Closing Arguments

This was a totally engrossing book. The chapters were short but the effect was long-lasting. Nowhere have I read a more brutal/brilliant account of the American male psyche. This book will leave you thinking about bigger issues long after you've put the book down. (Can you tell that I kind of liked this books?)

This is a powerfully written book, centered around a murder trial, but also driven by the personal disintegration of a defense lawyer, Mark Brennan. A former Vietnam Vet, he flashes back continuously to war experiences. A married father of two deeply troubled children, Mark's wife Rochelle tries to pull their crumbling twenty year marriage together by building a Vietnam War Memorial in their town. The whole family has so much difficulty comunicating to eachother, that their encounters seem almost mute. Mark, in a desperate attempt to define himself, takes on the case of a woman charged with murder during "rough sex". Perhaps inevitably, he becomes involved with this woman sexually. In an effort to understand the nature of the murder, exploring the consequences when people play with limits, he becomes emeshed with her story, blending in his own childhood abuse. The story finally becomes a lonely man's explanation to his wife of his tattered emotional life. This book is not easy to read, but the protagonist flays himself before the reader, making no apologies, expecting no forgiveness.

I have just recently become a fan of Frederick Busch. This book was very disturbing and not easily forgotten. It hung on with me for several days. Mr. Busch is not a writer to take lightly. He has a unique understanding of human behavior. His writing style is clean, like the cut of a knife. This is not a comfortable book. You are left with no warm fuzzy feelings. So if you want a neat, satisfactory ending, you won't get it. But if, on the other hand, your willing to experience the miasma of the dark side, then this is for you.