| The Book that Gets It All Just Right |
May 17, 2010
The stories in Matt Debenham's debut collection, The Book of Right and Wrong, are quietly and beautifully brilliant. Debenham presents luminescent briefings of specific turning points in lives. Both the lives and the turning points are so real and so engaging that my own life felt transformed -- illuminated -- by the changes wrought in the lives of the characters. The changes occur in turn-on-a-dime moments when a startling realization is made -- the message left behind on a blue piece of note paper, the reason for an invite to a party, the tugging down of a pair of jeans -- and a new path is followed, leading to a conclusion of the story that is both surprising and completely believable, whether it be revenge, reversal, or acceptance.
Debenham is fluid and fluent with details of dialogue, internal thoughts and observations, and background; he creates fiction that reads like the most honest and searing of memoirs. What makes his writing -- and his stories -- so good is how each memoir-esque tale is told from a different point of view: child, man, woman; recovering alcoholic, ex-con, bullied victim. Each voice is authentic, unique, and compelling; each character is exposed and communicative, telling a story that is both personal and universal. I cared about every character created by Debenhan; I wanted to protect them and spare their hearts another blow. Through Debenham's writing, I gradually came to understand just how many blows a human heart can take.
There are a series of stories about the LaPine family in The Book of Right and Wrong. Their incomplete and riveting history left me hoping for a novel-length exploration of this foursome, the philandering father, suffering mother, rebellious daughter, and geek son. In the final story, Kate the Destroyer, the mother finally takes steps to protect her son: "Kate has always known she'd kill for her children, but how often we overlook maiming." Overlooked no more: I rooted for Kate all the way, even as I felt the pain of the maimed bully. The bully himself is a recurring character in the LaPine stories and has his own background of dual personas, abusive father, hidden desires, and the too-heavy weight of expectations imposed upon him by looks and abilities. As mean as this bully can be, in Debenham's stories the bad guys always have a history well-worth understanding and the good guys have reserves of badness that are just waiting to break out (witness the maiming).
The stories in The Book of Right and Wrong are all right, without one wrong note or jarring action or unsatisfying conclusion. The stories are absolute gems of truth about the fragility and the resilience of the human heart, in all its ages and incarnations.
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