Bentley Little was an enigma to me until a few weeks ago, when I thumbed through a few of his novels at the local bookshop. Despite the name association I made with the neighbor from "The Jeffersons," the books looked interesting and I decided to take a crack at a few of them. "The Store" is the first one I decided to read and I am glad I did. What caught my eye were the somewhat cheesy cover and the hilarious description on the back cover. As I read the book, I discovered that the humor goes well beyond skin deep.
What surprises me about many of the reviews here is that they miss the biggest point of the story, namely, the humor. This is a wildly funny book. I alternated between chuckles, guffaws, snickers, giggles, hoots, bellows, knee slapping, gut busting, and roaring laughter with this gem of a novel. At first, I wondered if the book is supposed to be funny. I quickly decided that it is supposed to induce laughter. What Bentley Little is writing here is black comedy and satire on an epic scale. One event after another brought me to tears. There are horrific elements here, several which are decidedly unfunny. But overall, this book is the height of amusement. You know a book is good when you laugh out loud later, at weird times and places because you're thinking about the book. You learn to ignore the stares. It's difficult to explain what is funny in a short review. It is the cumulative effect The Store has on Juniper that brings out the chortles.
"The Store" takes place in Juniper, Arizona. Juniper is a podunk town out in the boonies. People have to drive to Flagstaff or Phoenix to visit a mall or a discount retailer. All of that changes when The Store arrives. The Store is a national discount chain, along the lines of Wal-Mart or Kmart. About the only person in town concerned about the new store is Bill Davis, a work at home writer who has plenty of time to poke his nose into what's going on in town. Davis has problems with The Store right from the start. The Store violates town rules by destroying the environment on the construction site. Then the dead animals start showing up, along with a transient that dies on the site. Davis is horrified to discover all of this carnage and quickly discovers that The Store is getting special treatment from the city government.
When The Store is finally built, even more ominous behavior begins to emerge. The Store uses its clout to run other businesses out of town. Unemployment begins to increase, as does The Store's influence in town government. The Store starts to sponsor activities in town, and they take over city services. People that are hired at the store begin to exhibit cult-like behavior. Bill is horrified when his daughter Samantha takes a job at The Store, followed by his other daughter, Shannon. Bill gets fed up with the increasingly fascist activities of The Store, and decides to confront its CEO, Newman King.
The book really builds up to what should be an awesome climax. Unfortunately, the ending is rather anti-climatic. Too many things go unexplained. Who is Newman King? Who are the Night Managers and how do they become what they are? The only conclusion I drew from the story is that The Store and its minions are related to some type of voodoo ritual. But that is never confirmed in any way, shape, or form. Like other reviewers have said, it seemed rushed. It does contain the most shocking scene of the book, however.
The characters in this book are marvelous. They are well drawn and sympathetic figures. I especially enjoyed Shannon, Bill's youngest daughter. Her spunky attitude and cynical observations are a joy to read. She reminded me of a girlfriend I once had years ago. Samantha, the other daughter, serves to put a human face on the degeneracy of The Store. It is through her eyes that we see the grueling application process, the cult-like devotion to The Store, and how The Store disciplines workers who break the rules.
Bentley Little's goal in this book is to expose the dependence Americans have on retail stores. In his view, Americans will sell out the very ideals of democracy in exchange for cheaper goods. Small towns are especially vulnerable to this type of corporate control because they lack access to bigger markets in a country that thrives on consumerism. These corporations can corrupt even their most dogged opponents, as seen in the book through Bill's meeting with Newman King. It seems that most of us recognize the danger of monopoly and unfettered corporate control. What Little does here is to take that idea and inject it with a huge dose of steroids, and then beat you over the head with the results.
This is masterful comedy, so sharp that it could put out your eye. I can't wait to read his collection of short stories and his other book, "The Association," about an out of control homeowners association (which promises even more chuckles). I hope you find "The Store" as entertaining as I did.
