The Lies Boys Tell: A Novel

by Lamar Herrin

Set during the Vietnam War, this novel chronicles the odyssey of Ed Reece, who asks his estranged son to help him die in peace

267 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1991

Reviews

[Emma Deplores Goodreads Censorship · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Lies Boys Tell relates the story of Ed Reece, a dying man who convinces his middle-aged son to take him on a journey through Middle America, to end in the town where he was born. His family--his wife and children, and their spouses and children--are the primary characters in this tale, peppered with Ed's philosophical musings about life and death. I give the book three stars because on a technical level it seemed well-written enough (although nothing spectacular, as you can probably tell from the quote above), but I didn't really enjoy it. Herrin's view of small-town America is a depressing one, made up of fast-food joints and strip malls and populated by people dissatisfied with their lives. Other than Ed's inevitable death, there's little in the way of resolution at the end, and the book has so little emotional resonance that I was left indifferent. All-in-all, I found the book dreary and can't say I would recommend it to a friend, but then it's not really my sort of thing; those who like these sorts of end-of-life tales may appreciate it more than I did.

[Jameswaldo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed Lamar's MFA creative writing workshop at Cornell in a great class with Lorrie Moore and others nearly as good at prose fiction. I've read all his published novels, enjoying some more than others. This Lies novel is my favorite of Lamar's. Characters have a true felt life, and while some of Lamar's work feels a bit thesis-driven, the thesis here, a wise understanding of the need to die responsibly, to grow up engaged with life's last moments, feels so well-integrated in plot and drama that you have to sympathize with characters as real as any people you may know. I especially like the way this book ends.

[Richard Jespers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written. Maudlin subject but handled well. Something missing? Perhaps an emotional distance that keeps reader "out" of the story. [This book was an AWP 1990 novel competition winner.]