My New Friend "DEVIL HOUSE" by John Darnielle

 

Here's the cover of my new friend. I like retro feel. But don't let this cover convince you this is a horror story--- it is not. 

Hello. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. Don't feel sorry for me. Though if you can't help being sorry for me, at least pronounce "sorry" like Canadians do, so that it will rhyme with "story."  I love a good story. That's why books are my only friends. 

I know that all of the readers following this blog... wait... I need a break for laughter....it's just funny imagining that there are any people actually following this blog....Sorry.  

I know that all of readers following this blog are probably tired of my little project consisting only of Maine authors, so I thought I would talk about my friend "Devil House" by John Darnielle, who is not a Maine author. "Devil House" is also the newest of my new friends. Its birthday was January 25th of 2022. I was happy to find it at my local library, where I meet many of my new friends. 

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

My new friend "Devil House" is the third novel from the multi-talented John Darnielle, following his second novel "Universal Harvester" (which I have read and enjoyed) and "Wolf In White Van" (which I have not read, but which was nominated for a National Book Award merely days after its publication date--- not bad, eh?). "Devil House" tells the story of Gage Chandler, a true crime writer who was always told by his mother that he was descended from kings. He wrote a very successful true crime book about "The White Witch of Morro Bay", which dealt with Diana Crane, a school teacher who killed two young men who broke into her house and then tried to dispose of the bodies. Chandler's book, much like "Devil House", deals with the mythology a community constructs around murders and tragedies, while the complexity of the truth seems to fade away. 

Gage Chandler, on a tip from his agent, moves into what the locals of Milptas  call "Devil House", the scene of a double homicide. Milpitas is also where the events depicted in the book and film  "River's Edge" took place, and that true crime story hangs over the book in some ways. Once in the "Devil House", Gage works meticulously to recreate the crime scene, to do his best to get into the nooks and crannies, every inch of the house, looking for the story... and the "truth". 

MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

My friend has many things going for it, not least of which is being written by John Darnielle. Darnielle is the songwriter and singer behind The Mountain Goats, and his songs are very creative, powerful and lyrical. His prose here is also impressive, and the way he writes the first section as a true crime book itself is intriguing and effective. Reading about Gage's methods keeps the pages turning. The second section about Diana Crane, the "White Witch" is also a page-turner. Darnielle does well humanizing not only the teacher, but the two young men who attack her. In fact, he is quite good with teenage characters, which serve him well for the sections about the "Devil House." 

I also appreciate how Darnielle touches upon the "Satanic Panic" of those days, and how the Devil House murders could have fallen into that hysteria had the folks of Milpitas not worked so hard to squash the story after the sensationalism of "River's Edge". 

CHALLENGES WITH MY NEW FRIEND

There is an interlude in the book about a medieval boy becoming king, complete in medieval font, which, while well-written and entertaining, did not fully convince me that it was necessary. Perhaps this is my failing and not my friend's, I don't know. The surprise twist ending is bold and brave (and something I wouldn't even think about spoiling here), but I am still not 100% sure how I feel about it. Still, in its defense, it makes Gage confront how, no matter how well-researched and well-intentioned, "true crime" is only ever partly true and never complete. 

FINAL TAKEAWAY

Readers, if they are like me, will want to make friends with "Devil House". But, I must reiterate my warning from the caption below the above picture: do not go into it expecting a horror novel, or you may well be disappointed. 

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts. Come on back to see who I make friends with next...

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 "EMPIRE FALLS" By Richard Russo

 

The hardcover edition of "Empire Falls" by Richard Russo. Note: This could just as easily be a picture from my hometown. 

Hello. My name is Bobby Keniston, and my only friends are books. Today I would like to tell you about a new friend of mine, "Empire Falls" by the author Richard Russo. I have been focusing on making a lot of new friends from my home state of Maine lately, and though Mr. Russo wasn't here in my home state, he has lived here a long time, and "Empire Falls" is set here--- and the two-part television adaptation was filmed here as well, which I will discuss more later on. 

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND:

"Empire Falls" was published in 2001 by Alfred A. Knopf, fine publishers indeed. It tells the story of a fictional Maine mill town after the industry has disappeared. This is not an unfamiliar story to anyone who lives in Maine, and especially not for someone who lives in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. Our protagonist is Miles Roby, a man in his early forties recently separated from his wife Janine and on his way to a divorce. He runs the Empire Grill where he serves local regulars (including Walt Comeau, the "Silver Fox" his wife left him for), and where his brother David, who lost use of one hand in a DUI accident that changed his life, works as a cook, expanding the menu and the clientele. Miles, who never expected to return to Empire Falls until his mother was dying of cancer, goes through his life with a feeling like he has given up something, just as he knows his mother had gone through hers (Miles stayed on in Empire Falls and at the Empire Grill after his mother's death), and understands that the cause of this feeling likely has to do with the hold Mrs. Whiting has on him. Mrs. Whiting, the widow of C.B. Whiting, heir to the Whiting fortune made from the industries established in Empire Falls, owns more than half the town and seemingly half of the people within it. She has a special "fondness" for Miles, which has nothing to do with the fact that her daughter Cindy, disabled after being run over as a child, is head over heels in love with him. In fact, Mrs. Whiting's "fondness" for Miles is a mystery to him, and the reader for a good portion of the book. And though Miles suffers the trials of his deadbeat father Max, as well as the local bully cop Jimmy Minty, he takes comfort in his talks with Father Mark, a progressive priest, and finds his greatest joy in being the father of Tick, his 16-year-old daughter who means the entire world to him. He is determined that she will not repeat his fate of being stuck in Empire Falls. 

My new friend "Empire Falls" won the Pulitzer Prize and, as stated earlier, was adapted into an HBO two-part miniseries with an all-star cast including Ed Harris, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Helen Hunt, Robin Wright, Aidan Quinn, Dennis Farina, William Fichtner, and Danielle Panabaker--- and that's only naming the top principals! Russo himself adapted his novel into a screenplay, and Mr. Newman won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for playing Max. 

HOW I MET MY NEW FRIEND

I had heard of the novel, Russo's fifth, soon after it won the Pulitzer. A group of my literary pals were shocked that it won the award, claiming that Jonathan Franzen's "The Corrections" should have swept ALL the awards that year (as if a National Book Award and an Oprah scandal wasn't enough). 

Later on, I was working at the historic Lakewood Theatre during "the summer of the Empire Falls..." Much of the movie was filmed in Skowhegan, Maine (in fact, a restaurant called "The Empire Grill", where many scenes were shot, remained open for a number of years, but eventually went out of business and was replaced by a different restaurant), and a good number of my theater friends got involved. Many were extras. One friend was a stand-in for Danielle Panabaker, who played Tick. Another friend worked in the costume department. In fact, one day as I was working in the box office at Lakewood Theater, this friend stopped by. She had been sent to pick up Ed Harris's jean jacket from his camp and was on her way back. I should be embarrassed to admit this, but, what the hell--- a picture exists somewhere of me wearing Mr. Harris's jacket. And if I knew where it was, I would share it here. 

I remember watching bits of the movie when it premiered, but don't believe I ever watched it straight through, though, perhaps I did. It was a while back. 

I met my new friend the latest time because I have been reading a lot of Maine authors, and decided to read this one after watching an interview between Sanford Phippen and Richard Russo that was made for Maine Public Television. You can watch that interview by CLICKING HERE

MY THOUGHTS ON MY NEW FRIEND

I am not surprised that my new friend "Empire Falls" won the Pulitzer Prize. Mr. Russo is easy to read, a genuine pleasure to read. Though there are many dark topics--- abuse, violence, and a spoiler-esque act I won't mention here--- Russo's style is friendly, and he humanizes even his most distasteful characters. He cares about them. It is this caring that seems to tell the reader, even in the dark moments, that, hey, friend, everything is going to be all right. And you almost believe him, even though the book really focuses on people who have wasted so much time and tossed away so many chances at happiness. 

Still, it's nice to have an authorial voice every once in awhile that doesn't shy away from the dark, but still somehow seems to make you feel okay. 

MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

"Empire Falls', though set in Maine, is not about place so much as about class, as Mr. Russo says in the interview I linked above. We need more books about class in America, especially if we are to understand what the hell is going on in our divisive politics today. 

My absolute favorite thing about my new friend, however, are all the scenes with Tick. She is well drawn and believable, and it is impressive how real many of the scenes with her in the high school feel. 

A favorite quote:  "After all, what was the whole wide world but a place for people to yearn for their hearts' impossible desires, for those desires to become entrenched in defiance of logic, plausibility, and even the passage of time, as eternal as polished marble?"

LEAST FAVORTE THING ABOUT MY NEW FRIEND

My new friend is a little long-winded, and maybe could have stood to lose about 10,000 words. Though it is hard to fault a book that is trying to enrich itself at every moment. 

FINAL TAKEAWAY

I am glad I made this new friend, and would recommend you meeting them either at your local library, independent bookstore, or online. 

That's all for now. 

I'm off to make a 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.