Meet John Trow [Hardcover]

Thomas L. Dyja (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 30, 2002

Steven Armour, though only forty, is already fighting off a midlife crisis-his once-brilliant career fizzling, his marriage going stale, his inner life taking strange, disorienting turns. Then, on an impulse, Steven joins a group of Civil War reenactors, and much to his own and everyone else's amazement, his life suddenly turns around. Assigned to portray a Connecticut private named John Trow, Steven throws himself into the weekend exercises with a zeal and confidence he never knew he possessed. He effortlessly masters the Union Army's complex drills, he bonds with the other men in his regiment, and he becomes infatuated, and then passionately obsessed with Polly Kellogg, the regiment captain's wife. Indeed, so thoroughly does Steven Armour embrace the ghostly life of Civil War Private John Trow that his own identity begins to slip through his fingers with deadly consequences.

"Chucking it all is an urge every twenty-first century American occasionally feels, or ought to. In Meet John Trow, Thomas Dyja uses that impulse to drive a novel that's part business satire, part domestic drama, part postmodern ghost story. And the whole thing works like a dream." (Kurt Anderson, bestselling author of Turn of the Century)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Dyja's darkly comic second novel (after Play for a Kingdom), Steven Armour like many of his fictional contemporaries is mired in a midlife crisis. He and his hard-edged lawyer wife, Patty, have recently moved from New York to the suburbs of Connecticut with their two children, innocently out-of-whack five-year-old Emily and increasingly distant 12-year-old Nate. Disrespected by his corporate superiors, alienated from his wife and offspring and generally aggravated by modern technology, Steven longs for a retreat to the simpler days of the past. On a lark, the Armours take a short trip to nearby Riga Village, a Civil War reenactment town, where Steven finds exactly what he needs. In the village, men and women assume the persona of former townspeople who fought in the Civil War. Steven is assigned the character of John Trow, whose masculine directness and innate sense of duty bolster his floundering sense of self. Along with some encouragement in the form of a series of teasing billets-doux from the wife of his superior, Colonel Kellogg, Steven willingly falls deeper and deeper "into the strong arms of the past." Dyja skillfully and humorously evokes the constant computer, television and general pop culture static that clouds Steven's vision, as well as the crack of musket fire and whiff of gunpowder in Riga Village. Though he sometimes lays the lingo contemporary and 19th century on thick, he charts Steven's identity crisis with sympathy and a healthy hint of sarcasm, concluding with a clever and intriguing twist.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"...full of time-bending surprises...superb...Equal parts historical drama, ghost story, romance & mystery...vital critique of millennial malaise." -- People, July 15, 2002

"...the right balance of suspense and good humor." -- New York Times Book Review, July 14, 2002

"...wondrous, wry and moving...a joy...A novel as surprising as it is poignant." -- Chris Bohjalian for the Washington Post, June 30, 2002

"A fine novel that draws you in slowly, then grips you tightly and holds you to its surprising ending." -- The Seattle Times, June 9, 2002

"As a parable for the snares and delusions of our times, MEET JOHN TROW is richly rewarding indeed." -- San Francisco Chronicle, June 23, 2002

"Darkly comic...Dyja taps into some powerful 21st century anxieties and fantasies, which should help him attract new readers." -- Publisher's Weekly, May 27, 2002

"MEET JOHN TROW is alternately hilarious and harrowing, touching and perturbing. From start to finish, it is consistently entertaining." -- Providence Journal, June 16, 2002

"MEET JOHN TROW is the best book on obsession and crises of middle age since Nabokov set his pedophile loose." -- Miami Herald, June 30, 2002

"Part social satire, part ghost story, this delightful, entertaining novel should be a hit..." -- The Boston Herald, June 11, 2002

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; First Edition edition (May 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670030996
• ISBN-13: 978-0670030996
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,580,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book!, July 21, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Meet John Trow (Hardcover)

"Meet John Trow" is an incredible book! I lost myself in the story by page 10 and was able to abandon my own modern life pressures by escaping into the world of Steven Armour as he escaped into the world of John Trow. The writing is beautiful, imaginative, complex and ironic, taking us back in time with rich details of life in 1865 and returning us suddenly to the world of tv reruns and the internet. Tom Dyja has risen to the top of my list of favorite authors.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every now and then one should listen to ones friends!, November 8, 2002

By 

Atheen M. Wilson "Atheen" (Mpls, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Meet John Trow (Hardcover)

More and more frequently it's been proven to me that one should listen to the reading suggestions made by friends with similar interests. Since I enjoy expository prose more than narrative, I tend to resist recommendations when they are novels rather than books of information, but every now and then someone who shares my interests will recommend one that is a "good fit." Meet John Trow by Thomas Dyja is a example. It is a very complex novel, recommended by a friend at work with whom I'd like to write ghost stories and with whom I share a number of interests. The book is part ghost story, part murder mystery, part Civil War history, and part a search for a philosophy of life. Whether any of these things are subjects in which the author himself has a real interest or experience or whether he just did his homework, the book works, at least for me.

The central character, Steven Armour, is bogged down in a mid-life crisis. His wife Patty seems angry all the time, his son is a stranger to him, his daughter suffers undiagnosed petit mal seizures which cause difficulties at school, his coworkers treat him with the indulgence reserved for the "elderly" and "out of the loop," and his elderly father, a widower, perennial child and the arch antagonist of Steve's wife Patty, is hoping to move in with the family. It's not that Steve's problems are unique; but his solution to them is. Introduced to a Civil War reenactment group while on a family outing, he is goaded into joining, and once involved gets REAL involved.

While I was a little disappointed in the ultimate solution of the mystery part of the book--I'm a romantic at heart--I felt that the book was greater than the sum of its parts. On the way toward recreating the life of a private John Trow, Steve learns things about himself and his life. We should all be so lucky. He comes to view the goals and purposes that he had accepted as grounding principles from the perspective of an outsider which helps him make some changes. Freed of the group think of modern life, at least for brief periods, he manages to become more centered and clinical in his judgement. For anyone caught up in the hectic pace of modern life as Steven Armour is, some of the points that Dyja makes about choices, taking control, taking responsibility, owning mistakes, and making changes are significant. In fact they are far more significant than the actual plot of the story, which is in fact a little light weight.

The book is a good read for anyone with an interest in ghosts, the Civil War, Civil War reenactment, and family dynamics. More important it's a good book to prod one into considering ones own priorities and where they lead.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Page-Turner!, March 8, 2004

By 

Fermey (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meet John Trow (Paperback)

Don't let the very lame cover fool you: this is an excellent book. The descriptions were vivid, the characters interesting, likeable and three dimensional. Many times I was *there*, not only smelling the smells and seeing the sights, I was *feeling* the emotions of the protagonist. The prose have an easy, lyrical quality (aside from a few tangential run-on sentences that requires the reader to follow along with the main point the way a novice surfer might cling to an oversized wave).

The dialogue had an easy, realistic quality. Several times I found myself laughing out loud at funny things the characters said and did.

At its best it was like reading a really good Stephen King novel. For those who like a touch of the paranormal without going over the top, this book serves nicely. For the Civil War fan that wonders what it would be like to be a re-enactor, this book answers the questions.

The story is presented in 5 "parts" or acts and it went on about an act too long. I would have given this five stars if it had concluded at the end of Act 4. There, the reader is still feeling the chills of a plot twist worthy of M. Night Shyamalan. As it is, it plods on for another 50 pages trying to tie up all loose ends, when in fact having it conclude at the end of Act 4 would have left us with the chills AND the ability to speculate as towhat exactly happened. It would have even left a question mark as to the supernatural nature of what had taken place. In life, not all questions are answered, not all loose ends are tied up, and it would have left a realistic touch if the same had happened here.

I'd recommend this book. If you have the will power, close the book at the end of Part 4 and call it a story.