BIG BAD LOVE

by Larry Brown ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1990

The vagaries of love concern Brown (Facing the Music, Dirty Work) in his second collection of stories, ten more down, and-dirty tales ""about the things that have shattered men's lives."" But this time out, Brown's included a number of real clinkers. particularly those about the act of writing itself. As in matters of heart, so in matters of art--Brown finds obsession and desperation in both the back-seat of a beat-up car and in front of the blank page. The longish story ""Disciplina"" is the mock transcript of a parole hearing for a writer named Doyle Huey (D.H.) Lawrence, currently doing time in ""hack's prison"" after being found guilty of plagiarism--it's a sorry bit of metafiction that turns into an elaborate literary fart joke. Likewise, the novella-length ""92 Days"" suffers from all the defensive blather of its bitter narrator, an unpublished writer who's given up everything to pursue his craft. Despite the unwelcome reflexivity, there's also a fine portrait here of a man in dire straits, scraping along, combating a bitter ex-wife, lethargy, alimony demands, an annoying mother, rejection, and no small guilt for the deaths connected to his own alcoholism. Like other of Brown's tough-talking protagonists, this one knows he's a mean no-account, as is the down-and-out dad of""Wild Thing,"" who craves danger and neglects his family. These are men who know ""it's hard to win when you don't have right on your side."" The layabout husband of ""Waiting for the Ladles"" stalks a harmless flasher rather than deal with the mess his own life's in. The boozy husband of the title story complains of his wife's ""overly large organ,"" only to have her leave him for someone who can satisfy her. The narrator of ""Gold Nuggets,"" who's gone to the coast to buy wholesale shrimp, drinks himself into oblivion in a local strip joint instead. The querulous rednecks of ""Old Soldiers,"" scarred by various wars, share their alcoholic loneliness. Disillusion with sex and love (""a hard dick and little conscience"") runs through a number of other tales about lovers' reconciling and marriages failing apart. In his best stories here, Brown's passion and honesty cut through the booze and bravado. In his worst, there's just a lot of posturing.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Algonquin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1990

Categories: FICTION