Steve Yarbrough

I don't know why I like to read Steve Yarbrough's books of such "cringe-worthy" characters as those present in this book. I think that's because this author can bring people of a certain time and place alive through his stories, even though the stories themselves cause more than a bit of discomfort.

In Invisible Spirits, Tandy, a tall troublemaker, returns broke to his home town of Loring, Mississippi, and discovers that his brother Leighton, of whom he is jealous, is going to become its show more mayor. What more pressing need does he have than to stir up trouble between the "white folk" and the Negroes in this early 20th century southern U.S. town? Before long, Tandy subjects black postmistress Loda Jackson to a petition calling for her ouster from her prestigious job and subjects Blueford Lucas, her visitor at the post office, to accusations of improper behavior.

Not only did Yarbrough's treatment of Loring's black citizens seem disturbing, but a "look back" at the history of the book's black characters gave an even more horrendous face to their treatment. It would have been nice to think of this novel as simply a work of fiction. However the extensive list of references at the back of this book led me to believe that the story's content was built on much more than just fantasy. I later came to discover that Loda's story was loosely based on the true story of Minnie M. Cox, a black Mississippi postmistress whose lucrative federal position caused quite a stir at the time of her employment.

If you want to try this novel as an example of Yarbrough's works, just fasten your seat belt well before you proceed. I thought it was great! show less

Live from Stoneham, MA is this plaintive book, long on the tribulations of human error and on believable characters. The husband and wife move from California due to job loss and settle into their block in the Boston suburbs where the carpenter husband marvels at the seeming permanence of each different home in the neighborhood. He's the son of a crooked developer and the old Capes and Queen Annes seem the very antithesis of the ill made cardboard mansions created by his cheating father. A show more neighbor loses his wife and family due to thieving to support his cocaine habit, which comes about in his quest to impress visiting writers at the Harvard Sq bookstore where he worked before getting caught. A wife is confronted with a plagiarism scandal at her new job (Salem State, obvi). So all is local and all is so very plaintively real. This is Steve Yarborough's first novel set outside the South and he just nails it. show less

Are there any “literary” novels that aren’t grim and depressing? If so, I haven’t found any yet. My takeaway from this one is that everybody is hiding something, the only people who aren’t judgmental assholes aren’t interesting enough for character exploration but instead are simply receptacles for the interesting people, and since everyone is guilty of violating at least one rule of ethics or someone’s trust, then we shouldn’t judge each other for that kind of stuff, only show more for having tacky or popular tastes in entertainment and/or conservative politics. Oh, and all sins are fairly equivalent: academic dishonesty, cheating on your spouse, embezzling from your employer, giving someone a (deserved or undeserved) beating that hospitalizes them, armed robbery, or being a swinger.

In spite of these flaws, this is a well-written story with interesting characters and plot.

Hardcover, purchased from Half Price Books on the recommendation of the now-defunct podcast Books On The Nightstand.

Previous Updates:
7/22 – 27/288pg
Lately, he felt insubstantial, weightless, as if he were merely the idea of a person rather than the real thing. People weren't just a past or a present or a set of extinguished expectations. They had to have a future, too, and for himself he failed to see one. He felt as if he could readily be brushed off, as if right now, should he choose to, Nowicki could swat him aside as if he were no more momentous than a fly or a gnat.

7/24 – 82/288pg
So this guy is an embezzler who asked his elderly mother to borrow the money to pay back his employer, is a snob about books & music (a girl who "never read anything serious" and listened to Cyndi Lauper is only interesting because she's beautiful) and thinks of dogs only as "props".
I hope I'm not expected to find him either likable or sympathetic, but he's clearly one of the story's protagonists. I believe I'll be cheering for him to experience more misery and loss, regardless.

7/25 – 96/288pg
Nope, still no empathy. But have to credit the author with really vivid character creation, even the most minor of them. Although I think as each character is introduced, we are learning more about whichever of the three main characters that is interacting with them. They sure are a judgmental bunch of assholes.

7/28 – 199/288pg
Now she was lying in bed, in a musty room where the accumulated dust of the coverlet made her sneeze each time she crawled under it, and a man who could have gone to jail for embezzlement was asking her if she could possibly overlook academic mischief. show less

This is a well written story of a couple whose twin daughters have just gone off to college, leaving them alone with each other. College sweethearts, Luke is a history professor and Jennifer is a poet and a teacher. They live in Loring, MS where Luke grew up and the place is a also a character. Race and civil rights play a prominent role as Luke recalls a night in 1962 when a local woman was murdered by her husband. The daughter of the woman, Maggie, returns to Loring to teach at the same show more school as Luke and events from the past rise to the surface. Luke's parents still live nearby and their decline and memories figure into the story. I found it well written, unflinching and unsentimental. Running underneath the plot are the historian's perspective on life vs. the poet's - what is real when we look back on events regardless of the distance. show less