Making their living by forcing strangers to withdraw money for them from automatic cash machines, Macrae and Charlie hook up with a black ex-con called Porter, who teaches them the perils of an unexamined life. 12,500 first printing.
Save Me, Joe Louis (Contemporary American Fiction)
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Like a steel bearing in a pinball machine, the protagonist of Bell's new novel bounces wildly from one crime to another. Only at the end of his run, overcoming his instinct to react to circumstances rather than create them, does he seem willing to choose his own moral path. AWOL from the service and living in a New York City tenement, Macrae teams up with Charlie to rob people by forcing them to withdraw money from bank machines. As the crimes and violence escalate, they are joined by Porter, a black ex-con, in Baltimore. A botched robbery then sends them to Tennessee, where they live with Macrae's bitter blind father near Nashville and encounter Lacy, Macrae's childhood girlfriend. Another robbery results in four brutal killings and a high-speed escape to the Carolina shore. "Ain't nobody cares that much what you do," says Charlie, who uses that aphorism for license. As Macrae gradually discerns the difference between Charlie's lack of conscience and his own passivity, we come to care deeply for him. Marred by some slow spots, some heavy-handed metaphors and too many coincidences, this meticulously observed story nevertheless grips us with its lucid prose, its keen psychological insights and the author's respect for his troubled characters. Combining the lowlife urban setting and the hardscrabble rural mountain life that feature in his earlier works, Bell ( Doctor Sleep ; Soldier's Joy ) remains one of our most talented novelists.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
In his seventh novel (following Doctor Sleep , LJ 11/1/90), Bell continues his exploration of the sociological factors that drive aberrant behavior. At its outset, Macrae, a Tennessee hillbilly with an artistic bent, goes AWOL from the army and is wandering the streets of Manhattan, broke and alone. A chance encounter with a streetwise, small-time mugger propels him into a life of crime and ever-increasing violence. Unlike his companion, however, Macrae retains a sense of guilt that ultimately enables him to secure a kind of redemption--with the help of a woman he has known since childhood and a final, necessary act of personal violence. Bell does a marvelous job of depicting life on the seamier side of the tracks and in drawing his characters. Their essential humanness comes through in spite of themselves. Evidence of Bell's growing maturity as a writer, this novel belongs in most public and academic collections and is ripe for translation to the silver screen.
- David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- David W. Henderson, Eckerd Coll. Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Absorbing and moody--a really good read.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Save Me, Joe Louis: A Novel (Contemporary American Fiction) (Paperback)
In Save Me, Joe Louis, Madison Smartt Bell has a way with putting his reader right in the middle of things. Whether the protagonist Macrae is sitting in seedy NYC bar or on a creaky porch down South, he gives you such wonderful, rich detail that you never for a moment doubt what's going on and, truly, can see it all as if you were there, too. It is emotional without being too sentimental (or sappy). It doesn't have a neat and tidy ending, yet you close the book feeling satisfied. I highly recommend this--I was impressed. I plan to read more of his work ASAP.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stunning...as finely tuned as you'll ever read.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Save Me, Joe Louis: A Novel (Contemporary American Fiction) (Paperback)
This is the saga of Charlie and Macrae, two fringe dwellers thrown together by chance. As their story unfolds, their forays into petty crime escalate into horrific violence and madness. Bell is one of the best writers around. Pick up "Save Me, Joe Louis" and get hooked
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