“Sloppy luck.” It’s when fortune saves an individual
from a terrible fate, only to make surviving it almost as bad. Like a young man
emerging alive from an almost certainly fatal auto accident, only to find his
closest friend dead at the scene, and himself facing a prison sentence for his
negligence. Palmer Cray believes he and his family are doomed and blessed by
sloppy luck. He accepts it and perhaps embraces it. Raymond L. Atkins’s novel Sweetwater Blues follows Palmer through ten
penitent years of his young life in the town and prison of Sweetwater, Georgia.
Sweetwater Blues (Mercer University Press, 2014, 340 pages, $18.00
paperback) is Atkins’s fourth novel. Raymond L. Atkins is a professor of
English at Georgia Northwestern Technical College and member of the Creative
Writing faculty at Reinhardt University.
paperback) is Atkins’s fourth novel. Raymond L. Atkins is a professor of
English at Georgia Northwestern Technical College and member of the Creative
Writing faculty at Reinhardt University.
Something about this novel spoke to me. Reading it was
like meeting a stranger and finding out we grew up just miles from each other
and knew all the same places, or passed through some significant shared
experience, like being in the military or working at the same place, even if
separated by time. It’s a kinship almost. Possibly it is Atkins’s slow
description of life in Sweetwater, even through the thoughts of an inmate
remembering the town. It takes me back to my own youth in a small Southern
town, where everybody knew me and my whole family, and years passed around us
all like water flowing around rocks in a creek bed.
like meeting a stranger and finding out we grew up just miles from each other
and knew all the same places, or passed through some significant shared
experience, like being in the military or working at the same place, even if
separated by time. It’s a kinship almost. Possibly it is Atkins’s slow
description of life in Sweetwater, even through the thoughts of an inmate
remembering the town. It takes me back to my own youth in a small Southern
town, where everybody knew me and my whole family, and years passed around us
all like water flowing around rocks in a creek bed.
There is a charming humor about the voice of Atkins’s
writing that brings to mind Twain or Faulkner. But there is a pace to it that
makes it enjoyable in a different way. It’s a walk through the scenery, not
hurried or even brisk. It’s more of a saunter or a mosey. It’s not
belly-laughing humor, but a chuckling look at what just is and maybe always
was. Like this description of funeral arrangements for one of Palmer’s friends:
writing that brings to mind Twain or Faulkner. But there is a pace to it that
makes it enjoyable in a different way. It’s a walk through the scenery, not
hurried or even brisk. It’s more of a saunter or a mosey. It’s not
belly-laughing humor, but a chuckling look at what just is and maybe always
was. Like this description of funeral arrangements for one of Palmer’s friends:
Otis Lee had gone to visit
Genuine Owen not long after receiving his diagnosis and prognosis, and over a
quart jar of corn liquor and a pair of Swisher Sweets they had hammered out the
pertinent details of his eternal sleep. He had wanted to be buried at the
junkyard, under The Death Car with his father, but Genuine had informed him
that, lamentably, due to town ordinances that had been passed almost immediately
after that original automotive interment, this would not be possible (308).
Genuine Owen not long after receiving his diagnosis and prognosis, and over a
quart jar of corn liquor and a pair of Swisher Sweets they had hammered out the
pertinent details of his eternal sleep. He had wanted to be buried at the
junkyard, under The Death Car with his father, but Genuine had informed him
that, lamentably, due to town ordinances that had been passed almost immediately
after that original automotive interment, this would not be possible (308).
Otis Lee and his demented
wife are two of the key characters that bring out the medicinal qualities of
humor in this book. Another is Cheddar, Palmer’s cousin and cell mate, a
life-long professional prisoner whose main problem is his wife “Bay-Annette”.
As readers we laugh, even if we feel a little guilty about it, and that makes
it easier to deal with the heavy issues of prison, betrayal, and the end of
life.
wife are two of the key characters that bring out the medicinal qualities of
humor in this book. Another is Cheddar, Palmer’s cousin and cell mate, a
life-long professional prisoner whose main problem is his wife “Bay-Annette”.
As readers we laugh, even if we feel a little guilty about it, and that makes
it easier to deal with the heavy issues of prison, betrayal, and the end of
life.
Sweetwater Blues is a sweet read whose literary value sneaks up on the
reader, taps him on the shoulder, and introduces itself with a friendly smile.
I shall read more of Mr. Atkins’s work and I look forward to his next novel
with great anticipation.
reader, taps him on the shoulder, and introduces itself with a friendly smile.
I shall read more of Mr. Atkins’s work and I look forward to his next novel
with great anticipation.