A Miracle of Catfish: A Novel in Progress

I am not a particularly polished reviewer, so I'll make this short. Larry Brown's final book, even unfinished, is a stunning work of fiction. This is the rare book that will have your heart breaking for a child who loves his daddy when the man is unlovable, have you worrying about the welfare of a giant catfish AND give you some insight into Tourrette's syndrome. That doesn't even tell you about the beautiful, perfect writing that will have you seeing, feeling, hearing and even smelling the land that his characters, his beautifully drawn and tangible characters, live in. I never met he man, and I didn't even read him until he passed, but I miss Larry Brown tremendously. When you finish this book, you will, too.

I was devastated when I heard that Larry Brown had passed away. What a loss to his friends and family, and what a loss to his fans. This man could spin a tale, write a story, take you away, pull you in. Such a loss - God bless him! I have read EVERY book that Mr. Brown ever wrote -- FAY, JOE, FATHER AND SON, etc. When I saw A MIRACLE OF CATFISH on the new book shelf at my library, I almost fell over! Knowing Mr. Brown has passed, I was shocked and happy to see this book there -- all 454 pages of it. Let me tell you, at first I didn't think I was going to be able to get into this book. Which I found very puzzling! So, I sat down and really READ and by page five I was HOOKED!! I will think of this book for years to come!!! It is just THAT GOOD. The characters in this book are sooo life-like and believeable. There are not many people in this novel, but you don't need many. Each chapter revolves around one character and their life; however, they are all inter-twined and make the book was it is ~~ EXCELLENT. The main characters are Cortez Sharp, who farms and raises cattle. His wife is ill and his grown child lives in Atlanta. He is older and very lonely. He decides to build a pond and stock it with catfish. When the author describes the tomato sandwiches Cortez makes, yum, hook me up with one! Another main character is Jimmy, a young boy who lives with his white trash family down the road from Cortez. He is a lonely little guy whose step-sisters treat him like crap. His mom, Johnette {gotta love the names!}, works, eats, and sleeps (around!!) and doesn't pay her children too much attention. Hence, Jimmy is looking for attention, affection, interest, and love. He wanders down by the new pond only to get kicked off the property by Cortez Sharp, which is how these two main characters meet. My favorite main character was Jimmy's dad who is only referred to as Jimmy's daddy. Such a loser! Such a womanizer! Such a sorry excuse for a father! Always thinking of himself, always looking out for himself. Loves his old '55 car more than his family. But all of these bad traits make him the great character he is. You have to give Jimmy's daddy credit -- he does try, he does love his family; however, if something bad is going to happen it happens to Jimmy's daddy. He never quite makes things work right for himself or his family. Cortez Sharp decides to have a pond dug and filled with catfish. He doesn't know how having this pond will affect not only him, but Jimmy down the road. The book takes us on a journey that involves all of the above mentioned characters and simply their lives -- at work, school, their friends, family, their affairs, and the deep dark secret that Cortez Sharp lives with daily. Sound boring? It is NOT. I found I could not turn the pages fast enough. The way the story is told and how life in the South is related just takes you right to the banks of that pond with a fishing pole in hand and trouble

Larry taught himself how to write and his stories improved exponentially to the end. If you are a fan, look for Larry Brown in the Blue Moon Cafe line; one of them has a strange, but awesome short-story in it. As I neared the last few pages of the book I was anxious as to what point it might end, or if it would end before he passed away. I wasn't sure. Undeniable sadness filled me too, because Miracle was his best, and I knew it was his last. While he didn't finish the book with in a cathartic end, his heart, I suppose, was driving it towards something good. Likely Jimmy's daddy would "get his" and Jimmy would end up happy. Who knows, but it is how it was flavored. But it ended. The chapter just ended and his notes wrapped it up-- questions remained over things from Jimmy's daddy, to Queen and Ursula. But all in all, the end cut short is in a way a fitting epitaph for a great writer's life cut short like Willie Morris. No doubt the two are now side by side at the great catfish pond in the sky. Lord knows how many times we might have brushed shoulders at The Beacon, or Smitty's, or Sneeds...God, I wish I'd actually known him during my years in Oxford.

Larry Brown's a Miracle of Catfish is nothing short of amazing. I was a little dissapointed by Rabbit Factory, and more so when I thought it would be the last thing I ever read from one of the most talented wrtiters I have ever read. I was nervous and excited when the book finally showed up, wondering if it would be as good as I hoped. It was actually better than I expected. The book switches between points of view of many of the characters at each chapter break, providing different perspectives on the events that connect the characters lives. It is hard not to feel compassion for all the characters, even Jimmy's daddy, who, by all accounts, is a total scumbag. The only dissapointment was not being able to read the ending. The book is close enough to the end that one can guess how it would turn out, but after so many emotional ups and downs, some sort of catharsis would have been great. I am sure Mr. Brown would have given us that if he hadn't been taken away while he should have been typing out the last few pages and going down to sit by his catfish pond and think about the latest book he created.

I've been a Brown fan since the first novel. I was distraught to hear of his passing and when I heard that there would be a new book, I was at the door of my local Books-a-million on the morning it came out. "A Miracle of Catfish" is a nostalgic look at the life we live here in the south, and the Southern Drawl just oozes from the pages as you read. You can smell the cigarette smoke, taste the beer and feel the heat of the humid south. There has never been a greater spinner of southern yarns in my opinion. The loss of this writer is a blow to southern literature for sure. Anyhow, I would highly recommend this book to anyone. PS. Billy Ray, if you see this, Do you remember me from Kroger in '93? I stocked milk and dairy. Greg Smith Senatobia, MS