Reviewed on my blog ( )

Reviewed on my blog ( )

Reviewed on my blog ( )

Reviewed on my blog ( )

I have been a big Steve Rushin fan ever since I discovered his Air and Space column in Sports Illustrated. I became an even bigger fan when I found out that the short schlubby guy was able to talk to talk the statuesque Rebecca Lobo to marry him. That was when i knew his glibness went beyond just clever,

In this, his first book, Rushin employed his knowledge and passion for words and made words and language the centerpiece of his novel. The premise of the story does not sound promising. A story about an unemployed wordsmith, spending his substantial down time in his favorite bar, enjoying his Guinness and indulging in his word play games with the other denizens of the bar.

The story itself is rather thin and the characters were not all that well developed, except maybe for the main character: Roddy Poole and his love interest Mairead. Everyone else was dealt a short and compact history as well as the necessary accoutrements so that the story moved along at a pace that served the story.

The key to this book is what happens between the character development and the plot evolution: the space between the notes, the time between actions, the bassline of the tune. Rushin filled it up with ruminations and pontifications about words, logic, trivia, and anything else involving the English language. So much so that the conversations became the focus and the reason for reading. The structure of the conversations drew me back, time and again. The discussions of the random facts stand seductively on the pages, where as the usual centerpieces: the characters and the plot became the window dressing. It is a bravura performance of the usage of the English language while in an alcohol soaked environment.

I actually liked the book, a lot. The romance portion of the plot was sweet and vulnerable but the defining theme was a bit thin, but I didn't really care because the word, ah the words were so abundant, rich, and savory that I didn't much care about anything else. Well, actually I did care about the little romance. In the end Roddy Poole did end up getting his Rebecca Lobo. Just like in real life. ( )