After finishing Patrick deWitt’s recently published novel, “Dodge City,” I considered giving him one of my Biblioracle “lifetime achievement awards,” where I declare that a particular writer has delivered so much reading pleasure into my life that they deserve special recognition.
Previous winners include Francine Prose
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and Percival Everett.I thought better of it because I googled Patrick deWitt and saw that he’s still a very young man (51) with lots of writing years ahead of him, so I don’t want him to receive such an august recognition and think he can rest on his laurels.
Oh, but what laurels! Reading a Patrick deWitt novel is a fascinating experience. On the surface, the settings couldn’t be more different, but there is something essentially deWitt-ian about all of them.
“The Sisters Brothers” is a story set during the gold rush of two hired-killer brothers who have conversations somewhere between Abbott and Costello and Samuel Beckett’s Vladimir and Estragon from “Waiting for Godot.”
“Undermajordomo Minor” mixes fable with the gothic novel and comic (sort of) romance. “French Exit” lampoons the Upper East Side New York wealthy when they fall from grace. “The Librarianist” is a kind of low-key adventure story about a retired librarian coming to grips with his own childhood and the loss of the love of his life. At the heart of every book is a wry, comic sensibility mixed with genuine interest in the oddballs at the center of the story.
“Dodge City” is set in 1967 America, and is the story of Lee Clarke, who has made the mistake of punching out one of his well-connected college classmates (with good reason), making Lee eligible for the draft. He knows instantly he will not go and plans to flee to Canada, securing the use of a brand-new Jaguar from a car transport company that needs it moved from Los Angeles to New Jersey.
As Lee travels (roughly) east, he tries to tie up the loose ends of his life.
First, there is the deeply alluring Cal, Lee’s girlfriend, whom he claims not to love, because Cal is like a comet that travels to the outer reaches of space before returning to Lee, but his protestations of non-love are unconvincing.
From California, Lee visits his father in his hometown of Concrete, Washington, his mother (who suddenly left his father when Lee was a teenager) in Montana, his brother Harry (whom he hasn’t spoken to since they were teenagers) in Minnesota, and his sister Grace in New York.
Each interlude with his family members works as both a brilliant set piece and a layering Lee’s character. His father is dissolute, living in his van because the house is filled with stray dogs (long, good story). Lee’s mother fills in the blanks of her leaving in ways both satisfactory and not. It’s not clear whether Lee and Harry are going to reconcile, but they will at least speak. Grace, a psychiatric nurse, is having love affairs simultaneously with a doctor and a patient.
By description, these people seem desperate and the story dark, but deWitt’s brilliant comic touch and gift for bringing characters to life through sharp and distinctive dialogue are honestly unmatched. This is a story about people choosing to live, whatever that looks like for themselves.
At each stop, Lee calls Cal’s apartment with no answer, save one time when an unexpected and unwelcome person picks up. We hope, before he crosses the border, that he will connect with her again.
We must read to the end of the journey to find out what happens.
Book recommendations from the Biblioracle
John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books you’ve read.
1. “Catch the Devil” by Pamela Colloff
2. “Tom Lake” by Ann Patchett
3. “My Name is Barbra” by Barbra Streisand
4. “The Likeness” by Tana French
5. “Death at Breakfast” by Beth Gutcheon
— Peggy W., Glencoe
Not to lean too hard into the theme of this list, but I think Lori Rader-Day’s “Death at Greenway” is a fine fit for Peggy.
1. “What We Can Know” by Ian McEwan
2. “The Three-Body Problem” by Cixin Liu
3. “1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World” by Liaquat Ahamed
4. “The Underground Railroad” by Colson Whitehead
5. “The Alteration” by Kingsley Amis
— Gary S., Chicago
For Gary, I’m recommending a good friend of Ian McEwan’s, Julian Barnes and his novel, “The Sense of an Ending.”
1. “Yesteryear” by Caro Claire Burke
2. “The Wedding People” by Alison Espach
3. “The Inmate” by Freida McFadden
4. “First Lie Wins” by Ashley Elston
5. “The French Illusion” by John Grisham
— Diane T., Chicago
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Alright, I’m going to try to move Diane away from the frontlist titles you see on a special table at the entrance of every bookstore: “Mothers and Sons” by Adam Haslett.
Get a reading from the Biblioracle
Send a list of the last five books you’ve read and your hometown to [email protected].
John Warner is the author of books including “More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI.” You can find him at biblioracle.com.