Review of Eastertown by Max Crawford (University of Oklahoma Press, 2003)

I don't know who Edith Kinney Gaylord is but the flyleaf to Max Crawford's novel Eastertown (U. of Oklahoma Press) gives her credit for her "generosity" in making the publication possible; if that means the book wouldn't have been published without her support, then we can all be grateful for it. This is, I think, Crawford's best, and it's a masterful work, coming as it does after a long career of having published around a dozen books, the early ones by large New York houses before he was struck by the well-known mid-list blues and was sent into exile before his talent had found full flower. Banned for not making the best-seller list. And given the current climate for literary publishing, it's all the more crucial that small and university presses continue to find the Edith Kenny Gaylords of the world willing to keep the flame alive.

Eastertown is a kind of old-fashioned novel set just before the Korean War in a small West Texas town, and the soaring, sometimes challenging omniscient narration allows for the fullest expression of its citizens' voices: the banker, the high school principal, the superintendent, a teacher, a talented young woman who went off to New York to be an actress and returned, a secretary, two high school girls, several boys (among other things, the novel is an astonishingly rich and vivid testament to the wonder and joy of being a boy in such a place and time), an attorney, a Sheriff, a newspaper publisher, an old veteran - to name only a few who get space in this capacious story to have their dreams and failures, their deepest yearnings and blackest fears, aired out by an authorial voice that is rich and quirky. The episodes that form the events of the story are the many public occasions of small-town life in an earlier America: school plays, religious and historical pageants, a trial, an election, a graduation ceremony, a collective gathering as a tragedy unfolds.

Chief among these characters is one unforgettable and ill-fated family - the Bavenders, the husband a quiet science teacher who worked on the "bomb" in Los Alamos during the war; his two sons, Dudley and Van, and his wife, daughter of the town's richest man and afflicted by addictions and a general unhappiness. While the novel traces the fate of each, it is broadly embellishing the lives of everyone around them by exploring their internal lives and by reaching into their histories.

This is a novel whose characters seep into your consciousness so deeply that you know once the story's over they're going to be part of your future.

As a great fan of Western history, this story proved to be a bit disappointing. Max Crawford is certainly knowledgeable about the location for his tale and the sad story of the last days of the Comanche Indians. In this respect, he's done his homework well. My main complaint is that things just don't seem to flow. Episodes occur, often times not seeming to relate to one another and the author often cuts short things I wish he had expanded upon. The highlight of this book is Crawford's description of the awesome landscape and the difficulties the men had in coping with it. While not a gripping story, it's worthwhile reading if you're a fan of the Old West.

Although lengthy, descriptive paragraphs describe setting and plot, I found this book interesting and informative concerning the fading out of the once powerful Comanche Indian nation in Texas during the l870's. I enjoyed the poetic prose thoughout his narrative.
Evelyn Horan - author
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Book One
Jeannie, A Texas Frontier Girl, Book Two

Crawford spins a good yarn, and the book is replete with lots of interesting and accurate Texas history. However, the guy ain't no Steinbeck! I wish he would have had someone edit his long and often convoluted sentences. As a tired old retired guy with thick glasses I think Crewford tends to keep typing much too long before he decides to call it a paragraph. When a paragraph goes on and on for a page-and-a-half my eyes get weary. However, it is worth the effort to read this book.