Not Even Immortality Lasts Forever: Mostly True Stories

McClanahan (The Natural Man) spins out slight but entertaining autobiographical tales based on his experience growing up in the South after WWII and coming of age artistically on the West Coast with Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters in the 1960s. In “A Work of Genius,” 14-year-old Ed is transfixed by the extravagant stunts of an itinerant bicyclist who visits his small Kentucky hometown, while the eight-part “Hatching of the Chicksaw” tracks the trials of Ed’s adolescence, from derailing his early promise in basketball by refusing to stop smoking, to rebelling at the idea of being made over into a Southern gentleman in college. Throughout, Ed exhibits the early stirrings of wanting to become a writer. He also reminisces about attending a high school production of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest with Kesey, contemplates the mystery behind a trompe l’oeil dog guarding an abandoned building, and memorializes a ne’er-do-well great uncle who had a perverse, for a Kentucky citizen, dedication to the Cincinnati Reds. While some entries in the scattershot collection are not as fully realized, McClanahan’s rich material, ready wit, and unique turns of phrase hold interest. This will satisfy his fans. (Feb.)