Frederick Busch (1941–2006) was the recipient of many honors, including an American Academy of Arts and Letters Fiction Award, a National Jewish Book Award, and the PEN/Malamud Award. The prolific author of sixteen novels and six collections of short stories, Busch is renowned for his writing’s emotional nuance and minimal, plainspoken style. A native of Brooklyn, New York, he lived most of his life in upstate New York, where he worked for forty years as a professor at Colgate University.
A highly intelligent writer with romance in his soul, Busch ( Absent Friends ) here depicts middle-aged love between two beguiling characters. Off-and-on lovers for more than a dozen years, the eponymous protagonists reencounter each other when Harry, former idealistic journalist turned press-aide hack to a liberal senator, journeys to a small community in upstate New York to investigate rumors that a local developer plans to pave over an old cemetery for runaway slaves in order to create a mall parking lot. That the contractor just happens to be Catherine's current lover is an ironic wrinkle that plagues Harry's conscience--but not too much. Fiercely independent since her divorce, Catherine has done a fine job of raising her two sons; now she is not sure that she wants to share her life with either of her suitors. Busch's ease and joy in accreting descriptive detail into a scene rich in metaphor (as when Harry and Catherine prepare her garden for the winter) is somewhat vitiated by his tendency to overdo introspection and stint on action. (His characters--including the men--also have an unfortunate tendency to giggle at dramatic moments.) But his sharp edge of humor, his skill with dialogue and his beautifully nuanced prose make Busch's novels as satisfying as the hearty meals his characters cook. (Mar.)
Harry, a former journalist and poet, is now an aide to a liberal senator with higher political aspirations. Catherine is the owner of a small-town art gallery and the single parent of two teenaged sons. After 12 years these former lovers come together again when Harry travels to upstate New York to investigate a construction project that may disturb the bones of dead slaves. Since Catherine's current lover is a paving contractor involved in the project, the political conflict soon becomes a very personal one. Busch's treatment of love after 40 is both sensitive and highly entertaining. Through small gestures and brief bits of dialog, he skillfully reveals complex relationships. In the posturing of competing males and the bickering of smart-mouthed adolescents, he also provides much comedy. Among Busch's other highly regarded works is Sometimes I Live in the Country (LJ 5/1/86).-- Albert E. Wilhelm, Tennessee Technological Univ., Cookeville
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