Lucy Reviews .... Spooner by Pete Dexter

I have long been a firm believer that if a book doesn't grab your attention immediately, then it isn't worth the effort to continue. This is why I've never managed to sit still through a whole reading of Goodnight Moon. Well, that and the fact that it should actually be called Good Night Moon rather than Goodnight Moon. Spooner by Pete Dexter, however, grabs your attention right away. Read this opening paragraph and tell me that you're not hooked:

Spooner was born a few minutes previous to daybreak in the historic, honeysuckled little town of Milledgeville, Georgia, in a make-shift delivery room put together in the waiting area of the medical offices of Dr. Emil Woods, across the street from and approximately in the crosshairs of a cluster of Confederate artillery pieces guarding the dog-spotted front lawn of the Greene Street Sons of the Confederacy Retirement Home. It was the first Saturday of December, 1960, and the old folks' home was on fire.

Spooner is the story of two men: Warren Spooner and Calmer Ottosson, his step-father. Spooner reminds me a bit of myself--constantly getting in trouble and doing things he shouldn't be doing. I haven't quite got the arm strength to chuck eggs at my neighbors' cars like Spooner does, but give me a few years!

Calmer, on the other hand, is even-keeled and patient with Spooner to a fault. Over the course of 450+ pages, Spooner grows up and Calmer grows older until their roles begin to reverse.

It would be a crime to talk about this book and not mention the various doggies that populate its pages. Their names are Fuzzy, Harry, and Lester. There is at least one other doggy, but he's not really a major character. Fuzzy, Harry, and Lester each get their moments in the sun, but Lester is the one that stands out in my mind, mostly because he reminds me of my own doggy, Bailey. I really think Bailey and Lester would get along, and I'm not just saying that because I needed something to type. I've put a lot of thought into this. They both eat whatever is put in front of them. They both would sleep in human beds if given the chance. They both like to ride in cars (or, in Lester's case, trucks). I tried to tell all of this to Bailey, but she just stared at me, then stole my baggy of Cheerios and ate it.

Give me back my Cheerios!!!

Spooner is hard to describe because it is so episodic and it takes place over the course of a half-century or so. There is no one unifying storyline other than the relationship between Calmer and Spooner. This is also what makes it interesting. We get to see Spooner grow from an irresponsible child to an irresponsible teenager to a somewhat less irresponsible adult and we get to see Calmer evolve along with Spooner. My only real complaint about the book is the sudden jump from Spooner's teen years to his early adult life. I'm going to give Mr. Dexter the benefit of the doubt on this one though. At the beginning of the advance readers' copy, he notes that the novel is a ways from being a finished product, so I expect that this jump in time will be ironed out and maybe some of the 250 pages Mr. Dexter says he cut will make it back in.

Thanks to Miriam at Hachette Book Group for sending Spooner along. Spooner will be available on September 24, and I highly recommend that you pick it up. Even though I've already read it, I'm considering buying it myself, just to see what the final draft looks like. Until then, I give the unfinished, unproofread version of Spooner 9.0 rattles out of 10. This score is subject to change come September. I really feel like Mr. Dexter could squeeze a 9.5 out of me if he tinkers with the middle section a bit.

If you're saying to yourself "I've never heard of Pete Dexter. Is he a better writer than Dan Brown? Are there brooding teen vampires in this book?", I will respond to you in the only way I know how:

So buy Spooner. Even though it is not written by Dan Brown. Nor does it feature brooding teen vampires.

I'll be back later this week with a review of Pat Conroy's forthcoming South of Broad. That will be followed up by a review of The Dart League King: A Novel by Keith Lee Morris. And the mailbag has been backing up, so I'll be answering some of your questions later this week. Oh, and last but not least, I'll soon be making my first trip to the Indiana State Fair, so you can expect comprehensive coverage of all things Fair-related. I hear they have deep-fried pizza this year!