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Barnaby Griswold is a fool, always has been and always will be. He knows better than
to attempt to be anything else, despite the ghostly presence of his serious, dead father
lurking on the sidelines of his life. You could say that he has elevated foolishness to a
hilarious and profitable art; Barnaby has turned his talent for schmoozing and following
hunches into a fortune by exploiting the vagaries of the stock market with and for his
fickle New York friends.
Unfortunately for Barnaby, the SEC frowned on his participation in a deal originating in
Oklahoma four years previously. When the book opens, he is smack in the middle of the
tennis match that could redeem himself in his own eyes, despite the loss of nearly all his
money, his wife, and soon, his summer residence on Winott Point. Between sets, we learn a
few of the details of his fall from grace. During sets, we aren't surprised to learn that
he cheats. "He had decided to cheat before he was born."
The sections of the novel reflect the stages Barnaby passes through, as he navigates what
becomes his rise from disgrace: Athlete, Victor, Pilgrim, Lover, and Fool. Events
ultimately conspire to give him a choice between a respectable life with a real job in
Oklahoma, near his hoped-for love, and a second chance as a rich deal-hustler in New York.
The final question is, which path is more foolish?
Why are we not repelled by this privileged "fluffmeister," as his father called
him? Perhaps because, like any fool worth the name, he is so entertaining. These
characters are vain, confused, self-absorbed and unpredictable --- in short, human --- and
the author's appreciation for their vulnerability as well as their foibles pervades his
wonderful prose. When Barnaby was 11, his father attempted to teach him to appreciate the
sea life in the tide pools near their summer home. "His father learned about
anemones, while Barnaby stood and wondered why kids that summer thought he himself looked
like an anteater." Mr. Dillen gets in his characters' heads, bringing them alive with
quirky detail and an unapologetic, naked feeling.
Then there are the character's names. Peter Potter, the young car salesman from Oklahoma
who led Barnaby into the scandal that eventually ruined them both, soon becomes
Peterpotter, memorably described as follows: "He had to acknowledge that the young
one gave off sulfurous vapors of wreckage and recrimination, but that was only cause to
remember happily that most friendships for Barnaby were brief." Barnaby's ex-wife's
name is Win, and his mother-in-law Ada's nurse is Happiness, a televangelist-watching
fount of homespun Montana wisdom.
No review of this book would be complete without at least mentioning Barnaby's affinity
with tigers. He is known to have long, drunken conversations with the ones in the
wallpaper at La Cote, his favorite dealmaking restaurant. The few pages that describe
Barnaby's childhood visit to the zoo with his father fairly glisten with his little boy
reverent adoration; he even put on lace up shoes rather than sneakers as a sign of
respect, and when the beasts fail to recognize him --- as an ally, as a soul mate --- our
hearts break along with his.
In short, this novel is a playful and tender romp through six months in the life of a very
lovable FOOL.
--- Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol (ezn1@aol.com)
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