"If I'm kneeling, I must be praying."

Title:  Tumbledown

Author:  Robert Boswell

Host:  Faith

A full ten years after the publication of his last novel and nearly thirty years after leaving a job in counseling to pursue writing full time, prose master Robert Boswell is back with Tumbledown, a complex and compelling novel published by our own Graywolf Press.  Populated by a large cast of offbeat characters, the story's lynchpin is James Candler, a therapist at Onyx Springs Rehabilitation Center. Candler is on track to become the facility's youngest director, a promotion he knows he doesn't deserve.  His "clients" -- the beautiful but damaged Karly, the serial masterbator Alonso, schizophrenic Mick, angry Vex, bitter Maura -- assemble elaborately complicated boxes in the sheltered workshop that is his signature therapeutic program.  Boswell's novel is no less intricate or satisfying to piece together.  

Insights and Opinions

+ Faith began the discussion by admitting that she hadn't read the last half of the novel carefully and was confused.  Did James quit his job or was he fired?  Did Mick die or survive his suicide attempt?  But even if you read the book closely -- and many of us couldn't put it down -- there are no simple answers to these questions. A straightforward and compulsively readable narrative until late in the second half, Tumbledown takes a stylistic turn when the author addresses the reader directly and offers two alternative endings. "Human behavior is no simple matter," he tells us, "and the unfolding of a single act can paper a house. This book is that house." We were undecided about whether the dual endings worked or were, in Lois' opinion, a "cop-out."  Comparisons were made to our August book, Jewelweed, with its similarly large ensemble of misfits. But unlike David Rhodes, Boswell doesn't provide a tidy resolution. English professor Shirley commented on the tendency towards indeterminate endings in recent fiction.

Still life with Valentine wine.

+ Tumbledown also features a large cast of secondary, "normal" characters who are dealing with their own personal demons -- James' recently widowed sister Violet and sexy fiancee Lolly (British slang for money), his stalking mistress Lise Rae and hapless best friend Billy Atlas. They all gather in Candler's sprawling suburban house for the novel's climactic scene. Despite -- or possibly because of -- Billy's questionable judgment and unprofessional behavior,  he ultimately finds the personal happiness and career satisfaction that alludes his smarter, more successful friend. We all loved Billy for following his heart rather than the rules.

+ We are a group who take words very seriously. Faith had a few quibbles with the odd choice of words in phrases like, "he trammeled down the stairs" and found the characters' names curious, i.e. James Candler (a person who examines eggs for fertility). Even the title is an unusual use of tumbledown, which commonly refers to dilapidated buildings rather than lives that are falling apart. But we all agreed that Boswell's writing is exquisite and original. As Lois put it, "the way he describes things is quite slant," and we appreciated the off-kilter wit of his wordplay.  

+ Perhaps not surprisingly, we took a particular interest in Candler's sister and her work as an editor. "I should have warned you," her husband tells her after a particularly disappointing evening with an author. "Meeting a writer is always a letdown. They're never as interesting as their work. If they were, then they would have failed their books. They write to be better than themselves." This led to a freewheeling conversation filled with interesting anecdotes about writers and a particularly funny story about Linda's meeting with a famous (and surprisingly humorless) Minnesota author. Afterwards, Joan Drury gave her this memorable piece of advice: "Just because you like pate' doesn't mean you should invite a goose to dinner."  

+ Two of our group had the opportunity to meet Robert Boswell while he was in town this fall and assured us that it definitely was not a letdown.  Among other things, he discussed his experiences working as a counselor (for more, see the interview with Boswell below).  Tumbledown is dedicated to "all the clients who survived my tenure as a counselor and to the one who didn't." Joann felt this experience contributed to his empathy towards his characters and suggested that the dual endings reflected his attempt to come to terms with past mistakes.

+ And with that, we were off on tangents ranging from the impact of aging on IQ and fiction's ability to teach empathy, to school guidance counselors' power to stifle a child's interest in reading for life.  It must have been the delicious Valentine wine.

Tumbledown: An Interview with Robert Boswell

Other Bits

+  Woke Up Lonely by Fiona Maazel (our roundly criticized June selection) was named one of The New York Times Notable Books of 2013 and included on several "best of" lists including Book Riot's 7 funniest (!) novels of the year. Hmmmmmmm.

A lovely reminder to keep on working.

+ We missed several members of our group who were off traveling because of work or winter, and circulated a card for Blanche, who was recovering from a bad fall. Since then, we've received this update: "I'm doing quite well -- the lack of balance is something I've dealt with for years and they're finally taking seriously now that I've broken my neck! I'm going to a center which deals with it not far from our Florida place. The sooner I get off the ice the better!  I really appreciate your concern and good wishes and hope to be back at book group soon."  

+ We choose Dear Life by Alice Munro for our February book and added Someone by Alice McDermott to the list for future consideration.  Gail will host the January discussion of Flight Behavior at Open Book but we still need a host and location for our February meeting.