David Schwinghammer's Blog - Posts Tagged "navy-diver"
Manhattan Beach
Eddie Kerrigan was having a tough time making it during the Depression, working as a bag man for his old friend Dunny, who was a lieutenant in the mob. But he only paid Eddie $20, despite the fact the Eddie had saved him from drowning as a boy.
Eddie has two daughters, Anna and Lydia, who is disabled. Eddie loves Anna but he's distant from his other daughter. He takes Anna to see Dexter Styles who's higher on the food chain than Dunny to ask for a job. He needs a wheel chair for Lydia and Dunny won't loan it to him. But Eddie is essentially a good man and what the mob is doing disgusts him; he rats them out to a state's attorney, coincidentally the other boy Eddie saved when a rip tide took them out to sea. That's when Eddie disappears, presumably dead.
Anna's mother Agnes, a former vaudeville performer, as was Eddie, raises her daughters alone. One of the delights of the book, is what Agnes and the girls do when Eddie's not around. They dance, and they spoil Lydia, giving her baths in delicious smelling oils. Anna doesn't see a disability; she just sees the sister she loves.
Then we skip ahead to WWII, where Anna is working in the Navy yard, measuring parts for battleships. She has a friend, Nell, who uses her feminine wiles to get the use of a fellow worker's bicycle. She lets Anna use it; that's when she notices the Navy divers; she wants to be one. She asks her boss, who has a soft spot for her, to arrange an interview with Lt. Axel, a male chauvinist pig if you've ever seen one. He wants nothing to do with Anna, but someone puts in a good word for her (most likely her boss) and Anna gets to prove her metal. She's the best recruit Axel has.
We have lots of people with a point of view here. Eddie, for one. I never thought he was really dead. This is where we see author Jennifer Egan's ability. Egan plants the fact that Eddie was a vaudeville performer, doing Houdini-like tricks. So what do you think would happen if Eddie wound up wearing cement shoes?
Eddie's got to get out of this place, right? He joins the merchant marine. This leads to some harrowing ship wreck scenes and another scene where Eddies's essential goodness shines through. The bosun always treated Eddie like dirt, but when the roles are reversed Eddie treats him like a human being.
There's one plot thread I had trouble with. Anna ends up preggo; you can guess where that leads. It's a bit melodramatic. Again Egan seems to be aware this segment is a cliché, so she adds a character, Brianne, her mother's sister, another vaudeville performer who has a 21st century attitude towards sex. Anyway, she's a rock for Anna, and she adds some humor to the drama.
Egan's last best seller, A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD, was recently picked as one of the best books of the new century. This one doesn't quite live up to that one, although it did make the NY Times best seller list for a long stretch.
Eddie has two daughters, Anna and Lydia, who is disabled. Eddie loves Anna but he's distant from his other daughter. He takes Anna to see Dexter Styles who's higher on the food chain than Dunny to ask for a job. He needs a wheel chair for Lydia and Dunny won't loan it to him. But Eddie is essentially a good man and what the mob is doing disgusts him; he rats them out to a state's attorney, coincidentally the other boy Eddie saved when a rip tide took them out to sea. That's when Eddie disappears, presumably dead.
Anna's mother Agnes, a former vaudeville performer, as was Eddie, raises her daughters alone. One of the delights of the book, is what Agnes and the girls do when Eddie's not around. They dance, and they spoil Lydia, giving her baths in delicious smelling oils. Anna doesn't see a disability; she just sees the sister she loves.
Then we skip ahead to WWII, where Anna is working in the Navy yard, measuring parts for battleships. She has a friend, Nell, who uses her feminine wiles to get the use of a fellow worker's bicycle. She lets Anna use it; that's when she notices the Navy divers; she wants to be one. She asks her boss, who has a soft spot for her, to arrange an interview with Lt. Axel, a male chauvinist pig if you've ever seen one. He wants nothing to do with Anna, but someone puts in a good word for her (most likely her boss) and Anna gets to prove her metal. She's the best recruit Axel has.
We have lots of people with a point of view here. Eddie, for one. I never thought he was really dead. This is where we see author Jennifer Egan's ability. Egan plants the fact that Eddie was a vaudeville performer, doing Houdini-like tricks. So what do you think would happen if Eddie wound up wearing cement shoes?
Eddie's got to get out of this place, right? He joins the merchant marine. This leads to some harrowing ship wreck scenes and another scene where Eddies's essential goodness shines through. The bosun always treated Eddie like dirt, but when the roles are reversed Eddie treats him like a human being.
There's one plot thread I had trouble with. Anna ends up preggo; you can guess where that leads. It's a bit melodramatic. Again Egan seems to be aware this segment is a cliché, so she adds a character, Brianne, her mother's sister, another vaudeville performer who has a 21st century attitude towards sex. Anyway, she's a rock for Anna, and she adds some humor to the drama.
Egan's last best seller, A VISIT FROM THE GOOD SQUAD, was recently picked as one of the best books of the new century. This one doesn't quite live up to that one, although it did make the NY Times best seller list for a long stretch.
