John Wray's new novel Lowboy (FSG) has the Turnrow staff and customers abuzz. The book was brought to our attention by none other than Billie Ainsworth, a discriminating reader who doesn't often go in for this sort of novel — meaning one that is set largely in the New York subway system, following a schizophrenic teenager on his demented quest to lose his virginity and thus save the world from global warming. Nevertheless, she was somehow intrigued and wanted to know, after she'd read a glowing review, why we didn't have a copy. (She didn't know about Lowboy's quest to lose his virginity. "They didn't mention all that," she said warily.)
We'd had a copy. But our backroom receiver spied the book and took it home before it even hit the selling floor. So we ordered more, being fans of John Wray from his last book, Canaan's Tongue, which is just as brilliant and as far afield from Lowboy as you can get. Canaan's Tongue is about a nasty gang of river thieves who kidnap and resell stolen slaves, set in the 1860s and based on a real-life character Wray read about in Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi. The novel, in fact, reads like an exhilarating blend of Twain and Cormac McCarthy, a tremendous work which remains grossly underrated.
From that historical gothic, Wray moves easily to a frenetic and stylized modern thriller about a teenager, Lowboy, who has escaped from the hospital where he was being treated for schizophrenia. After ditching his meds, Lowboy has retreated into the New York City subway and engages in several strange encounters with fellow travelers. The depiction of the teenager's disjointed perspective, from naivete to paranoia to obsession, is maturely depicted and, like any good anti-hero, we find ourselves rooting for him, even though we know nothing good can come from his ramblings.
The equally intriguing alternate storyline concerns a detective, specializing in missing person cases, who must find the teenager before he turns violent. In order to find out what Lowboy wants and where he's going, he relies on the boy's mother, who is harboring her own secrets. Their complex relationship, depicted with subtlety and patience, provides a nice balance to the manic passages of Lowboy's quest.
The barreling pace and clever suspense had us gulping up the book in just a few sittings, and we've all been impressed by the writer's fearlessness. He has a fresh way of luring us into his stories and characters. Here is a young, raw and vital talent we'll be happy to read for many books to come. If you'd like to learn more about John Wray, read this interesting New York magazine feature.
On a side note, we met John several years ago when he came to Mississippi to promote Canaan's Tongue. He and some buddies had built a pontoon raft, which they launched from Helena, Arkansas, and sailed down to New Orleans. It was a clever publicity stunt, and an even more clever way to get the publisher to pay for a rafting expedition. His playful spirit continues with the promotion of Lowboy. Since he won't likely be back down to Mississippi for this book, check out this reading he gave on the New York subway:
Go here to see parts 2-4.
