Hunts in Dreams

Really, an excellent example of why books will not die. This book has it all -- the kind of book that becomes part of your life -- you keep thinking about the characters after you've read it, to the point you're wondering about your sanity, what with having to remind yourself you don't really know these people, since they are, ahem, actually fictional. Read this one and I will also pass on to you a word about another slim and eminently readable novel about contemporary America: "Love Songs of the Tone-Deaf" by Asher Brauner. A wonderful slice of American life.

What a piece of art this book is! The writing is so elegant it takes your breath away. I immediately had to seek out what else he'd written,and then read The End of Vandalism ... which begins the story of the people in this novel. The difference between the lulling, multi-layered, dense first novel and this seems to be that the book was cut down to its core, or to Hemingway's iceberg above the water level. What a tour de force. I have never read a book before that I wanted to immediately reread just to have it wash over me again. Thank you Mr. Drury and please keep writing. But take your time. Speed kills (talent).

Since End of Vandalism, I've believed that Tom Drury was one of our best (and most under-appreciated) writers. Hunts in Dreams is a worthy follow-up and a fine, fine book in its own right, displaying all of Drury's singular gifts: his deceptively rich prose, his uncommon knack for dialogue, his sophisticated and evocative layering of metaphor, his meloncholy and ironic sense of humor, his genuine (but completely unsentimental) warmth of feeling for his characters. Reading Hunts In Dreams is like walking through a museum of perfect moments.

Tom Drury is one of those gifted writers who deserves wider attention than he has. After the publication of his first novel, The End of Vandalism, Granta chose Drury as one of America's best young novelists. With Hunts in Dreams, he makes good on that promise. Drury is a master of dialogue who can show the emotional distance between husband and wife in just one exchange. His style in this book is deceptively simple, often masking layers of symbolism. His characters are quirky midwesterners who spend a weekend searching for meaning in a largely indifferent universe. One of them stops at nothing to retrieve an antique gun once owned by his stepfather. A seven-year-old boy wanders the town at night surprising himself with his adult thoughts while wielding his secret six-shooter pistol. These characters often try to root themselves in the present by identifying with their pasts -- and they don't always succeed. Drury is at his best -- and funniest -- in the details. Drury names a bomb lover's dog after an explosive chemical. " 'Here, Cordite,' " he would call, with darkness settling over the suburb where they lived. 'Come home, Cordite.' "For any readers who love true fiction, this is the book for you. Drury uses his imagination, and he has an uncommon ability to see meaningful, interesting details in that imagined world. Such details make Hunts in Dreams memorable even after you close the covers and place the book on the shelf.

This small, but dense book delivers more of what I enjoy about Mr. Drury's writing: Smart, precise, but easy sentences; dead-on dialogue filled respectfully with the incidental, accidental humor of people trying to get it right; a narrative style that seldom lingers or overexplains; and a gift for expressing the fragililty of our connections to ourselves and others. A brave and honest outing for a this gifted artist.