The Loop [Paperback]

Joe Coomer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 1999

Lyman, a thirty-year-old orphan, is sipping coffee on the front steps of the trailer he calls home one morning, when a ninety-year-old parrot arrives with a beakful of cryptic sayings -- such as "That which hath wings shall tell the matter" -- and a mysterious past. Convinced that heeding the bird's wisdom will lead him to answers about himself he so desperately seeks, Lyman combines his night job as a courtesy patrolman, circling the highway that loops around Fort Worth, with days in the library. Together with Fiona, the loquacious librarian, he traces his adopted pet's origins, and while what Lyman ultimately discovers may not help him piece together his own past, it paves the way for a future he never imagined.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The protagonist of Coomer's deliciously quirky and perceptive fourth novel (after A Flatland Fable ) is Lyman, 30, a lovable loner (he has never known his parents) who works nights for the Texas highway department, driving around the Loop that circles Fort Worth. In this dark, endless orbit--a subtly shifting metaphor for Lyman's own life--he aids stranded motorists, collects debris for his trophy collection and buries animals killed by cars. When an aging but spry parrot with a beakful of cryptic sayings barges through the screen door of Lyman's trailer and upsets his routine, Lyman's deeper humanity is oddly stirred. He decides that finding "the owner behind the bird . . . would be akin to finding the message behind the universe." To this end he enlists the aid of Fiona, a sexy librarian at the college where he has enrolled in a potpourri of courses from French to furniture repair. Together, they research parrots and try to track the sources of the bird's perplexingly hieratic utterances. The quest turns up surprises, not always the answers Lyman thinks he seeks. Increasingly when he returns to the nocturnal exitless Loop, he sees his beloved highway in a new light as a place of "aridity" and estrangement. Despite a jarringly abrupt switch to Fiona's viewpoint late in the narrative, the denouement both heartens and satisfies.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Tom Pilkington The Dallas Morning News Funny, briskly paced...heartwarming...a wonderful book. -- Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone; 1st Scribner Paperback Fiction ed edition (September 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684859041
• ISBN-13: 978-0684859040
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,100,731 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Light, But Not Shallow, March 29, 2000

By 

Robert Carlberg (Seattle) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Loop (Paperback)

This book is an enjoyable and fast read, but you may find yourself thinking about larger issues as you read it and for a while after.

Coomer touches on some very big topics, but never addresses them directly:

* Man's search for meaning

* The comfort of religion

* The inevitability of death

* How relationships salve wounds

* The role of chance

All of these issues come up indirectly, and are dealt with by the characters in their lives. However the book manages to explore these issues without preaching, and in the end leaves it to the reader to decide what is important.

The book only rated four stars with me for a couple reasons: one, the characters are an odd mix of cluelessness and wisdom. At times I found glaringly out-of-character wisdom and philosophy coming out of their mouths. Two, the book reminded me of "The Shipping News" in that the main characters seem so lost, so unaware, so lacking in goals and direction that at times I wanted to slap them.

But it was an enjoyable ride with memorable characterizations, and I look forward to reading some of Coomer's other interesting-sounding titles.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughtful, quirky, very funny, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Loop (Paperback)

This book was a joy to read. Lyman and Fiona are great characters. Searching for meaning in his life, while she searches for permanence, the two, along with their pets, make a remarkable and personal journey. What they find out about the bird, and themselves, may not be what they expected, but is always revealing. I couldn't put it down. Simply told, and fun to read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of my favorite novels, April 18, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Loop (Paperback)

Lyman is one of a kind, and you'll love him. This is one of my favorite novels: compassionate, beautifully written, and, yes, kind of loopy.