Word: angelo
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Halberstam finds a link between ter in his protagonist's paranoiac pride. Because Angelo was Italian, the local burghers never accepted him. With this alienation as a basis, Halberstam makes the bootlegger a proud man who must win completely or completely withdraw, who manifests his hatred for the hypocrites of Corvallis by selling whiskey to them. Pride, however, does not succeed in uniting the two sides of Angelo. We are unsure whether he is a man terribly hurt, striking back violently, or-a sadistic artist taking pains to perform every little criminal chore in exactly the right manner...
Thus, we do not know quite what to do when Angelo comes up with a plan to use his son's paramour, a pregnant prostitute, to destroy McCalla for good. So we chuckle. Although the plan is ingeniously appalling, it is not particularly hor-these two sides of Angelo's characrifying, because Angelo is more humorous than human...
...during the proceedings, Halberstam indicates that the new sheriff was caught between duty to his supporters (father, preacher, frigid and nagging wife) on the one hand, and, on the other, a desire to say the hell with it all (frigid and nagging wife). Although he flatly and ethically rejects Angelo's offer of five thousand dollars a year, in return for a certain averting of the eyes, he goes for Claudia, the prostitute, like an alcoholic for his morning shot. Needless to say, Halberstam tosses in a few scruplous after thoughts. After all, what would the loyal, good citizens...
...supporting Faulknerian types who around on the front porch country store, self-styled cates with a Hemingway can be seen in person every the pages of Al Capp and Kelly. Some of the dialogue as though it was lifted from time vaudeville. For example Turk, (Angelo's sheriff) turnkey, drunk on election to do a little between themselves...
Contacted in Nashville at what sounded like quite a gay autographing party for his first novel, Halberstam told us a little about how he came to write the tale of Angelo the neurotic bootlegger...