From Booklist
Edgerton returns to his native stomping grounds, small-town North Carolina, for his latest humorous portrayal of the irrationalities and peculiarities of human nature. In 1950, the community of Listre is not much more than a meager assortment of houses and businesses that have sprung up around a crossroads; a blinking traffic light was installed a while back (after a mule and a truck collided), which at least represents a certain amount of modernization. In yarn-like fashion, Edgerton perambulates around town from one citizen to another, establishing in the reader's mind who is who and what the ambience is like. Then about a third of the way through the book (up to this point, it reads more like a series of short stories than a novel), the real action begins, when a stranger arrives. Jack Umstead starts hanging around town; people notice him right away--he wears a yellow shirt every day. He begins ingratiating himself with the townsfolk, but the reader immediately knows what the town does not know, that Jack is up to no good, that he's here for his own benefit, not anyone else's. But it doesn't take long for the town to learn this, too, and in the process, we have been treated to a delightful tale of innocence and betrayal.
Brad Hooper
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Kirkus Reviews
As amiable and charming as all his novels, Edgerton's latest about small-town life brings together his usual cast of drunks, church-going Baptists, and southern eccentrics, all of whom encounter the Devil in the form of a traveling ne'er-do-well. This devilish Jack Umstead (a.k.a. Rusty Smith, a.k.a. Delbert Jones, etc.) even dares to pretend he's Jesus--the true sign of the Antichrist--in deceiving the sick and elderly Dorothea Clark. Neither Dorothea nor her two sisters (who never married and are thus known as the Blaines), who run a chicken- and ice-store, were ever quite right, and they still can't understand why Dorothea went off and married that vulgar Clark fellow, Claude T. of the gold ring and Cadillac. Most of what we learn is through the eyes of little Stephen Toomey, the coddled and asthmatic son of Harvey and Alease, Alease herself a righteous and pretty woman not immune to Umstead's blandishments. Everyone in little Listre, a town that ``looked settled, ripe, timid, kind of stupid,'' is touched by Umstead's evil presence. He seduces the dreamy-eyed Cheryl Daniels, the sister of Stephen's best friend, Terry (Terry is additionally providing a spiritual crisis for the married preacher, Mr. Crenshaw). Umstead also pals up with Stephen's drunk Uncle Raleigh, a vet who lost an arm during WW II. But Umstead bides his time for his big score--he hopes to rob the Blaine Sisters when the next lightning storm comes, since that's when they abandon their home for their sister Dorothea's. Little Stephen, who wants to cuss, drink, and smoke like the men of Listre, is lucky enough to witness Umstead's bloody end. And he discovers that it's a lot more enjoyable than the readings from Aunt Margaret's Bible Stories, a volume that provides parallel texts throughout the novel. Jokes about breasts and flatulence punctuate a lighthearted treatment of good and evil and the simple world of those who are weak but seek salvation. An always enjoyable read. (Author tour) --
Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
