The Very Air: A Novel - Hardcover

Bauer, Douglas

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0688094600 ISBN 13: 9780688094607

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 1993

Synopsis

In an exploration of American individualism and human motivations, Luther Mathias starts off by selling snake-oil medicine and rises to a position of great power in early twentieth-century West Texas

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Reviews

The first half of this Dickensian novel by the author of the highly praised Dexterity is so suspenseful, poignant and irresistibly entertaining that even when the pace slows toward the middle of the narrative, readers will remain engrossed in hopes that Bauer will again discover his early inventiveness and verve. Although no resurrection occurs, the story is memorable by virtue of the conception of its protagonist, Luther Mathias. In an opening scene electric with portent, 10-year-old Luther's mother dies on their isolated Texas ranch in 1905, and Luther must ride alone to send a telegram to his father. Put in the care of his eccentric Aunt Joyce and Uncle Ray--as jolly a pair of swindlers as one could encounter--Luther joins their traveling medicine show. When death again interrupts his existence, Luther is warped by a sense of betrayal; moreover, he has adopted his uncle's view of human beings as prey waiting to be duped. Eventually, Luther becomes an (uncertified) "doctor for male diseases," and his life crosses those of beautiful movie star Alyce Rae and her husband Billy Boswell. Overcome by hubris, Luther pretends to be a surgeon who can rejuvenate Billy's sexual performance via monkey gland implants. His subsequent rise as a medical charlatan marks the story's decline; the narrative loses its juice and becomes a cautionary tale of a self-made man propelled by anger, resentment and a need for power. Bauer makes some wonderful observations about life in America during the 1900s, and about humanity's eternal need for illusion, and his characterization is sharp and funny. But as Luther becomes inflated with self-importance, the narrative, too, becomes bloated and slow, and its early promise is dispelled.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Bauer's second novel (after Dexterity, 1989) plays with two durable American themes: the national fondness for snake oil and self-made men. This engaging and episodic romp through the first half of the 20th-century is lighter, more accessible, and far more commercial than Bauer's lyrically intense debut. Born on the Texas frontier at the turn of the century, Luther Mathias witnesses his mother's fevered madness and death, only to be abandoned by his roustabout father at ten. Young Luther joins his uncle's traveling medicine show and proves a quick study. He's garrulous and charming, deriving his talent from his knowledge of the Bible and his uncle's highfalutin lingo. But at 13, Luther grows disillusioned with his uncle's scam. When he leaves the show at 17, Luther survives by his wits, eventually acquiring a mail- order medical degree and setting up practice in a Texas bordertown as a specialist in VD cures. All this changes when beautiful movie starlet Alyce Rae stumbles into town with a case of amnesia, soon followed by her vain husband, silent movie star Billy Boswell. The neurotic Billy provides Luther with his first experiment in a new specialty: cures for impotency. And when Billy summons Luther to Hollywood for a second treatment, a meeting with media magnate Haskell Albright leads to new opportunities. Luther--part Gatsby, part Citizen Cane--begins building his corn-pone empire based on the Bible, positive thinking, and healthy sex. A radio show and a clinic back in Texas allow Luther to build his tumbleweed Xanadu, all the time dreaming of his Daisy named Alyce. With Billy's tragic fall from studio grace and numerous business problems, Luther begins to see his world crumble. It's a classic tragedy of hubris, even though Luther seems to be headed off for new adventures at the end. An imaginative lark in the Doctorow vein (without the didacticism): rough-and-tumble fiction that exults in its inventiveness and seems written with an eye toward the big screen. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: William Morrow & Co
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0688094600
• ISBN 13: 9780688094607
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 378