Customer Reviews

Boomerang and Never Die (Banner Books)

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With masterpieces such as "Airships" and "Ray" under his belt, this one-volume collection of Barry Hannah's two 90s novels comes as somewhat of a disappointment. Barry Hannah is no doubt one of the most gifted and interesting writers in contemporary America, but in the 1990s his best work has to be found in short story collections like "Bats Out of Hell" and "High Lonesome".

"Boomerang" is an obviously autobiographical story, and unlike what you might expect, it is not that exciting. Like "Ray", Hannah's best novel, "Boomerang" consists of small vignettes and lacks a plot. The only thing that holds it together and which makes it interesting to read is the language. There are moment of hilarious and tragic insight in this story of friends and lovers; the one that still stands out to me after two years is the passage about a friend who dies on the golf course: "Maybe he knew he was going to end up on the fairway, on the practice tee. Maybe he was playing for little Jeff his son, and for my son, Po, and for me, and for JoElla his wife - to go away with your sport shoes on, trying to get the ball to go into the sky and hit God's dumb foot" (52). In "Boomerang" the language is there, but the story is not.

"Never Die" takes place in the dying Old West. Rarely has Hannah displayed a set of more bizarre and grotesque characters, but unfortunately the story, and interest for it, gets lost in this postmodern puzzle of honor and revenge. It is not a bad novel, but knowing that Hannah can do (and has done) so much better, it seems only halfway done.

I'm not a writer so I will not attempt to say anything other than I am so glad that I was introduced to Mr. Hannah's writing. I've gotten so jaded at the emptiness in between the dust jackets that is being passed off as literature or prose. Mr. Hannah is the real deal. I'm thrilled!