Again, Chris Offutt

Thomas Mann interrupted my Chris Offutt run, but even though I started Royal Highness immediately after finishing The Magic Mountain, I still started Offuttt's second book, The Same River Twice. I'm 1/3 of the way through it right now, but it's a fast read, so I will probably finish it up tonight or tomorrow. And it's interesting and well-written, and there are flashes of brilliance--like this bit

"The tears were coming down his face. His breathing was normal and he didn't sob. It was as if his head was so filled with sorrow that it had sprung a couple of leaks. When it passed he looked at me, his eyes hard and ancient as a trilobite's."

Q: Now that is some amazing stuff there, am I right or what?

A: Hells yes, it is.

But . . . and you knew there was a but coming around the mountain when she comes, right? . . . it doesn't feel as mature as the stories in Offuttt's first book, Kentucky Straight, felt. There's less of a sense of focus, and it feels like Offutt has not got a tight grip on the narrative reins, so occasionally it wanders off the path or breaks into a gallop when it is supposed to be at a trot. So, for instance, there are several descriptions of sexual activity and equipment which just seem unnecessary. Like a kid using profanity he's just learned. Also, since I started with Offutt's last published book, My Father, the Pornographer, it was kind of disappointing to encounter a story about working as a dishwasher at the Grand Canyon in the pages of this book as well. And it wasn't like the "same territory revisited" thing that all writers end up with, it was more like here's the same story verbatim. Probably not really, and my memory is not good enough to know that . . . nor is my interest in the subject great enough to compel me to check . . . but it just dissettles me a bit. Like finding out that your best friend cheated on a test. 

None of that is enough to put me off from reading this book . . . or the next three of Offutt's books either, for that matter. But I'd be gratified to know that this was actually Offutt's first book, as I suspect. It would at least explain the problems I've found in reading it.