Snow Man

Great writer! I didn't want to put it down. Book came in good condition.Very pleased.

I read Carolyn Chute's first novel, "The Beans of Egypt, Maine" in 1985. It introduced me to a world of the working poor in a rural area of Maine and I remember how it opened my eyes to their poverty. In "Snow Man", Ms. Chute's fourth novel, some of this territory is familiar. But unlike her other book, this is not a big rambling family saga. Instead, it is a tightly drawn and fast paced story of an urban terrorist, Robert Drummond, a member of a militia, who publicly murders a senator in Boston. Wounded, he flees to the home of another senator who is off in Washington, and therefore away from his home at the time. Here, this second senator's wife and daughter nurse the fugitive back to health and hide him from the authorities.Ms. Chute's prose is tense and clear although she has a tendency to use words like "orangey" a little too often. She's particularly good at describing wounds and Robert Drummond's painful shoulder wound is a throbbing reminder of his discomfort. But the rest of his hiding-out time certainly is pleasant and there's seduction at play here too, and not just on a physical level. He's portrayed as a strong and sympathetic character and we hear his philosophy of life over and over again. It's shown in bitter contrast to the life of the two upper class women taking care of him. For example, when he tells them his wife had to go out and get a job, the senator's daughter, who just happens to be a professor of women's studies, makes a comment about the need for women to pursue careers and get out of the house. Then she asks what kind of job his wife got. Robert's answer is simple - "McDonalds". There are constant references like that illustrating yuppie naivety about what it means to be poor in America.I read this novel quickly as the story moved along well, but I just couldn't get into the characters. It seemed unlikely that the two women would become so enamored with this man even though he comes across as attractive and macho. All the people are stereotypes, created by Ms. Chute to forward her own political philosophy. In a way this is refreshing because it is a philosophy not often seen in mainstream fiction. But I never really understood why Robert Drummond's frustration with his poverty and anger about corporate greed would make him want to take the life of another human being. I wonder though, if I, too, am just being naïve.Those who might want a glimpse into the thought processes of a militiaman might find this book interesting. However, it is only a glimpse and doesn't go deep enough. And the story, while well crafted, is basically superficial.

This is the best thing Chute has ever written. So why did it turn her into an unperson among the literary elite? Ostensibly because her hero is a right-wing militiaman who assassinates a US Senator. But the assassination is shown to be a rather horrid affair: no glorification there. And this right-winger's heroes are all Latin American left wing guerillas. And aside from a bitterness toward the rich and powerful, the hero does not express his views with any degree of coherence, so this is not right wing propaganda. To find out why this book has caused Ms. Chute to be dropped from the A list, you have to go back to Tom Wolfe's Radical Chic. Underlying the limousine liberal's love affair with the Black Panthers was a certain sense of superiority and contempt for the blacks they pretended to listen to. It was the same reason why Ms. Chute was lionized for her earlier books about the Maine equivalent of Tobacco Road: she was the tour guide who would give them a nice, safe viewing of an inferior culture, rather like the way the aristocracy visited lunatic asylums in the 18th century.Now Ms. Chute has slipped her traces. The tour guide has joined the toothless outsiders and set fire to the bus. Her hero may be a killer who deserves his fate, but he has manners, grace, authenticity and character. The liberal matron and her consciousness-raised daughter fall into his bed because he has qualities they haven't seen before, certainly not in the worthless men of what passes for an elite in this country these days. And that is what causes the revolt of the book reviewers. Yes many of her characters are empty vessels, plastic men with plastic women. But that is entirely Ms. Chute's point.

Carolyn Chute is a true literary master. Her previous novels have consistantly upheld her in the forefront of American writers today. The Kirkus review you just read was probably written by a frustrated novelist who wishes he could write with half of the depth that Chute does. His review is rife with spelling and grammatical errors, and he probably needs to get laid.