A Change of Gravity

George V. Higgins has done it -- captured the life and mores of middle-level politicos in an enthralling, hard-to-put-down book. This _is_ real life writ large ... no plot to speak of, but riveting neverthless. If art holds a mirror up to life, Change of Gravity is polished, silver-backed glass without a flaw..

The dialog in George Higgins' "A Change of Gravity" is the intoxicating element that pulls you through the every day happenings of Ambrose Merrion. The nuances of class were right on. The thought processes of his car dealing father and Danny Hilliard, explaining the structure of power, are truly insightful. Getting past the seemingly trite opening (black, female judge with a basketball playing parent) was the hard part. Higgins' ability to portray the language patterns here, as he did in "Friends of Eddie Coyle", is obscenely lyrical, the beauty of the book. These are real guys talking, exposing the underbelly structure of power. They courted it, they dominated it, it layed them down. They played the game so very well and they were destined to lose. I was enthralled, and took notes. Thank you, Amby and Danny.

Beyond the characters, who are even more irresistible than we have come to expect from Higgins, he captures a place, class, times, and moral ambiguities among shifting standards. The dialog is, of course, superb; and, in this book, carries all the burden which Higgins places on it. This is a wonderful novel by any measure.