cover image The Voice of Manush

The Voice of Manush

Victor Walter. White Pine Press (NY), $14 (260pp) ISBN 978-1-877727-60-3

An overbearing first-person narrator praises and redefines himself at the expense of the story line, credible characters and vivid description. The flaccid plot loosely follows Marko Manava as he seeks a magic viola, which, when played by Marko (who has, of course, ""inherited absolute pitch""), will ensure a golden age for all gypsies. More an occult resume than a story, much of the book is simply Marko on Marko's spirituality. ""So that makes me foster grandson of a wizard and biological son of a witch."" He is also a healer who haggles with Death himself to keep patients alive, and a budding sorcerer able to change his shape anytime. Indeed, Marko never stops reinventing himself. ""I started life over again, with music the amniotic fluid of my rebirth."" In another queasy passage, he transforms into a baby merlin and eats his feathered mother's regurgitation. (""Thank you, Mother, I sighed."") Marko's mutability cheats the book of any intrigue: whenever faced with a hurdle, Marko just changes himself and the rules of the game. The voice of the mythical instrument itself, however faint next to Marko's, does occasionally bring in a note of lyrical folklore. One part describes how Stradivari sourced his instrument wood from a gypsy because he would ""leave boards submerged in different streams. Hatcheries of fiddles. He'd leave them by a waterfall to absorb the energy of the stream."" Less from Marko and more about Dvorak borrowing music from ""scarlet tanagers"" might have helped this tale. (June)