![]() ![]() Woodrell’s sketches of invalids are windows into tiny realms of helplessness. Father Red’s orneriness (“he had a variety of ugly tones to speak in and used them all at me on most days”) is intensified by his not being Shuggie’s real father and when not off “scallybippin’” with his one obsequious crony, or roughing up the family, Red makes the boy break into bed-ridden people’s homes to steal dope. The boy is an unresourceful Huck Finn, including even the brutal father but without the option of hopping on a raft and skipping town. ![]() These elements are present again, but having 13-year-old Shuggie Akins narrate quells the comedy and heightens the pathos. ![]() The author’s previous work reaped praise for its depiction of Ozark lowlifes, as well as for capturing the inadvertent beauty of redneck speech. A long-suffering kid draws the bars of his own cage, in Woodrell’s tender and downright merciless seventh novel (after Tomato Red, 1998). ![]()
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