Art in America: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Ron McLarty (Author)
Key Phrases: box canyon, county jeep, Mountain Man, Miss Kirk, Cowboy Bob (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Ambitious and consistently charming, this overstuffed third novel by the author of The Memory of Running is brimming with gems of richly observed smalltown life. In Creedemore, Colo., a land-rights dispute pitches locals against one another and attracts national media attention. Into the fray arrives Steven Kearney, a prolific New York author of unpublished novels, poems and plays, who has been invited by the Creedemore Historical Society to write and direct a play dramatizing the town's history. Steven's relocation sparks a colorful fish-out-of-water story populated with cowboys, environmental activists, hordes of reporters, performance artists, ecoterrorists and bona fide outlaws. Keeping the peace is sheriff Petey Myers, whose recollections of (and occasional conversations with) his slain partner provide some of the novel's finest moments. Sparkling, at times hilarious dialogue keeps many—perhaps too many—subplots moving. The depth of characters like Steven and Petey is contrasted by some of the minor characters, who can come off as stereotypes. Still, readers will root for the residents of Creedemore as they alternately divide over a trial and come together to stage the new play. (July)
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* This is the third novel (following The Memory of Running, 2005, and Traveler, 2006) by veteran character actor McLarty, and the third time’s the charm. Unpublished author Steven Kearney loses his apartment and his girlfriend all in one dreadful week. So when he is offered a paying position to write a historical play for the town of Creedmore, Colo., it seems as though his luck is about to change. But he arrives just as a bitter land dispute breaks out, pitting old-time rancher Ticky Lettgo against newcomer Red Fields. Kearney, urged on by the leader of the local historical society, who believes that art will heal the town, wrestles mightily with his own insecurities about his talent to produce his masterwork. McLarty works the whole spectrum here, from the hilarious banter of old cowpokes to the halting romance between the playwright and a mural artist to the incredibly moving moments when the town sheriff, still grieving the death of his old partner, invokes the late cop’s street wisdom. A bighearted, wildly entertaining novel from a writer who just gets better with every outing. --Joanne Wilkinson

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (July 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670018953
• ISBN-13: 978-0670018956
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #669,959 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Its easy for readers to get caught up in Art In America, September 11, 2008

By	Bookreporter.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

Steven Kearney is a plump, forty-something part-time playwright who, despite having written pages and pages of material, has yet to have anything produced or published. After his girlfriend dumps him for another man, and taking construction jobs to make ends meet, he moves in with his best friend, Roarke, a lesbian theater director desperate for inspiration just like he is. Seemingly out of nowhere comes an offer to be the playwright-in-residence in the small town of Creedemore, Colorado. With this honor comes the responsibility of writing a play to memorialize the town and its history. Kearney quickly accepts the position, thinking that this could be the job that gets those creative juices flowing. Colorado, here he comes!

Kearney lands in Creedemore, right in the center of a bitter land dispute that has locals pitted against one another. In an effort to take advantage of the breathtaking natural bounty around him, Mountain Man Red Fields has cleverly started his own whitewater rafting business. But old Ticky Lettgo has taken issue with the rafts floating through his land, although Mountain Man contends that no one owns the water. Ticky decides to make his point the best way he knows how --- with his shotgun --- and gets a little too close for the tourists' comfort, not to mention safety.

Amiable Sheriff Petey Meyers, a transplant from the Boston Police Department, is brought in to handle matters. Meyers is trying to adapt to life in Colorado but just can't seem to put his Beantown days behind him. His constant referrals (and sometimes flat-out conversations) to his slain partner lay bare just how his heart is not really in this job. He arrests Ticky, which kicks off a firestorm of media with everyone taking a very vocal side. Soon it doesn't seem to be about a dispute over land, but more a clash of the old chaffing against the new. After his arrest and his subsequent trial, Tick's ninety-something wife, Minnie, stops speaking and takes to her bed, with only the medal of her deceased Marine son to comfort her.

Meanwhile, Kearney is struggling to get a handle on the job at hand. How can you commemorate a town when it's not your own? Luckily, he meets muralist Mollie Dowse, who has been commissioned to paint a mural for the town celebration. Mollie, with her quick wit and survivor instinct (she's bravely going through a strong course of chemotherapy after suffering from breast cancer), quickly becomes Kearney's muse, and the two set out to inspire each other.

Ron McLarty has been known as a very prolific character actor for years. He first came to people's attention as a gifted novelist with his debut, THE MEMORY OF RUNNING. In this, his third outing, McLarty has all the requisite charm and colorful characters, but at times, the sheer number of individuals and situations seems to take away from the main narrative. Although it lacks the clear vision of his two earlier novels, ART IN AMERICA does display McLarty's talent as an author, which manages to shine clearly through the haze, as readers get caught up in the story unfolding before them.

--- Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Art In America: A Novel is a joyful, wild, and extremely funny, September 9, 2008

By	Alistair Hunter - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I stumbled upon this novel first by being attracted by the title, then by being attracted by an author who was a veteran character actor with a background in theatre, and finally by thumbing through the beginning and seeing the hilarious list of the selected unpublished and unproduced (and overwritten) novels, poems, and plays of the novel's writer hero Steven Kearney. I simply could not put this hilarious book with all the zany characters and plots down. It is fun to laugh out loud. The novel itself could have been an early Sam Shepard play done Off Off Broadway in a basement of church on skid row with an audience of nine including friends and relatives. As crazy as each of the characters are sketched, and as looney as each of the plot twists are, I came to love each and everyone of them. There is a remarkable sense of poignancy here too. And it has moments where it is downright touching. If you an theatre artist in America and have a case of the blues, this just may pull you out of it. If anyone has access to Ron McLarty, tell him we want a sequel.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A delicious feast of fun!, September 25, 2008

By	Jeremy J. Soldevilla "Montana Yankee" (Bozeman, MT) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Art in America: A Novel
McLarty is a marvelous writer. I fell in love with Memory of Running and then happily devoured his next book, Traveler. Two great and compelling stories wonderfully crafted and in a genre/class of their own. Couldn't wait to read Art in America expecting more of the same as apparently did the other reviewers here. But this latest book is nothing like the first two which was a dissapointment for some. I, on the other hand, love this new adventure McLarty takes us on. Whereas his first two books were like fine dining with an orderly first course, second course and so on, Art in America is like a fantastic all-you-can-eat buffet with plenty of rich and hearty characters and sub-plots to feast on from crusty old rancher, Ticky Lettgo holding on to the traditions of the Old West and Steven Kearney, the stimied, prolific author of scores of never-to-be-published works who leaves the demoralizing crush of New York City to hopefully re-arouse his muse way out West in the tiny Colorado town of Creedemore to the transplanted former Boston cop turned western sheriff, Petey Myers, and the dangerous and sinister environmental terrorists he must confront. There is a lot to chew on in this book. It is laugh out loud funny, touching, suspenseful, and poignant. It was not what I expected, but it ended up being a delicious stew that I enjoyed every minute of. So what if it isn't the same as his first two books?! A great storyteller like McLarty should be allowed to serve us up whatever he concocts. I, for one, am hungry and ready for whatever his next menu item shall be.