Published January 1, 2009 |
We meet George Crosby, a clock repair man. From the start, the novel focuses on time, memory, and perspective. George is suffering from delirium as a mature man in his last six weeks of life. This leads to some shifting perceptions between past and present, reality and fantasy.
This is a book that I read slowly, wanting to live in the moments that he creates on the page.
Readers are next introduced to George's father, a salesman. Every fall and spring, Howard stocked up a wagon full of goods and traveled through back roads with his mule, selling to impoverished country people and making very little profit.
Howard is a poet at heart, but between the demands of providing for his family and the difficulty of dealing with his epilepsy, he lives a far less elegant life.