The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 21 August 2012
by Rodes Fishburne
It is a bit funny to be reading a book about a young man getting his start in the newspaper business, when we know that newspapers as such are being dissolved, one by one, by competition with the internet. That the internet doesn't really play a part in this very recent novel is some measure of what a fantasy it is. We meet Slater Brown, a young man freshly arrived in San Francisco, where he plans to make his mark as a brilliant young writer, convinced of his superiority over even the greatest writers. It takes a while, but he stumbles upon a remarkable (if unlikely) method of eavesdropping that allows him to write blockbuster news stories for the ancient weekly Trumpet. Before long, Slater is famous in the city that he falls ever more deeply in love with. He finds love with a beautiful genius chess player, and adventure with a nut-job of a science geek, and a little maturity on the way. The author clearly wants to convey the magic of San Francisco, but his fantastical vision of the place has a kind of superficiality about it, as though he, himself, isn't terribly familiar with it. Each city is many things to its many inhabitants, but there is some essential depth missing here. But the book is a fantasy, as well. Fishburne can be forgiven if his story appears in candy-bright colors. While the situations, tone and humor suggest comparisons to Robbins and Vonnegut, this book doesn't display the sharp wit and cultural critique that those satirists attained. This is Fishburne's first novel, and it is a bright and light effort. He gets away with a few excesses in his writing, but we can attribute that to the fantastical vision he is creating. When Slater comes to a more mature vision of his San Francisco dreams, the book leaves us a little flat and unconvinced. We can relate to his youthful exuberance, though his revelations ring a little hollow. We are left unsure if his muse, Calliope, has really served him well.