I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go down: Collected Stories [Paperback]

According to biographical information on Mr. Gay, he is largely self-taught and is a voracious reader. A seventh grade teacher gave him a copy of Thomas Wolfe's LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL; and the rest is, as they say, history. Like Wolfe, sometimes Mr. Gay's prose gets a little too ornate; for the most part, however, he's a joy to read. Mr. Gay is a great lover of similes and metaphors; they often work beautifully. Windows are "stoned by double-dared boys." A man views his naked, sleeping wife "in the filigreed moonlight at once real yet as remote and lost as a dusty nude study stacked in a museum's forgotten corner." A room in a funeral home is "a cozy paneled vestibule just one door removed from eternity."

This is probably sparrows screeching at eagles but I believe the term is "jerry-rigged" (p. 120) rather than "jury-rigged." But then, even Homer nodded.

These are quite fantastic stories.

Gay presents an amazing panoply of characters and situations here for the reader - all within the `confines' of his realm, rural Tennessee. Several of the stories are populated by characters that also appeared in the novels - but the works here stand on their own. The area of the country with which Gay concerns himself is a rich one - he knows it well, obviously. No one could write like he does by simply inventing every single detail. He is a master at his craft - I suppose becoming a writer well into his adult life allowed the `juices' to steep and age and mellow. Whatever the process, the results are astonishingly rich - as with his novels, I found myself re-reading passages here and there, marveling at the craftsmanship they contained, at the natural flow of the words. They seemed to roll gently and powerfully into my mind as I read, carrying me along with them.

There is both humor and pathos contained in these stories - along with every shade of emotion and experience that lies in between the two. Gay's humorous passages never make fun of his characters - he has far too much respect for these people to allow that to happen. Likewise, the touching sections never become maudlin. The balance that he strikes is deft and skilled. Many of these tales are dark, but even within these, there is an abundance of light to be found and experienced. There is violence here - but there is also love and tenderness. There is adultery and betrayal - but there is also deep-hearted, blind-force devotion. There is family - joyous and painful scenes, just like in `real life'.

In the title story, we meet old man Meacham - `older than Moses', according to on character. He has been put into a nursing home by his son, a lawyer for whom the old man sacrificed to put through law school. He finds the nursing home to be a `factory that makes dead people', and flees to his homestead, only to find that his son has attained power of attorney over him and rented it out to family that Meacham sees as `white trash' and lazy, `all the way down to his walk'. The old man sets up housekeeping in a tenant shack on the property and sets about to annoy Choat, now living in Meacham's house, with the perseverance of a bedbug that can neither be found nor killed. Several of the incidents related in this story actually made me laugh out loud - and parts of it caused a stone to appear in my heart.

`A death in the woods', Bonedaddy...', `The paperhanger', `Crossroads blues', `Closure and roadkill on the life's highway', `Good `til now', and `My hand is just fine where it is' all deal with aspects of adultery and love - but, as with the vast array of humanity that walks this ball, it's too easy just to condemn any one of them for what they've done. Life - and these characters, thankfully - are more complex than that. There are good and bad aspects, strengths and weaknesses, within each and every one of us - and Gay's characters are created and drawn in such a way as to make all of these facets known to us.

There is murder here - `A death in the woods', `Bonedaddy...', `The paperhanger', `Those Deep Elm Brown's Ferry blues'. There are a three of the most touching portraits of aging humans I've ever read - `I hate to see the evening sun go down' and `Those Deep Elm Brown's Ferry blues' and `Sugarbaby'. `The paperhanger' is also one of the most tension-filled mystery stories I've ever come across.

In sum, there's a bit of something here for everyone's tastes - all written with Gay's lapidarian care, all treasures. I can't recommend this man's writing highly enough, and I can't wait for him to produce more - but I have a feeling he'll be taking his time, making sure things are just right.

`You hush now, Nipper...'