The End of Vandalism

This was a wonderful book to read. At first it was awfully funny--the high school dance-- so like many in small town America. But then I was really caught up when Louise and Dan's baby died. I had a student who recently had the very same thing happen. She had to deliver a perfectly formed, but no longer living, baby girl. I really felt the dexcription of Louise and her actions and Dan's actions following the tragedy were very poignant.

My enthhusiasm for this novel sent me out searching a database of newspaper comments about it. A reader in Florida complained that the novel was too pointless to be any good. I am a notorious for reading a good book several times, and this novel is no exception. The deadpan humor fills me with glee whenever I pick it up. But there is more than just deadpan humor happening here. Like its literary ancestor, "Winesurg, Ohio," the running theme is the inadequacy of human communication in the face of petty meanness, true tragedy, and profound love. Before Louise marries Dan, she writes three times on a piece of paper, "Show me love." And then she hands it to him. Her need to communicate with Dan transcends even her sleep: She sleepwalks into his insomniacal nights and interrupts his excuses for avoiding their bed. I've determined that the Florida reader who was disappointed with this novel is probably a chatty type, probably also suburban. The characters in The End of Vandalism are taciturn and rural, from a place "where family farming ended and no compelling idea showed any interest in taking its place." There is a wonderful economy of language in places like Grouse County and in this novel, but the dialogue and narrative are as loaded as an opening-day shotgun. So, there is a point, Mr. Florida. You just didn't get it. Boy, I feel better.

Sure, this book is about Middle America, and there are no exciting lifestyles, just people dealing with mundane every-day occurrences. So what's so boring about that? I find human nature endlessly fascinating, and Tom Drury does a wonderful job depicting it. Whether the problem is fixing your tractor or fixing your marriage, he makes it interesting. The characters are well-defined and real. Give me this before any hot and trendy novel with 'exciting' characters.

I first discovered this book as short stories in "The New Yorker" a few years back, and would madly search through the Table of Contents each time a new New Yorker arrived in the hopes that there would be more on Dan and Louise and all the rest. I was able to track down the book later and got to read it all; from beginning to "end". Since that first time I have re-read the book at least 5 times and still laugh and cry. (Maybe for some of you that means nothing, but I am not a "book person" and this (for me) really means something.) I especially enjoy Mr. Drury's "ear" for the vernacular and I really enjoy the true-to-life characters and situations. (In this book there is no murder! Can you believe it?) A wonderful book. Thank you Mr Drury.

This story meanders through the lives of its characters and is full of hilarious dialogue with the ring of truth. The fantastic and remarkable is embedded in the most commonplace episodes. All of the characters are vibrant and poignant in their own way. This book was an unexpected pleasure: both touching and laugh-out-loud funny.