Apology For Big Rod
review from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY:
Set in Chicago, this spare, funny first novel is
narrated by Judy Gass, the spirited offshoot of a
conservative heartland family. Written after her uncle,
Big Rod, dies in disgrace in a local jail, this brief,
carefully colloquial apology remembers a man who
acted according to the belief that life is fleeting and
that happiness is the only worthwhile pursuit and the
only true standard of morality. Sickly as a child, Rod
suffered and witnessed death during WWII. Far from
being spiritually deadened, however, he came home
buoyed by the insight that "you might as well kick
back and do as you damn please in this world, since
the worms are licking at your heels." Indifferent to the
disapproval of his small-minded community, Big Rod
pursued a string of zany, scandalous ventures,
including pro boxing and selling chocolate Jesuses,
before he settled down to a job as night janitor at a
mortuary. His lifestyle turns inexplicably lavish and
his generosity counts to no one but Judy when the
outrageous source of his affluence is revealed. Even
at the end, Judy observes, Big Rod goes out with a
liberating bang rather than a whimper. Using
earnest, often hilarious small-town syntax, Holdefer
tells the simple, memorable tale of a man who lived
life as if he savored it and yet was indifferent to it, as if
it were wine in a beautiful glass that would inevitably
be broken.
Set in Chicago, this spare, funny first novel is
narrated by Judy Gass, the spirited offshoot of a
conservative heartland family. Written after her uncle,
Big Rod, dies in disgrace in a local jail, this brief,
carefully colloquial apology remembers a man who
acted according to the belief that life is fleeting and
that happiness is the only worthwhile pursuit and the
only true standard of morality. Sickly as a child, Rod
suffered and witnessed death during WWII. Far from
being spiritually deadened, however, he came home
buoyed by the insight that "you might as well kick
back and do as you damn please in this world, since
the worms are licking at your heels." Indifferent to the
disapproval of his small-minded community, Big Rod
pursued a string of zany, scandalous ventures,
including pro boxing and selling chocolate Jesuses,
before he settled down to a job as night janitor at a
mortuary. His lifestyle turns inexplicably lavish and
his generosity counts to no one but Judy when the
outrageous source of his affluence is revealed. Even
at the end, Judy observes, Big Rod goes out with a
liberating bang rather than a whimper. Using
earnest, often hilarious small-town syntax, Holdefer
tells the simple, memorable tale of a man who lived
life as if he savored it and yet was indifferent to it, as if
it were wine in a beautiful glass that would inevitably
be broken.
| Available at your bookstore or order direct from the Publisher: http://www.thepermanentpress.com |
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ISBN 1877946931