The Smallest Color

The title comes from a Delmore Swartz poem that says it all in the quotation from the book's proem: "What am I now that I was then?/ May memory restore again and again/ The smallest color of the smallest day." The memory of a middle-aged man brings back the admiration and the emulation he had for his delinquent older brother, whose opposition to the Vietnam War and the social conventions of that period brought about his strange death. An engrossing mystery surrounds this death through the intricate juxtaposition of that memory and the current life of the narrator-brother in the 1990s. The novel is an exciting page-turner that takes us into the family, the marriage, and love life of the surviving brother. Roorbach has used all his artful prose to produce a novel with the same appeal as his book of stories: BIG BEND. He has selected the powerful relationship between brothers and the curious twists of memory as vehicles to produce n intriguing first novel.

Bill Roorbach's first novel is a thrilling and tender tale that moves swiftly and with stunning clarity between the past and the present in order to conjure the life of Coop Henry and slowly unravel the role he played in the death of his radical, violent, charismatic older brother. What I love most about this novel (and about all of Bill Roorbach's work in fiction and creative nonfiction) is the passion of his narrative. His people are brimming with delight even in the midst of their suffering. They are joyful companions for the reader because they see and embrace the natural world, their lovers, their own exquisite and haunted memories. Coop Henry awakens us with his desire to speak the truth. For decades, he has lived a lie, pretending his brother Hodge is still alive, living underground or in another country. As long as Coop is trapped in an unloving marriage, as long as he allows himself to be estranged from his mother and father, as long as he denies the full force of the fear and rage and love he felt for his brother Hodge, he can sustain the illusion. But a new love shatters him, returns him to the memories of his first love, the tall cowgirl who seduced and betrayed and transformed him. Remembering her means remembering Hodge as he truly was. Finally, the novel becomes a letter to Hodge--a rant, a confession, a plea for understanding and forgiveness, a confrontation, a communion. This is holy work, the work of love that is large enough to include grief and guilt and anger. Bill Roorbach offers us a rare vision, a glimpse of the violence we all endured and prepetrated during the Vietnam years--and he shows us the path we must walk if we ever wish to transcend the damage we have done to ourselves and others. Coop Henry is a man who insists on the possibility of love, who would rather risk being destroyed by the truth than face being smothered in silence. THE SMALLEST COLOR sings! The language is lyrical and surprising, the voices crisp and mesmerizing. I loved spending time with Coop Henry, and his intimate letter to Hodge seemed like a letter to me. We were that close, and his story became absolutely necessary.

Did I like the book? You bet! I stayed up until 2:30 a.m. because I absolutely couldn't put this page-turner down. And in the following days when I kept thinking about the characters and grew depressed because I had no more Coop Henry adventures to follow, I realized what a magnificent spell Roorbach managed to cast.The book grabs the reader by the throat in the first chapter and just plain and simple doesn't let go until the last page. The mystery surrounding Coop's older brother Hodge in 1969 is equally as gripping as the simultaneous tale of Coop's middle-age life disintegrating.As a former Flower Child, I really appreciate the skill and detail Roorbach employs to describe that incredible, unforgettable period in our history. As a writer, I'm truly amazed that there is not one wasted word or false note in the entire book. In short, this book wowed me bigtime. I predict Roorbach fans will grow by legions.

The title comes from a Delmore Swartz poem that says it all in the quotation from the book's proem: "What am I now that I was then?/ May memory restore again and again/ The smallest color of the smallest day." The memory of a middle-aged man brings back the admiration and the emulation he had for his delinquent older brother, whose opposition to the Vietnam War and the social conventions of that period brought about his strange death. An engrossing mystery surrounds this death through the intricate juxtaposition of that memory and the current life of the narrator/brother in the 1990s. The novel is an exciting page-turner that takes us into the family, the marriage, and the love life of the surviving kid brother. Roorbach has used all of his artful prose to produce a novel with the same appeal as his book of stories: BIG BEND. He has selected the powerful relationship between brothers and the curious twists of memory as vehicles to produce an intriguing first novel.