Word: baxter
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...that storm arrives, readers of First Light will never hear of it. For the quiet, almost humdrum opening chapter of this first novel is also, in a traditional sense, the conclusion of the tale. Charles Baxter, 40, the author of two fine collections of short stories, has not only come across an interesting idea for an experimental narrative but has managed to translate it into convincing fiction. The book's epigraph, from Kierkegaard, provides the key: "Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards...
What this means, in Baxter's practice, is that each succeeding chapter of First Light is a regression in time. Hence the Fourth of July celebration is followed by the drive that Dorsey, Noah and Simon make to get to Michigan from Buffalo, where Dorsey teaches, and by Hugh's nervousness before they arrive. What to say to his brilliant sister? How well has he lived up to his father's injunction "to watch after her, to take care...
...Baxter's methods are ultimately less frustrating than beguiling. In rewinding his story, the author provides a fascinating illusion of consolidation. Hugh and Dorsey do not grow apart; they are put together again, reknit into their shared heritage of parents and the past. Life does not happen that way, of course, but First Light never seems implausible. Instead, the novel moves over everyday details with the inexorable, contrary tug of memory...
...innings of relief, the freshman Baxter surrendered just one hit and no runs, finishing the season with a phenomenal...
While Marchok and Baxter were holding Tufts to six hits on the day, it was McConaghy who highlighted the 12-hit Crimson offense. The sophomore centerfielder, who collected four hits in five at-bats, had an RBI single in the first inning and a two-run single in the second...