The Very Air: A Novel [Paperback]

Douglas Bauer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1997

Self-created Luther Mathias sells "snake oil" in scrubby West Texas dirt towns. More than just a portrait of a flamboyant schemer, THE VERY AIR is a compelling exploration of human motives and hidden meanings. With a resonant sense of period and culture, Douglas Bauer evokes the freewheeling atmosphere of the old Southwest in the early part of this century and delivers an allusive commentary on charlatans of our own era.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The first half of this Dickensian novel by the author of the highly praised Dexterity is so suspenseful, poignant and irresistibly entertaining that even when the pace slows toward the middle of the narrative, readers will remain engrossed in hopes that Bauer will again discover his early inventiveness and verve. Although no resurrection occurs, the story is memorable by virtue of the conception of its protagonist, Luther Mathias. In an opening scene electric with portent, 10-year-old Luther's mother dies on their isolated Texas ranch in 1905, and Luther must ride alone to send a telegram to his father. Put in the care of his eccentric Aunt Joyce and Uncle Ray--as jolly a pair of swindlers as one could encounter--Luther joins their traveling medicine show. When death again interrupts his existence, Luther is warped by a sense of betrayal; moreover, he has adopted his uncle's view of human beings as prey waiting to be duped. Eventually, Luther becomes an (uncertified) "doctor for male diseases," and his life crosses those of beautiful movie star Alyce Rae and her husband Billy Boswell. Overcome by hubris, Luther pretends to be a surgeon who can rejuvenate Billy's sexual performance via monkey gland implants. His subsequent rise as a medical charlatan marks the story's decline; the narrative loses its juice and becomes a cautionary tale of a self-made man propelled by anger, resentment and a need for power. Bauer makes some wonderful observations about life in America during the 1900s, and about humanity's eternal need for illusion, and his characterization is sharp and funny. But as Luther becomes inflated with self-importance, the narrative, too, becomes bloated and slow, and its early promise is dispelled.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

Bauer's second novel (after Dexterity, 1989) plays with two durable American themes: the national fondness for snake oil and self-made men. This engaging and episodic romp through the first half of the 20th-century is lighter, more accessible, and far more commercial than Bauer's lyrically intense debut. Born on the Texas frontier at the turn of the century, Luther Mathias witnesses his mother's fevered madness and death, only to be abandoned by his roustabout father at ten. Young Luther joins his uncle's traveling medicine show and proves a quick study. He's garrulous and charming, deriving his talent from his knowledge of the Bible and his uncle's highfalutin lingo. But at 13, Luther grows disillusioned with his uncle's scam. When he leaves the show at 17, Luther survives by his wits, eventually acquiring a mail- order medical degree and setting up practice in a Texas bordertown as a specialist in VD cures. All this changes when beautiful movie starlet Alyce Rae stumbles into town with a case of amnesia, soon followed by her vain husband, silent movie star Billy Boswell. The neurotic Billy provides Luther with his first experiment in a new specialty: cures for impotency. And when Billy summons Luther to Hollywood for a second treatment, a meeting with media magnate Haskell Albright leads to new opportunities. Luther--part Gatsby, part Citizen Cane--begins building his corn-pone empire based on the Bible, positive thinking, and healthy sex. A radio show and a clinic back in Texas allow Luther to build his tumbleweed Xanadu, all the time dreaming of his Daisy named Alyce. With Billy's tragic fall from studio grace and numerous business problems, Luther begins to see his world crumble. It's a classic tragedy of hubris, even though Luther seems to be headed off for new adventures at the end. An imaginative lark in the Doctorow vein (without the didacticism): rough-and-tumble fiction that exults in its inventiveness and seems written with an eye toward the big screen. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 378 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co (P) (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805043012
• ISBN-13: 978-0805043013
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,581,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars This guy can write!, November 28, 2004

By 

Diane Alexander - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Very Air: A Novel (Paperback)

One of the best books I've ever read, and I've read billions. The prose just sings. I was here buying his other two novels and happened to see that the average customer review for "Air" was only two stars. Well, don't listen to them! This writer has an exquisite gift with words that is rarer than hen's teeth (I obviously don't have the gift, but like Solieri, I sure recognize it when I see it.) Buy this book!

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice Try, March 31, 2000

By 

James Hercules Sutton (Des Moines, IA (USA)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Very Air: A Novel (Paperback)

Good premise; snake oil salesmen are fun. But writing shows inexperience, and asides from author to reader are gauche and jejune. Ending seems unmotivated: why return to a radio station in flames? Fictionalizing of historical fact is well done, but invention would have been better. Female lead character is precious. Oddly, characters are most believable when bizarre, as if author finds it difficult to deal with what's normal. Worth reading author's next novel; this one a transition piece, because labored and flawed.