海角大神

Patrick deWitt, a droll satirist with a pointed taste for the bizarre, made his name with novels full of clever literary hijinks, including 鈥淯ndermajordomo Minor鈥� and 鈥淭he Sisters Brothers.鈥� His last book, 鈥淔rench Exit鈥� (2018), was a loopy mother-son 鈥渢ragedy of manners鈥� that channeled both No毛l Coward and Wes Anderson.聽聽

In his new novel, 鈥淭he Librarianist,鈥� a quirky, affectionate portrait of an introverted loner who makes some surprising connections late in life, DeWitt tames the outlandishness without sacrificing his offbeat humor. His bemused sense of compassion for his characters recalls Anne Tyler, with whom he shares a soft spot for misfits, along with a firm conviction that even supposedly ordinary people lead extraordinary lives.

We meet Bob Cosmic, a retired, 71-year-old former librarian, in the mint-colored house in Portland, Oregon, he inherited from his mother, who raised him on her own. DeWitt鈥檚 mild-mannered hero is a man with 鈥渁 gift for invisibility.鈥澛�

Despite lacking both friends and family, 鈥渢his absence didn鈥檛 bother him, and he felt no craving for company.鈥� Long divorced under painful circumstances we eventually learn about, Bob is content to experience the world mainly through books. He is 鈥渘ot unhappy鈥� with his quiet life spent 鈥渞eading, cooking, eating, tidying, and walking,鈥� and 鈥渉ad long given up on the notion of knowing anyone, or of being known.鈥� But, as we also eventually learn, his life was not without its moments of drama and excitement.聽聽

A chance encounter with a disoriented woman in the local 7-Eleven on one of his daily walks turns out to be a momentous turning point in Bob鈥檚 solitary life. He offers to escort the woman back to the senior center where she lives, and, impressed by the place and the caring, capable woman at its helm, decides to volunteer his services as a reader to the motley group of residents.聽聽

It quickly becomes apparent that the glory of Russian literature is lost on the residents, about half of whom have dementia. What they need is affable companionship. The director, Maria, suggests that instead of books, Bob should circulate himself.聽

As Bob connects with residents like Linus Webster, a gregarious man in an electric wheelchair with 鈥済argantuan appetites running unchecked across the length of several decades,鈥� but also 鈥渁n animation about him that spoke of a defiant life force; something like joy, but mutant,鈥� he wonders about their lives. And this causes him to review his own.聽

The novel scrolls back to key episodes in Bob鈥檚 youth and early adulthood, including his one and only great friendship with a man named Ethan Augustine, who is his opposite in every way: as unreliable as Bob is dependable, as lively as Bob is staid, as outgoing as Bob is introverted. When Ethan, a handsome rou茅 who's聽frequently on the run from outraged husbands, meets Bob for lunch at The Finer Diner, a joint which smelled of burned coffee and wet rags, he asks, 鈥淔iner than what?鈥澛�

Bob鈥檚 friendship with Ethan unfortunately coincided 鈥� or should we say collided 鈥� with his one and only love affair and marriage, to a fun-loving free spirit who can鈥檛 understand why Bob reads so much. She'd rather that he focused on living 鈥� and on her.

The longest flashback is to Bob鈥檚 strangest escapade, when he ran away at 11 and, in a crumbling Victorian seaside hotel, took up for a few days with a pair of traveling stage performers who seem like walk-ons from an Elizabeth McCracken story. It鈥檚 a peculiar digression inserted into the novel just when we鈥檇 rather be hearing about recent developments in Bob鈥檚 life, but we come to understand its significance.

Bob has always been everybody鈥檚 straight man, but he鈥檚 not as unruffled by events as his placid demeanor might indicate. Some experiences take decades to resonate, including this advice from the seaside hotel manager: 鈥淪omeday, Bob, when you鈥檙e an aged specimen like me, and you find yourself suddenly enamored of folding the laundry or edging your lawn, remember your long-gone friend Leslie More telling you to accept whatever happiness passes your way, and in whatever form.鈥� Young Bob responded with a noncommittal 鈥淥kay.鈥� But old Bob understands.

Old Bob also finally articulates an answer to the question about why he reads so much. His explanation is at the crux of 鈥淭he Librarianist,鈥� and indeed of deWitt鈥檚 work:聽

鈥淭here is the element of escape, which is real enough. ... But also we read as a way to come to grips with the randomness of our being alive. To read a book by an observant, sympathetic mind is to see the human landscape in all its odd detail, and the reader says to him or herself, Yes, that鈥檚 how it is, only I didn鈥檛 know it to describe it. There鈥檚 a fraternity achieved, then: we are not alone.鈥�

In case we are in any doubt, Bob underscores his point: 鈥淚 do believe that, at our best, there is a link connecting us. A lifetime of reading has confirmed this for me.鈥澛�

鈥淭he Librarianist鈥� offers further confirmation.聽聽

Heller McAlpin reviews books regularly for the Monitor, The Wall Street Journal, and NPR.