MADreads

Small town professor makes good

March 30th, 2009 Katharine - Sequoya

I only lasted a year at a small private liberal arts college, but many of my friends spent four years ensconced with supportive professors, pre-med football players and aspiring graduate school attendees.  This world is described beautifully in P.F. Kluge’s newest book Gone Tomorrow and has proven to be my favorite novel of the year so far.

The story opens with the new teacher on campus Mark May attending the funeral of a beloved professor at a small rural Ohio college.  George Canaris, said beloved professor, had a thirty year career there, but unfortunately did not publish “the” great novel in his tenure.  Mark unearths a manuscript, which may or may not be “the” great novel that Canaris calls “the beast.” 

The bulk of this novel is the manuscript that Canaris has left behind.  In it, Canaris writes about his academic life shaping young writers in his creative writing class, about the passionate love affairs of his life and most importantly he writes about the challenges of putting to paper the work he calls “the beast”.  This is a semi-autobiographical account of his family’s departure from Nazi Germany and the scars that history left behind.  Canaris’ story is wrapped up with a afterword by May, which gives readers the answer to the big question of this novel, which is was “the beast” ever written?  Did George Canaris make it all up?  You’ll have to read it to find out.

Kluge’s writing style is outstanding and he captures the idealism of college youth and the bittersweet ending of a man’s career with memorable scenes and poetic descriptions throughout.  Many excellent writers are former reviewers, editors and vocarious readers themselves and this book would definitely appeal to that audience.  Kluge, hope you get a prize for this one.

Entry Filed under: Literary Fiction