By Thomas mcguane
Ninety-two in the Shade is a father story . . . or is it a rivalry story . . . or is it, in Solomonic fashion and to borrow from Victor Frankl, a tale of a man's search for meaning? I see all three in this tragic Key West "turf battle" between Tom Skelton and Nichol Dance.
Skelton, a man with a mind and future as a scientist, grows weary of that quest and moves to Key West, the home of his bickering father and grandfather. Skelton longs to be a skiff guide. Nicol Dance, a man with a reputation for violence, stands in his way.
We watch the protagonist cling to his goal with the tenacity of a hungry dog even though his pursuit may end in his own demise. Dance has promised that!
The story is a picture of "life under the sun." We see this in all the Skelton men (aptly named as all appear to be among the "walking dead"), and in Dance -- brilliant in possibilities and yet fatally marred by the human condition.
McGuane devotes his exquisite prose (the man has a command of the English language) to narrate their somber and violent struggle. But can the author point us to a better way?
Recommendation: I picked up this book after reading James Patterson by James Patterson. Patterson's tastes are eclectic (as are mine) and he had Ninety-two in the Shade as one of his "dog-eared and well-loved books." And while McGuane's book doesn't yet occupy that place for me, he does give us life in all its marred splendor and does so in writing that is elegant and captivating.
