This Side of Jordan
The author of Down by the River and son of Peanuts creator Charles Schulz returns with the first in a planned series of three novels that attempts to delve into the American psyche during the Jazz Age, starting in the pivotal year of 1929. Schultz has done copious research about the period for this tale of Alvin Pendergast, an Illinois farm boy who survives tuberculosis. After a local dance marathon, Alvin becomes the easy prey of con man Chester Burke, who persuades him to come along on travels and capers that will take them on the road and up against manifold dangers. Unfortunately, the story is so weighed down by patched-together country and old-time vernacular, long stretches of aimless dialogue and detail and background data about irrelevant characters that the story never takes off. Does it mean to be a tall tale, historical novel, road caper, fantasia, cornpone satire, crime thriller or some combination? Random and unconvincing in every way, it's obvious that when Fantagraphics asks, “how does the publisher of The Complete Peanuts reject a novel by Charles Schulz's son?” the answer is, sadly, they could not. (Sept.)
