Customer Reviews

The Fireman's Fair

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a wonderful novel about a man who is sleeping through life, and then one day a hurricane hits. And the man decides that he doesn't really like the practice of law anymore, so he's going to do something about that. And the man's been fantasizing about women his entire life, and so now he's going to do something about that, too. A really remarkable book!

One thing that's interesting about Humphreys work is that she focuses so strongly on one character. In this book we are privy to all of Rob's thoughts--and he has a lot of them!--but none of the other characters, and so they remain mysterious, both to us and to Rob. We're not sure why they do things.

The hurricane, which one character calls an "act of God," strongly suggests that there are not only people, but forces Rob does not understand, and will never understand, let alone control.

One imagines that the characters who interact with Rob in the book suspect that he is in the midst of a self-destructive part of his life--again, the hurricane metaphor--and yet we, who are privy to all his thoughts, realize that he is at his most alive, and in his center he is totally calm.

Humphreys will get compared to Conroy a lot, as they are both from Charleston and write "Southern," but I think she is the more subtle of the two. Her characters are not as wounded (or their wounds are more hidden). Also Conroy's work is more extroverted, whereas Humphreys' work is more internal, and suggests deeper ideas, or not ideas so much as a hint of an idea. I am drawn to rereading this particular work, as the underlying hints are just as interesting as Humphreys' use of language. Fireman's Fair is one of my favorite books, a truly outstanding work of art.

I read the Fireman's Fair for the first time seven years ago. This is one of those novels whose characters are so well fleshed-out that you feel as if you know them. I have read the novel, in full, at least three times -- and have opened it up and re-read favorite sections frequently, when I feel like picking up with Rob Wyatt and Billie Poe again.

Josephine Humphries, PLEASE write more novels like this!

Josephine Humphrey's paints an acurate picture of life in Charleston and the surrounding Lowcountry of S.C. I would suggest this book to anyone who lives in or dreams of the sleepy S.C. coast. The characters are true to the region and the story. This book stirs those crazy dreams of leaving everything behind to start new. Humphreys is a welcomed breath of fresh air to S.C. authors shadowed by Conroy. I wish her the best and await her future work.

I liked the Fireman's Fair the quotable thoughts written by Josephine Humphreys on water, pelicans, waitresses. Main character Rob Wyatt has left his job as an attorney and is also trying to break the many-years hold his longtime love (but married friend) Louise has over him. Louise is beautiful, smart, witty. But then Rob meets another woman who tests the hold Louise has on Rob, and he questions the measure of what he ever receives from her. The second woman is young, energetic and eccentric Billie Poe. Moments of revelation and quiet truths in this novel, and strong supporting characters in Rob's parents, brother, and best friend. Still my favorite is Humphrey's expository and descriptive writing -- love the insights (there are many more, but here's a short one) -- "You can get used to anything, but meanwhile it breaks your heart."

Rob Wyatt, a lawyer in Charleston, SC, has been drifting through life, until a hurricane blows through and with its damage knocks him for a loop. But he soon meets 19-year-old Billie Poe, whom he helps out of a marriage and into his own life. Of course the novel is a voyage of self-discovery for Rob, especially regarding why he failed getting the girl of his life (Louise) before meeting Billie. I thought this book better than Humphreys's RICH IN LOVE but not as good as DREAMS OF SLEEP.

Josephine Humphreys is one of Charleston, South Carolina's native daughters and also, one of the Holy City's most talented writers. In the Fireman's Fair, Charleston is the backdrop for Humphreys' beautifully written and moving tale.

A destructive hurricane has just blown through Charleston. Lawyer Rob Wyatt is also dealing with a personal hurricane (one of his own making) that seems to be destroying his life. He has given up his fancy Charleston apartment for a beach shack, he has quit is law firm job, and he sold his Alfa. He is also still hopelessly in love with his old girlfriend, Louise, who is married to his former boss. His family and friends are worried about Wyatt, and Louise keeps trying to fix him up with a girlfriend. But when the young and eccentric Billie starts becoming a fixture in his life, Louise reacts in a bizarre manner. Wyatt, who likes to go through life unnoticeable, all of a sudden is the center of attention. In fact, not only must he deal with his own high-drama, but also the issues swirling around his family and friends--although he has been too self-absorbed to deal with them at first. Wyatt needs to piece his life back together, but perhaps the finished work won't resemble anything that was his old "normal."

Humphreys is a beautiful writer and on page after page, I lingered on her wonderful thoughts. Wyatt wants to warn his brother away from marriage but realized "If it were really possible to warn the young, the human race would have shown steady improvement over the ages, and clearly it had not. He would have to let Ernie find his own way. Rob could not trust his own motives. Perhaps the old warn the young away from their own failed dreams." Wyatt's mom used to be an actress. In a improvisational scene that he watched, "There had been moments of significance but no possibility for overall meaning. The scene was over when the time was up. It frightened him that his life itself might work the same way, might never amount to anything but random extemporizing."

Humphreys does not publish books at a quick pace, but when a new one does come out, you know that you're in for a treat. While The Fireman's Fair is not a new book, I have not been disappointed with anything that Humphreys has written.

I live in the Lowcountry of South Carolina and enjoyed reading this novel set on the barrier islands. It begins with the aftermath of Hurricane Hugo in 1989. Friends who lived through this say the descriptions of the devastation are accurate and then they go on with stories of their own. Everything was wrecked, destroyed and everyone had to dig out and start again.

And this is when Rob decides he needs to begin again. He is a discontented attorney still in love with his law partner's wife, Louise. In the middle of his discontent and the total upheaval caused by Hugo enters Billie Poe, a nineteen year old in need of an attorney. The road to love is not smooth. Louise has her own meltdown. Rob's parents have their set of problems. We are never sure what is going to happen next with these characters; they are real people and real people are not always predictable. Everyone attends the annual Fireman's Fair and so all these people meet in one place.

Josephine Humphreys was born in Charleston and now lives on Sullivan's Island. Her descriptions are both lyrical and accurate. The young mayor of Charleston is still mayor. The buildings she describes are here. The only discrepancy that a local would point out is that Isle of Palms has always had a paid fire department. Neighboring Sullivan's Island has a volunteer fire department and still has the annual fish fry fundraiser the last Saturday in June; I go every year.

Don't get me wrong, I truly do like Humphreys. She is a lovely writer, with that languid, intimate style that we admire so much in our southern writers. And, true to form, this book is well written, nicely laid out, and plotted in a way that draws us in. But what are we being drawn in to?

Our main character has arrived at a crossroads in his life. He is in love with a woman who has married his law partner, but, rather than move on, he has longed for her tirelessly through the years. Yet, quite inexplicably, at the first sight of a nineteen-year-old's bare arms at a post-hurricane cocktail party (don't ask), he falls for her. You may think that falling for a teenager is a symptom of a man in mid-life crisis, and indeed it is, but as Humphreys tells it, this is true love. WHY? Well, she decorates his house. Obviously that's enough to form a lasting relationship. And when his true (married) love comes to him one night, proclaiming her love for him, and announcing she wants to leave her husband, he has two choices:
a) marry her, as she has requested, because that is what he has always wanted
b) reject her, because he is in love with a teenager, and it wouldn't be right to abandon the poor, innocent thing

But what does he do? He rejects his old love, but sleeps with her anyhow, then lies to his teenage fling, (and his only friend), hmmm, and doesn't seem to learn anything. One can have no respect for this man.

Not to mention his father, the man who cheated on his wife dozens of times, then had her locked up in a mental institution and subjected to shock treatments when she got upset about it. Even worse, he made his son complicit in the sordid affair. At the climax of the book, when this paragon of male conduct gets up and publicly proposes a renewal of vows, this would indeed be a prime time for revenge. Humphreys could have had the wronged wife do any one of the following:

a) Whup her disgusting husband upside the head with a two by four (my personal preference), or:
b) Proclaim the truth in a loud resounding voice, thereby shaming him in front of the while town;
c) Say that she wants a divorce, and leave with her new lover (a salsa teacher named Sergio would be nice)

In fact, ANYTHING would have been preferable to watching this woman's eyes fill with tears of love and joy as she takes her two-timing husband by the hand and walks with him through the crowd.

Kill me now.

But, getting back to this review. Humphreys may be a good writer, but if this is her idea of how true love operates in the south (trite, superficial, yet catchy in a kind of Japanese cell phone ringtone kind of way) I would stick to writers from north of the Mason Dixon line.