Salvage King, Ya!: A Herky-Jerky Picaresque

This book captured my attention from its opening sentence: "There is something sad about wind and fences." The wind blows on through fences throughout the novel, as Drinkwater, a washed-up hockey player nearing obsolescence, comes to terms with his fading career, his future career operating his family's junkyard, and his relationships with three women: his ex-wife Kathy, his fiancée The Intended, and his mistress Waitress X.

The unusual feature of this novel is its lack of characters. Drinkwater's string of hockey coaches and fellow players are known simply as "coach" or "the goalie," and one is not distinguished from another. His Intended and Waitress X are never named, and character development is almost entirely lacking. This novel show more is about Drinkwater himself, and it is sustained entirely by Jarman's remarkable prose. Jarman normally sticks to short stories, where his writing shines without the need to sustain the reader over 80,000 words or more. That Salvage King, Ya! pulls it off is quite a feat. show less