Customer Reviews

The Man Who Owned Vermont

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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Novels so frequently chronicle the lives of the writer, the artist, or the high powered mover and shaker. "Ordinary people" tend to be cariciatures, people the author moved away from to get an MFA or people whose limitations define the author's hidden text in would-be hilarious fashion. One imagines the potential inherent in the as-yet-unexplored life of middle class small town and suburban folks, freed of treacle, of outdated stereotype, of "realistically" implausible dialogue, or fractured postcard home truths by writers who feel themselves somehow above the fray of tract homes and work-a-day jobs.

The Man Who Owned Vermont stands out for its characterizations of a 20something man whose job is distributing RC Cola to markets. He's recently separated, and the plot is driven by the dilemmae of his marital problems. The dialogue, the characterizations, and the situations are plausible, workable, and real as life.

Although an overt theme seems to be unfashionable these days, Mr. Lott adopts as one theme of this work the power of language and words. The protagonist, though intelligent and reasonably articulate, is, for reasons explained in the story, nearly incapable of any real insight into his own feelings or needs. Lott effectively uses the "supporting characters" as semaphore signals to the reader and to our narrator of what is really going on in his life. Unlike the similar device in Ford Madox Ford's The Good Soldier, we do not come to mistrust the narrative voice of the clueless narrator. Lott's protagonist is anything but clueless, and, thank heaven, he does not babble or mutter on about obscure lit references like a grad seminar short story hero. Through patient story-telling, we come to understand that the narrator's emotional disconnection, and its very real effects on his very real life, *is* not only the character, but also the "real" story. The result is neither played for pathos or humor, but instead the work achieves a quiet, almost meditative, small reflection on the nature of language and story. The book is subtle, is well worked, and capably written.

Surprisingly, the part of the work that satisfies least is the way in which the denouemont is tied together after two disparate sequential events create a sort of twin climax. The ending seems slightly forced, but the overall effect of the work is that it is believable, very real, and about not only ideas, but also people.

If you like small films which use a realistic plot to tell a subtle story, like You Can Count on Me or The Winslow Boy, you'll be apt to like this small book which uses a decent but distracted man to make some interesting points.

Bret Lott stands out as a storyteller because he writes about people who could be your next door neighbors enduring things that could actually happen to you or someone you know. And his characters handle things just as awkwardly as you & I would as well. But they are like the characters of Anne Tyler and Elizabeth Berg--not easily forgotten. I love an author who really brings his characters into a full three dimension life. Oh, and don't forget your kleenex when you read this.

I was immediately drawn into this story and identified with the main character. Wonderfully written. Rick was overcome with grief and guilt over losing his unborn child and we learned his thinking, and felt his emotions,as he coped. But I ask you, Mr. Lott, did he have to get in bed naked with another woman and very nearly make love to her in order figure out that he still loved his wife? How do you think this made the other woman, who was a fine person, feel? I would think Rick would be even more guilt-ridden because, at the end of the book, he lists the things he will now talk with his wife about, and this other woman isn't on the list! Great writing but I'm not so sure about the ending.

This review is for the first Washington Square Press trade paperback printing, May 1988. Bret Lott has published story collections, a memoir, non-fiction and at least seven novels. His novels are about insights into the journeys of ordinary people with difficulties that are about as traumatic as are own experiences. THE MAN WHO OWNED VERMONT is Bret Lott's first published novel.

This is a novel about marriages. Cal, Carla and Rose's marriages have failed due to infidelities large or small. But those rifts are peripheral. The story is about Rick Wheeler, the first person narrator and protagonist. Rick's marriage is in trouble because he flushed the toilet. I understand why he flushed that toilet, someone had too, eventually. But Rick should have talked about it first. As in many marriages, Rick's problem is his inability to talk about his feelings. Cal, Carla and Rose could not help Rick, except to remind him how much he still loved his wife. It took Lonny, who was never married, to show Rick what he had to do while hunting frightened deer. You see, Lonny is an old plumber, a fellow who knows a great deal about toilets.

Bret Lott loads this novel with mundane, descriptive details. When Rick makes a sandwich, the author tells about every item Rick takes from the refrigerator, and its color. If a metaphor, it escaped me. In the men's room, Rick unzips, Cal comes in and unzips, and then Rick zips and rinses his hands. There is dialogue, which I can't recall, but the zips I remember, wondering if Cal forgot. A more selective treatment of detail, sensuous rather than mundane, would make this a better read. Still, it's a good story.

This is one of the most underrated novels in the past decade. Not only was it entertaining but it reshaped my own life as well. The story had a surrealism to it that cannot be described. Even though I read the book about five years ago I still think about the characters and wonder if their marriage is still holding up. You know you read something great when memories of the book still arise from time to time.

I reccommend you read Jewel by this author instead. It was a much better book.

Once again Oprah turned me onto a great author. Having read Jewel and being impressed, I looked into Lott's other works. This is the first on my list. I enjoyed the book, even though reading something from 1987 can often be disapppointing. I enjoyed the characters of Rick, his friends and Paige. The only thing I'd change is add a little more rememberences of Rick's and Paige's relationship. I'd like to get to know Paige a little better. I recommend giving this book a shot!

A friend who had read this book back in college recommended it to me based on my love for good old-fashioned literature. It did not disappoint. The story isn't unique -- a young man skulks out of his marriage when the going gets tough and throws himself into his career, where he discovers his loneliness -- but the telling is simultaneously refreshing and familiar. I suggest this book to anyone who loved To Kill a Mockingbird, and books of that genre.