Jim the Boy: A Novel (Paperback)

Imagine "Catcher in the Rye" written from the point of view of a child who actually wants to catch baseballs, and who may be growing up on a farm that COULD be growing rye, and is as Southern rural as you can get without stomping on any politically correct toes.

Tony Earley's first "novel" isn't so much a novel as it is a humorous and melancholy episodal remembrance of pre-adolescence in a small Southern town. Since Earley's date of birth comes much later than the setting in the novel (and Earley was born a scant few years before my birth), and since the small town in question is (apparently) about 30 miles from my small town of birth, I have a soft spot for his prose. The reader will NOT find a great novel here; however, the reader will find a tender and nuanced piece of fiction that will bring back memories to anyone born in the South sometime before the 1970's. Indeed, those born in ANY small town with any knowledge of their childhood-town's history will wince and nod knowingly, assuming that Earley was really writing about their town. Jim's coming of age has no rude points, but suggests the pre-adolescent angst.

The book is concise--you can easily read it in one sitting, probably in a few hours. If the milieu and memories dredged up resound with you, the reader will probably want to go back and re-read some of the sections, just for the nostalgia. And, all that aside, the last section of the book, indeed, the last 3 or 4 pages of the book, are perhaps the best writing to come out of the South in decades. Earley has pieced together vignettes that border upon "young adult" fiction, along with a style that reminds one of Faulkner at his wittiest and Welty at her tenderest, and topped it off with a heart-wrenching finale that should make you cry.

I should reiterate "witty"--there are some belly laughs in this book. The "lights on" section is laugh-out-loud, and the acerbic humor of the uncles deserves more chapters, or at least a re-visitation by Earley. The understated humor, even in the dramatic passages, suggest that Earley is holding back on us--he could become this generation's version of Jean Shepherd, if he chose to.

The main drawback to the book is that it's too short. I gave it less than 5 stars mainly because of that, and partly because it sometimes reads as if some of the sections were meant as "young adult" prose but then changed into a "real adult" novel. I've been a fan of Earley even before his short stories were collected in "Here We Are in Paradise", and had hoped that his first novel would be a massive neo-Faulkner/Percy/Welty revival. I was disappointed with "Jim the Boy" for the first few tens of pages due to that expectation. Then, I got into the flow of the writing, and changed my expectations. The book reads in many places like a "young adult" work, and that's OK--I'd recommend it for teenagers. Then again, the nuances and beauty of the writing are obviously a bit more sophisticated than most "young adult" offerings, so it must be a real adult book.

Of course, "As I Lay Dying" reads like a "young adult" book, and look what's in there. And, as I suggested earlier, IF you're from a small town and latch onto the protagonists in the first 20 or so pages, you'll bawl like a baby on the last page.

Imagine "Catcher in the Rye" written from the point of view of a child who actually wants to catch baseballs, and who may be growing up on a farm that COULD be growing rye, and is as Southern rural as you can get without stomping on any politically correct toes.

Tony Earley's first "novel" isn't so much a novel as it is a humorous and melancholy episodal remembrance of pre-adolescence in a small Southern town. Since Earley's date of birth comes much later than the setting in the novel (a scant few years before my birth), and since the small town in question is (apparently) about 30 miles from my small town of birth, I have a soft spot for his prose. The reader will NOT find a great novel here; however, the reader will find a tender and nuanced piece of fiction that will bring back memories to anyone born in the South sometime before the 1970's. Indeed, those born in ANY small town with any knowledge of their childhood-town's history will wince and nod knowingly, assuming that Earley was really writing about their town. Jim's coming of age has no rude points, but suggests the pre-adolescent angst.

The book is concise--you can easily read it in one sitting, probably in a few hours. If the milieu and memories dredged up resound with you, the reader will probably want to go back and re-read some of the sections, just for the nostalgia. And, all that aside, the last section of the book, indeed, the last 3 or 4 pages of the book, are perhaps the best writing to come out of the South in decades. Earley has pieced together vignettes that border upon "young adult" fiction, along with a style that reminds one of Faulkner at his wittiest and Welty at her tenderest, and topped it off with a heart-wrenching finale that should make you cry.

I should reiterate "witty"--there are some belly laughs in this book. The "lights on" section is laugh-out-loud, and the acerbic humor of the uncles deserves more chapters, or at least a re-visitation by Earley. The understated humor, even in the dramatic passages, suggest that Earley is holding back on us--he could become this generation's version of Jean Shepherd, if he chose to.

The main drawback to the book is that it's too short. I gave it less than 5 stars mainly because of that, and partly because it sometimes reads as if some of the sections were meant as "young adult" prose but then changed into a "real adult" novel. I've been a fan of Earley even before his short stories were collected in "Here We Are in Paradise", and had hoped that his first novel would be a massive neo-Faulkner/Percy/Welty revival. I was disappointed with "Jim the Boy" for the first few tens of pages due to that expectation. Then, I got into the flow of the writing, and changed my expectations. The book reads in many places like a "young adult" work, and that's OK--I'd recommend it for teenagers. Then again, the nuances and beauty of the writing are obviously a bit more sophisticated than most "young adult" offerings, so it must be a real adult book.

Of course, "As I Lay Dying" reads like a "young adult" book, and look what's in there. And, as I suggested earlier, IF you're from a small town and latch onto the protagonists in the first 20 or so pages, you'll bawl like a baby on the last page.