Take Me Where the Good Times Are

Cormier is a wonderful author, and this novel is no exception. His artful prose makes reading a delight. The characters are engaging, meaningful, and believable. As always, Cormier delights.

Robert Cormier is not known to sugarcoat his stories, and "Take Me Where the Good Times Are" is no exception. As a writer, Cormier's main strength is creating realistic and flawed heroes who are not always above the fear and temptations of daily life. In short, his characters are like you and me, and if they're lucky, they'll do the right thing. However, if Cormier's characters do make some tragic mistakes, they'll learn from it.Tommy Bartin, the protagonist from "Take Me Where the Good Times Are," is a 70-year-old resident at the local Dorchester County, MA poor house who was brought in because he could no longer live or work on his own. For the past three years, Tommy has been bragging to the other residents about how he'll return to town, get his job and apartment back, and in short start life anew. When another resident leaves Tommy some cash, he sees his opportunity to go back to the life he left behind. Like the typical Cormier hereo, Tommy lives in a world of self-delusion and when confronted with the truth, he tries to hide from it. Tommy finds that his town has changed, his beloved factory closed down, and his friends fearful of this embarrassing ghost from the past. Tommy drifts from bar to bar, hoping to find a way to be useful again, and to regain his self-respect. Although Tommy is in denial, he's not stupid or insensitive. Most of his plans end in heartbreak and tragedy as he learns to accept he's not the man he used to be and, more importantly, that maybe the man he used to be wasn't that wonderful to begin with. However, eventually, he will learn to balance his hopes with the harsh reality of the world, like we all have to. Perhaps he will succeed; after all how can anyone live in such an ugly world without at least a little denial? As always, Cormier has delivered a story that features flawed but sympathetic people involved in a simple but engaging plot. Highly recommended.