The Oxygen Man

Once I started reading this book I had a hard time putting it down. The plot is somewhat typical of backwater Mississippi characters ("white trash" trying to figure life out....usually getting caught up in violence and circumstance as they work it all out) - the saving grace, however, is yarbrough's skill with the written word. Something about the way he writes makes you feel as if you are in each scene - this facet is hard to come by in books which at first look like sheets of paper, bound between two thicker sheets of paper. What they really are, however, are stories harboring struggle after struggle but always maintaining a strand of hope that the tortured protagonist(s) will find a way to make their lives easier. If you are looking for a good end of summer read, this is one of the best. It is quick but is not fluff - you are definitely left thinking and trying to figure out when it was Ned started living as a "yes man" and why Daisy had such a hard time forgiving her brother.

The Oxygen Man is quite simply a wonderful novel. The writing is clear, vibrant, and imbued with the emotions of the story -- it carries the story like music carries lyrics. The characters are real, empathetic (even the worst of them), fallable and adeptly rendered. And it reminds us that the struggles of being Southern (and human) are more complex than we think, that it is hard to escape the life you were born into, and even harder to escape the life you've lived, but the struggle is wortwhile, and that a world seeming to lack light or love and contain only danger, can really have those things. A book anyone who cares about fiction should read.

Steve Yarbrough was my writing teacher at Virginia Tech. This novel is a perfect example of his writing style: clear, concise and vivid. It reminds one of Faulkner, where the little people have dramas and character strengths and flaws. It is actually more like a novella, or a short story, of which the author is a master.

Steve Yarbrough has written a book with a wonderful sense of place and time. The characters live and breathe, and the dialogue rings true to the core. As seamlessly as the narrative flows, there are some remarkable eddys and bywaters that greatly enrich the book and demonstrate the author's deft hand. This one is a stunner.

What a wonderful surprise this book was! Something about the characters and their intricate yet unfulfilling lives is so compelling. I cared about Daze and Ned, but was never quite sure as to what was driving them. Yet Yarbrough's story is so well woven, things come together in a startling, yet perfectly plausible fashion toward the end. And what an ending! Very round, completely developed characters, expertly crafted. The sense of setting is also superb, with central Mississippi becoming a character in itself. I am excited to have come across this novel, and am sad that it's over.