McLarty, Ron. Art in America.

Mike Rogers -- Library Journal, 06/10/2008

McLarty, Ron. Art in America. Viking. Jul. 2008. c.367p. ISBN 978-0-670-01895-6. $25.95.

Channeling Tom Wolfe, McLarty, follows up his stellar Travler with this comedic and touching East meets West romp. Protagonist Steven Kearney is a failed New York playwright/poet/novelist (and from the faux bibliography presented at the book’s opening, nobody deserves to go unpublished more than him), who miraculously is selected by the Creedmore, CO, Historical Society to chronicle the town’s history in an epic drama. Kearney finds that Creedmore is a bubbling cauldron of anger as the flaky artists community and the hard-line redneck ranchers square off over the trial of Ticky Lettgo, a 95-year old whiskey-swillin’, hogleg-totin’ land owner, who uses his Winchester to settle an argument over whether rafters can paddle a river flowing through his property. Add to the mix an ex-Boston cop turned sheriff who talks constantly aloud to his dead partner (the book’s best character); a bald, bowler-wearing breast-cancer-surviver artist; and a terrorist-minded antiproperty group whose leader is mostly interested in getting into coed’s panties. McLarty possesses a truly remarkable power to create characters, and even minor players are memorable. Everyone seems distinct and real. Beyond the laughs, the book also showcases art’s ability to transcend personal beliefs and unite a warring community. McLarty is a writer to watch. Highly Recommended.—Mike Rogers, LJ/LJX