Review: No Mad
Norm Goldman
April 23, 2009
As our story unfolds, our protagonist, author Aaron Abrams is informed by his agent, Jane Wang, that his publisher has given him a one hundred thousand dollar advance to write a non-fiction account of what happened to his college classmates. This would be his first work of non-fiction, after authoring three works of fiction, and in essence the book would be about his locating as many old college classmates as possible and catching up on all of them to find out how their lives had unfolded. It would also try to get readers to think about their own lives and what they have or not done since the age of twenty-one. The book´s title would be Yearbook.
Abrams could hardly wait to get home and inform his wife of his good fortune. To his horror, what Abrams never expected when he entered his residence, was discovering his wife in the act of fornicating with his brother on a float in the swimming pool! And as we are informed, Abrams did what any other non-violent man would do in this situation-he left. "After all, he had a big pay day coming and he wasn´t going to share it with these two."
This amusing and insightful narrative gains momentum with each chapter as Abrams concentrates on five interviewees, all of whom are placed against clearly defined backdrops providing Abrams with a great deal of insightful material for his book. Traveling along Interstate 80, Abrams meets Phyllis Whipple, a librarian, Harry Korn, a stockbroker who had a passion for history and eventually becomes a guide at Gettysburg, George Ballard, an arrogant, self-centered, corrupt and coked out politician, who is the head of City Council in Boston, Bruce Tobias, the director of a commune in New Mexico and whom Abrams describes as a man completely unselfish, and finally in Custer, North Dakota, Andrew Bellows, a graduate of Harvard with a dual major in chemical engineering and geology. Bellows had worked for a company that designed and manufactured weapons that could kill hundreds of thousands within seconds and was now participating in making the Crazy House Monument in South Dakota. One day, realizing that he was living a nightmare, he decided to chuck it all aside and quit his well-paying job.
During the course of his travels Abrams experiences some sidesplitting sexual encounters with off-the-wall women, use of illegal narcotics, aliens, and history lessons for all ages, lessons on the ways of the world, as well as coincidences galore. To top it off, towards the end of his voyage and to his surprise, he learns of his daughter´s pregnancy and impending marriage. It was certainly surreal to Abrams!
Sam Moffie is a knowledgeable observer and some of his scenes are filled with the unexpected. There is much to relish in this down-to-earth and vividly perceptive novel with its feast of engrossing stories narrated through the voices of various interviewees that will surely fascinate and captivate readers. His engaging and conversational style pulls you right into the story and despite some bumps and curves in the narrative that probably could have been corrected with closer editing is nonetheless a pleasurable read. Another appealing element is Moffie´s ability to move from one character´s story to another without missing a beat and when you couple this with animated, witty and authentic dialogue, you have a novel that you´ll remember for a long time.
CLICK HERE TO READ NORM'S INTERVIEW WITH SAM MOFFIE
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