cover image An American Outrage: A Novel of Qullifarkeag, Maine

An American Outrage: A Novel of Qullifarkeag, Maine

G. K. Wuori. Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, $22.95 (274pp) ISBN 978-1-56512-292-5

Narrated by Splotenbrun ""Splotchy"" Doll, self-described carpenter, problem-solver and ""the father of a killer,"" Wuori's first novel tells a homespun story of murder, madness and abusive law enforcement set in the eponymous fictional town depicted in Wuori's debut collection of short stories, Nude in Tub. Splotchy's task is to describe the events leading up to the wrongful shooting of a local woman by the police, and the subsequent death of a police officer at the hands of Splotchy's daughter, Wilma. The story, despite its subject, is leisurely paced, woven through with anecdotes about Quilli history, social life and inhabitants. Never devolving into caricature, the provincial scale of the tragedy provides a fresh frame for the topic of police brutality, centering on a rural, not an urban, incident. Wuori's writing is neat and sparkling, the dialogue expressively vernacular: a letter from local handyman Joe DeLay to his estranged wife, Ellen, for instance, is a gorgeous epistolary piece in a humble, homely voice. The central tragedy in the book is set in motion when Ellen leaves Joe after 25 years of marriage, to live alone in the woods and dress the animals that hunters kill, an act that encourages Quilli folk to think Ellen mad. The end of the narrative is diffuse, and some readers may be unconvinced that the brutality issue succeeds in lifting the novel out of its small-town tropes. But Wuori's real gift lies in his dark humor, oddball casting and ability to choreograph and perfectly capture those precise and often-camouflaged moments in a life when everything changes. Agent, Noah Lukeman. 10-city author tour. (Oct.)