Word: feuds
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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FICTION: Ancient Evenings, Norman Mailer ¶Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Mdrquez The Feud, Thomas Berger ¶The Name of the Rose, Umberto Eco Pilgermann, Russell Hoban ¶Sister Age, M.F.K. Fisher
...faculty of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, showed that the two areas with the highest mortality rates in the state were the Boston black ghetto of Roxbury and the working-class white enclave of South Boston, which had been locked in a bitter feud over school busing. Mortality rates in these two "death zones" are elevated not only for hypertension-related ailments like stroke, but for all causes of death. Even the rate of cancer among Roxbury men was 37% above the state average...
...reader should know immediately that Beeler had nothing to do with the fire that destroyed Bullard's hardware store, and that Bullard was not responsible for the explosion under the hood of Beeler's car. Another important fact is that there is no full-dress feud in The Feud. Beeler and Bullard are soon out of the picture, one with a fatal heart attack and the other with a nervous breakdown. But these misfortunes set in motion a series of coincidences and events...
...Feud as a tale is hardly distinguished. Berger's telling is. His language, rich in prewar idiom, is precise and laconic, the perfect foil to his slapstick plot. At first encounter, the characters appear to have been made of pig bladders, but the deeper their predicaments, the more convincing they become. The romance between Bernice and Ernie, a Hornbeck layabout, has the ring of lowlife truth. Says a sincere Ernie after a night of backseat love and a bottle of Rock 'n' Rye: "I'm sure trying to figure out a way to tell you what...
Writers have similar problems of finding the right style. Berger, once again, has found the solution. His work may not win any prizes for the celebration of the indomitable human spirit, but The Feud is an affectionate cheer for all the peeves, itches and dreams that make most people tick...