Review by Shirazi Cat -- A Good Boy by Anthony Andre

[Shirazi Cat]

[Following is a volunteer review of "A Good Boy" by Anthony Andre.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Reverend Wesley Aames is a newcomer to Asheville, North Carolina, where he is to serve as minister of the New Covenant Church. At 42, he is a smartphone-toting, social media savvy, (relatively) young man, who quickly determines “to pull” his materially and spiritually ailing church “into the twenty-first century – kicking and screaming if necessary.” (p. 81) He drinks (though we never see him taking anything stronger than beer), cusses, and is not above wistfully noticing “the coeds wearing indecently short shorts” (p. 65) at the local University of North Carolina branch where, as if everything else was not enough, he is to teach a course on Islam. And did I mention that he is openly, as the phrase goes, gay-friendly? Anyone as clueless about the current state of America’s clergy as myself may well find themselves wondering whether all this detail is meant to paint Aames as a somewhat offbeat minister or, on the contrary, to register a change in what is considered typical of today’s preachers – until, that is, the image engendered by such basically harmless traits is shown to catch up with him in a fairly dramatic fashion.

Lest the Reverend is mistaken for some kind of leftist radical, one should note that he remains, for all that, a good patriot and an opponent of gun control, being himself the proud owner of a firearm. In any case, the question the novel basically poses is what happens when a good, open-minded, liberal like Aames is put in charge of a provincial church whose congregation and board of trustees is mostly composed of more conservatively inclined individuals. Add to the mix the media-accelerated goings-on surrounding a teenage suicide and the suicide’s widely despised mother, whom Aames refuses, nobly though reluctantly, to further marginalize, and one gets a fair idea of this novel’s plot dynamics.

Starting with the “In Memorium” note on page two, there are some misspellings in the text. To give another example, Michael Jordan is, for some reason, spelled “Jordon.” (p. 138) There are also several grammatical slips and, in particular, various instances of questionable use of punctuation – notably, a tendency to use a semicolon where a simple comma (if anything at all) is called for: “Passing the room where Cameron slept; regret and guilt momentarily pushed Scott Cossu aside and made Wesley nauseous.” (p. 243) Also, there is an awful lot of chuckling, laughing, and (most inexplicably of all) winking going on in this book. With regard to laughter, in particular, there are whole sections where hardly two or three pages go by without a “he/she/they laughed” description. I will grant that there are some good lines in the novel, but nothing to justify this constant mirth. A comment on the structure is also in order. The cinematic technique, whereby the numerous vignettes composing each chapter swiftly succeed each other, creates a fast-paced rhythm. In combination with the book’s soundtrack, though, which the author provides by frequently informing us of what is on the playlist of, for example, the protagonist’s cell phone, it is, in the end, a little too reminiscent of television – for my own taste at any rate. There are, finally, certain narrative threads that are left dangling. Characters like Casey Reynolds and Jennifer Brown make an appearance in a scene or two and then drop out of sight.

On the other hand, one can hardly ignore the novel’s many strengths, starting with its admirable compactness. A good deal of action and development is packed in its temporal framework of a mere month. In addition, the novel is well-written and flows effortlessly. The descriptions are vivid, and so are the characters who are bound (I should think) to remain with one for a while. By dint of such virtues, the microcosm of Asheville is brought to life with precision and clarity. Moreover, the author manages to offer, through his outspoken protagonist, some interesting insights into the current state of “middle America” more generally, without lapsing into a tiresome analysis. As a realist novel of manners, then, A Good Boy is certainly a success. More importantly, perhaps, one senses a sweetness and directness, an honesty, in its language and thought which one cannot help warming to. Whatever objections one might have to his general outlook on things, there is little doubt that the version of Christianity Reverend Aames subscribes to is a humane one. He is a good boy indeed.

In conclusion, I will give A Good Boy 3 out of 4 stars. It is a solid, fairly thoughtful, and frequently touching novel. I would recommend it, too, to readers outside America, being one myself. At the present juncture, as many people over the world puzzle over recent political developments in the US, works like this may offer a clue or two.

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A Good Boy
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Like Shirazi Cat's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Dr Nefarious]

Would it be obligatory for a "leftist radical" to be in favor of gun control then? Why? Anyway, this book sounds interesting, i will probably have to check it out.

[Astrophil]

Sounds like an interesting book, thanks for the review.

[Shirazi Cat]

"Would it be obligatory for a "leftist radical" to be in favor of gun control then? Why?"

Point taken, although I guess one does tend to associate gun control with "progressive" politics.

-- 31 Oct 2017, 10:37 --

"Sounds like an interesting book"

Thank you Astrophil. It is an interesting book.

[Reet Aulakh]

I liked that you have given a genuin review. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for the review.

[kdstrack]

Nice review. I agree that Wesley had a unique way of connecting with people. Enjoyed your comments.

[Shirazi Cat]

Many thanks to both Reet Aulakh and kdstrack. I really appreciate your taking the time to read my review and respond.

-- 01 Nov 2017, 07:50 --

Many thanks to both Reet Aulakh and kdstrack. I really appreciate your taking the time to read my review and respond.

[Gingerbo0ks]

A good, genuine review with good analysis. I had been meaning to look into this book but was wondering if it was too heavy with a religious message.

[Dr Nefarious]

"Would it be obligatory for a "leftist radical" to be in favor of gun control then? Why?"

Point taken, although I guess one does tend to associate gun control with "progressive" politics.

-- 31 Oct 2017, 10:37 --

"Sounds like an interesting book"

Thank you Astrophil. It is an interesting book.

You would have to define "progressive" politics then...

[Shirazi Cat]

A good, genuine review with good analysis. I had been meaning to look into this book but was wondering if it was too heavy with a religious message.

Thank you very much for your comment! No, I'd say it's not a heavily religious book at all.

-- 01 Nov 2017, 18:33 --

@Dr Nefarious: "You would have to define 'progressive' politics then..."

Oh, brother! That's a tough one! But I guess one definition of "progressive" might be: a politics that places common sense and the common good (in this case, public safety) above the interests of particular pressure groups.

[Dr Nefarious]

So what you're saying, Shirazi Cat, is that "the common good" requires that we hand over everything (our right to protect ourselves included) to an all-powerful state!

[Astrophil]

"Would it be obligatory for a "leftist radical" to be in favor of gun control then? Why?"

Point taken, although I guess one does tend to associate gun control with "progressive" politics.

-- 31 Oct 2017, 10:37 --

"Sounds like an interesting book"

Thank you Astrophil. It is an interesting book.

You're very welcome! I might try the book.

[Shirazi Cat]

So what you're saying, Shirazi Cat, is that "the common good" requires that we hand over everything (our right to protect ourselves included) to an all-powerful state!

You've already handed over that power to the state. That's what the police is about, isn't it?

-- 02 Nov 2017, 17:18 --

"Would it be obligatory for a "leftist radical" to be in favor of gun control then? Why?"

Point taken, although I guess one does tend to associate gun control with "progressive" politics.

-- 31 Oct 2017, 10:37 --

"Sounds like an interesting book"

Thank you Astrophil. It is an interesting book.

You're very welcome! I might try the book.

I believe you won't regret it if you do.

[Dr Nefarious]

"You've already handed over that power to the state. That's what the police is about, isn't it?"

But the point of the right to bear arms is what happens when the state is unable to protect you or is itself the threat (for example a corrupt state or a dictatorship).

[Paul78]

The review is a great one. It touches on an emerging trend where today's preachers are using several antics to get people into their churches. That is a book I would be interested in.