THE PHONY MARINE
Jim Lehrer
Fiction
Random House Trade Paperbacks
Hardcover: 1400064864
Paperback: 9780812975512

Hugo Marder is like a lot of guys his age. Educated at a mid-level college, employed in a mid-level job and divorced, at age 50 he's slightly overweight and out of shape. He lives modestly in a Washington, DC townhouse that is close to work. His leisure time is spent surfing eBay where he collects antique and unusual cuff links, an outgrowth of his job as a clothing salesman at an upscale Washington men's clothing store.

If he had any regrets in life, they may have stemmed from a vague youthful wish, never fulfilled, of becoming a United States marine. It didn't wreck his life that he wasn't accepted in the elite corps. In fact, the convenience of being in college during Vietnam was, as things turned out, a twist of fate he was happy to have taken advantage of.

So why, when he stumbled upon an online auction for a Silver Star, did he jump in with a high bid? He wondered momentarily why anyone would want to sell such a hard-won honor. But his curiosity got the best of him, and before he knew it he owned the medal, along with the papers of the Marine Lieutenant who won it.

Hugo immediately decides that he will never wear it in public. He didn't earn it and is not a man to call unwanted attention to himself. He is, however, fond of admiring himself in the mirror with the pin in his lapel, and one evening he goes out for a stroll and steps into a Thai restaurant that he has never before frequented. The medal is recognized by the owner and one of the patrons, and what begins with a complimentary bottle of champagne leads him into an embarrassing web of intrigue.

He is soon working out to firm up his flab. He reads military histories of Vietnam, researching the battle in which this particular medal was won and creates his own false history. He begins obsessively watching tapes of Marine marching units to acquire the military stance and gait. He shaves his head and practices sharp quarter turns as he walks the aisles at work.

The admiring looks and attention the lapel pin draws lead him to wearing it daily. When he answers a call for jury duty and runs into his ex-wife, Emily, he panics. Can he pull off his charade in front of a woman who shares his history? A courtroom shootout proves to Hugo, and to Emily, that the inner hero is genuine, even if the reality is a sham. The publicity that ensues propels Hugo from ignominious sales clerk to celebrity.

For all his acquired bravado, Hugo's middle-class upbringing fails to provide him with the street smarts needed to carry off his masquerade. He is haunted by fears of exposure. As he worries about the fallout if his secret is discovered, his conscience begins to bother him.

Hugo is treated with great tenderness by Jim Lehrer, himself a Marine cavalry officer in the mid-1950s. THE PHONY MARINE is a charming, whimsical and often philosophical tale of a meek little man, plunged into deep waters through his own folly, who confronts another sort of heroism few braver men might survive.

    --- Reviewed by Roz Shea

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