Hair/Harold Roux

The Hair of Harold Roux is a lost classic. I had to recall it from the Library Annex. The last time my copy was in reading hands was 1983. William's novel explores both misspent youth and middle age in this novel about a novelist which could have easily descended into the uninteresting or banal. But Williams pulls it off, partly through the vibrant portraits of the virginal Mary and the randy Naomi, in the novel-within-a-novel. Here, ugly characterizations of women and minorities may be one reason for the relative obscurity of this work. But there is no authorial commitment to these views: it is a work of fantasy within a work of fantasy and safe from endorsement. All in all, the novel illustrates how time can reduce men and women as mirrors reflecting their memories.

Thomas Williams has written a brilliant book that everyone should read--The Hair of Harold Roux. It is probably the finest of all Williams' novels. Written as a novel-within-a-novel, both stores involve the reader. It's one of my favorite books.