| Days of the Endless Corvette |
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| Thursday, 20 March 2008 | |
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The ’70s world of Deepstep, Georgia, not too far from Milledgeville, is the world inhabited by Earl Mulvaney, a teenager able to fix most anything mechanical. Alas, his pretty mother, Ruby, is one thing he can’t fix, and she seems to be “breaking down a lot.” His father, doing “scientific research” working out a gambling system, one day simply fails to come home. That’s the day Ruby falls and breaks her hip. Earl, propelled by Ruby’s hospital bills, drops out of school to take a job as a mechanic at Jimmy Wiggins’ Used Cars. Jimmy gives him the job of restoring a ’53 Corvette, which Earl begins to take apart. Here is Earl at the hospital: "I just want to know how much it’ll cost to fix a hip and what’s the least expensive way to do it.”“This isn’t a body shop,” the nurse said. “We don’t have a sign that says how much for a broken hip and how much for an appendix.” The black orderly, whose name was also Earl, thought the situation was very funny. “My name is Earl Schweib,” the black orderly said. “I’ll fix that hip for twenty-five dollars!” Now that he’s no longer in school, Earl hardly ever sees beautiful and genteel Ellen Rayle, whom he’s loved from across the street while working on his father’s Buick. But Ellen’s head is turned by Troy Badcock, the football hero, who lives his life by four rules. 1. Jesus is your Personal Savior. 2. Never do it with any girl you’re going to marry. 3. Never marry any girl you already did it with. 4. Stay low, knees bent, legs wide, and drive forward from the back foot. Following rule number three, Troy breaks up with Ellen, and Earl is ready to step in and fix her broken heart. But when Ellen realizes her misstep with Troy is going to have eight pounds of consequences, Troy’s and Ellen’s parents insist on a hurried wedding in the Methodist church. Even though his lady love is out of reach, Earl remains true, working on the Corvette. She is his lifelong quest, and he becomes, almost in spite of himself, her hero. Earl brings to mind Charlie Brown and a certain old sport who stares at a green light at the end of a dock, and holy fools such as Frodo Baggins and “Donald Quickoats.” Yet this mechanic in coveralls with his glasses taped together is very much his own character. Who else lives his life with his frame of reference firmly planted in auto mechanics rather than the Bible, or even evolution? Narrated by the local librarian (books play an important part), the tone is pitch-perfect, capturing the essence of characters and place without descending into Hazzardish parody. The book’s endearing characters embody the wisdom and philosophy found in all moss-draped landscapes graced with bodies of water such as Sloppy Floyd Lake. The parts of this story fit together like . . . well, like a well-oiled Corvette. And like the Corvette of the title, which Earl takes apart and puts together so many times, the ending is a little misty and unfinished. But that’s not a bad thing. It’s the kind of book you recommend to friends with “You gotta read this.” I’m thinking of giving it to a friend from Dublin named Earl, who tells stories. Man Martin, nationally syndicated cartoonist, has also been published in literary journals. His website is www.manmartin.net {mosimage} Anne Lovett, a Georgia native, began her writing career with a humor column for her high school newspaper, hoping to write science fiction. She was educated at Emory and Georgia Tech, receiving a Ph.D. in natural products chemistry. She helped to found a manufacturing and technical supplies company now doing business nationwide and eventually made her way back to writing, though not science fiction. A member of Georgia Writers, Georgia Romance Writers, AWP and Rosemary Daniell’s Zona Rosa Alpha Babes, her short fiction has appeared in Aethlon: Journal of Sport Literature, The Distillery, The Jewish Women’s’ Literary Annual, and Red Wheelbarrow. Non-fiction, poetry, and essays have appeared locally, and several novels are in the pipeline. She is a regular contributor to the online journal The Grapevine Art & Soul Salon (www.barbaraknott.net).
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