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In those days
Vintage paperback
267 pages, Hardcover
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October 3, 2024
A novel with an interesting approach: It is a comparatively short book that covers a long span of years, about one man’s progress in New Mexico in the late 19th Century. Inevitably, given the abbreviated length of the novel, we see his life in a series of lightning flashes from different periods, with the darknesses in-between covered by a few transitional sentences.
The book draws on Fergusson’s family history, particularly the life of his maternal grandfather, Franz Huning. Details of that history can be found in Robert F. Gish’s excellent Fergusson biography.
A sidelight: Reading the biography, one can readily see that virility was a strong value and impetus for Fergusson. So one might guess that having children and in particular preserving the male line would be of paramount importance for him. But in fact, no: His first marriage ended quickly in divorce, his second marriage ended quickly with his second wife’s premature death, and after that, he gave up on marriage altogether. One senses that he preferred his freedom, and he later humble-bragged about the dozens of women he had bedded. His Washington DC novel Capitol Hill opens with the protagonist rolled by a prostitute. There was a bit of Henry Miller in Fergusson wanting to peep out, and he left a late unpublished novel manuscript that Gish describes as being very explicit in both action and language.
The book draws on Fergusson’s family history, particularly the life of his maternal grandfather, Franz Huning. Details of that history can be found in Robert F. Gish’s excellent Fergusson biography.
A sidelight: Reading the biography, one can readily see that virility was a strong value and impetus for Fergusson. So one might guess that having children and in particular preserving the male line would be of paramount importance for him. But in fact, no: His first marriage ended quickly in divorce, his second marriage ended quickly with his second wife’s premature death, and after that, he gave up on marriage altogether. One senses that he preferred his freedom, and he later humble-bragged about the dozens of women he had bedded. His Washington DC novel Capitol Hill opens with the protagonist rolled by a prostitute. There was a bit of Henry Miller in Fergusson wanting to peep out, and he left a late unpublished novel manuscript that Gish describes as being very explicit in both action and language.
Displaying 1 of 1 review