and war on each other (these names were another deep chuckle--- I laughed out loud when a popular country song, "Proud to be a PoMO" is played at a parade). 

Basically, the world changes completely, but not really at all. People simply scramble to look for meaning. 

Which is funny. 

But really sad. 

FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

There are three stories that connect into one big story:  "False Idols," "The Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit" and "Retreat". It was nice to follow these characters. 

I also like how Ron Currie's theme here, and in "Everything Matters!' is how meaning can exist if we make it so. We often try too hard, or depend on outward forces, real and imagined. But Currie seems to be telling us that we don't need to do this. There's plenty of meaning within if we just look for it in the simplest of terms. 

FUN FACT

When my new friend was first released, many compared its author to Vonnegut. Mr. Currie himself has said that he doesn't find the comparison an apt one. Neither do I. 

FINAL TAKEAWAY

I recommend it for those who want to think about our world and its quest for meaning. Be prepared--- despite some humor, it can be a big downer and isn't for those squeamish about dark comedy. 

Thanks for reading my thoughts on my new friend and its author, Ron Currie, Jr. 

Come on back to hear me talk about a new friend...

My New Friend "THE POLICE KNOW EVERYTHING" by Sanford Phippen

 

The author and the book. Photo from the Digital Commons @UMaine, Sanford Phippen's Literary Papers

Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. Before you get to feeling sorry for me because of my lack of human friends, just remember that books don't mind if you wake them up at 3:00 AM because you feel like laughing or crying and don't want to be alone. So... yeah. 

If you have read my previous posts--- a prospect I find highly unlikely as generally my blogging reaches the exact same audience I would have as simply talking into a mirror--- you know that I have been reading a great deal of Maine writers lately, as I am a Maine writer myself, and want to have a wider knowledge of authors from my neck of the forest (or my shoulders of the woods, if you prefer). 

That is why my new friend is "The Police Know Everything" by Sanford Phippen. I have mentioned Mr. Phippen in my two previous blog posts because, aside from being a writer and a teacher, he also hosted interviews with Maine authors in a segment called Good Reads on Maine Public Broadcasting. This was back in the early 2000s I believe, but can be found on YouTube. On this show he interviewed the likes of Stephen King, Richard Russo, and Carolyn Chute to name a just a few. For the fun of it, you can catch his interview with Stephen King by CLICKING HERE. 

This is why the new friend I made for this post was "The Police Know Everything", which is a collection of Downeast Stories.

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

"The Police Know Everything" is a quick read, originally published in 1982 by Puckerbush Press, a small publisher based out of Orono, Maine, where Phippen taught school for many years. The stories are all short and compact, but with an overarching connective tissue in its exploration of class, the art of storytelling itself, and of place and time. The title story starts off the collection, named "The Police Know Everything" because it deals with our narrator's elderly aunt and her friends as volunteer police officers. Our narrator is Andy (or "An-day!" as he is called in the vernacular of his family and friends), clearly a stand-in for Phippen himself. Many of the stories are of Andy asking questions to his friends and family and then being told the story--- kind of a story within a story vibe. Some of the stories are humorous, some of them deeply sad, and some of them upsetting in their depiction of people's ignorance (including the use of racist and homophobic words). But Phippen was trying to show "the real Maine," the kind the tourists don't see at the fancy places on the coast. He wanted to show the truth. And I feel he succeeds. 

On another note, my understanding is that "The Police Know Everything" was considered a "small press bestseller" for a number of years. I found the copy I read in my local library. 

Oh--- and Stephen King blurbed another one of Mr. Phippen's books, calling him "a Maine treasure."

WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

It was a strange, but after reading a few stories, there was such a feeling of familiarity, and I wondered where it was coming from. And then I realized--- the way the Downeast characters in this book were telling stories is the exact same way my Grandfather, Jesse I. Keniston, used to tell me, and all of his family, stories. The details, the manner of speaking, practically seeing the yarn spinning--- it all hit me with a surprising emotional payoff, thinking about being a little kid and listening to him talk. 

Next to this wonderful feeling of honest nostalgia, my other favorite thing was the story, "The Returned Native," about someone who left Maine but is back for a visit. It brings up a lot of the conflicting feelings I have about this state. How it keeps me here, but how I see its flaws (and they do feel like unique flaws), and how the flaws make me often wish I could get out--- but how long would I stay out? Phippen writes with clear honesty here, and it is worth considering. 

WHAT I FELT COULD HAVE MADE ME NEW FRIEND EVEN MORE FUN TO BE AROUND

While I did enjoy the collection, I do feel some of the stories were perhaps a bit too short, and ended abruptly at times. I also feel like my new friend could have perhaps had just a tiny bit more connective tissue for a stronger, clearer arc for the collection. But these are small complaints. 

FINAL TAKEAWAY

If you can find a copy--- and I believe a new press has taken over its distribution and that it is available on e-book as well--- I would recommend giving it a read. That is, if you are interested in looking at more of the "real Maine" instead of what you see in the travel brochures. Do not be fooled by the title and the cover artwork and think this is just a fun, silly, slice-of-life Maine humor read, a kind Tim Sample routine in book form. It is much more than that. 

Thanks for reading my thoughts on "The Police Know Everything". 

Come back soon to hear about another new friend!

My New Friend "Letourneau's Used Auto Parts" by Carolyn Chute

 

The original hardcover edition of "Letourneau's Used Auto Parts" by Carolyn Chute

Hi. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. You might think this is sad, but as Emily Dickinson said, "There is no frigate like a book." Or, as a thirteen-year-old boy in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, might simply say, "Frig it."

In any case, the first new friend I want to write about here on this little piece of the internet that will likely only have an audience in the single digits, is Carolyn Chute's brilliant second novel "Letourneau's Used Auto Parts." Carolyn Chute came to wide public recognition with her first novel, "The Beans of Egypt, Maine," and as she told Sandy Phippen in an interview for Maine Public Television, her subsequent book tour and speaking engagements made her a kind of "specimen," a "trained tiger," if you will. If you are interested in this terrific interview, you can watch it by CLICKING HERE. 

Perhaps instead of treating her like a specimen, more people should have listened to her and read her books closely. Carolyn Chute may be one of the finest writers about rural, white poverty in the last 50 years. Though I don't intend for this to be a political blog per se, I can't help but say that if Democrats want to understand working people and rural poverty, they would do well to read a book like "Letourneau's Used Auto Parts" and take copious notes. 

I have been having a Maine-author theme for my reading of late, since I am a Maine writer myself. Carolyn Chute not only expertly evokes class, but a sense of place as well. Her voice is fiercely all her own, somewhat minimalist, character-driven, and packs a punch. 

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

My new friend "Letourneau's Used Auto Parts" takes place in Egypt, Maine, and centers around Big Lucien Letourneau, who doesn't appear very much in the novel, but has an almost mythological feel about him. We hear about his "heart of gold," his terrible headaches that lead to screaming, and mostly, his many, many women and many, many children. Everyone in this book is somehow attached to Big Lucien and his business. And as more and more people lose their homes, Big Lucien and his heart of gold keeps them in trailers on his property, which is a thorn in the side of the local selectmen who believe it looks trashy. 

Chute, as I mentioned, is a character-driven writer, and the characters jump off the page. I have seen these people. I know them. I live in small town Maine, and I have seen this poverty (and lived it) and the rage and shame and hopelessness that comes from it. My favorite character is Junie, one of Big Lucien's daughters from a previous relationship, though he has never been a father to her directly. We meet Junie at 15, as she tries to get money any way she can (most humorously by telling futures to tourists for a dollar) because she wants to have a sports car some day. 

Ms. Chute gets into the heads and lives of her characters and never judges them. 

SOME QUOTES FROM MY NEW FRIEND

"'In the old days, somebody tried to take your home, you'd put one of these inside their head.' He holds one of the shells toward the light. 'But nowadays...' He sighs, his clear green eye fixed to Severin. 'Nowadays when they come to make you go, you take a shell like this one here...' He rolls it between his fingers. '...and you put it in your own head.'"

Some folks are reacting to a suicide, and many are shocked to hear about it. One deputy is not. The reason he gives for not being shocked still haunts me:

"Kids n' bills. Kids n' bills."

MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

As I have said, I appreciate Chute's unflinching look at poverty. It isn't always easy to take, but it is important. Her minimalist language and rich characters also make for a truly engaging read. 

FINAL TAKEAWAYS

Not always an easy read. Often hard to take, but that doesn't mean it isn't important to read. Friends aren't always uplifting, but the good ones always leave an impact for the better. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts about "Letourneau's Used Auto Parts" by Carolyn Chute. I will have a new post very soon about a whole new friend!

In the meantime, I recommend getting "Letourneau's Used Auto Parts" at your local library, or ordering it from your favorite independent bookstore.