Reviewed by CD White
It’s unfortunate that George Avant, author of The Strange Side of the Tracks, succumbed to an illness before his book was published; and fortunate for lovers of good literary fiction that his family made sure the manuscript was published.
Avant, native and former resident of Hampton, Ark., was a writer, humorist, painter and avid reader who traveled the country as a radio broadcaster for 30 years. He returned to Arkansas for the last few years of his life to the town of his childhood summers and wrote The Strange Side of the Tracks based on childhood memories.
The adventures of young teen, Lonnie, reveal the savvy workings of a plucky, intelligent adolescent mind as the boy digs up forgotten family history and chases down an unsolved mystery that’s been haunting the town of Moro for decades. The opening sentence, “I slipped a hollow-point bullet into my Remington single shot .22 rifle and took a deep breath,” propels the reader into a coming-of-age journey full of wonderfully drawn characters – from the alcoholic father at the other end of that rifle to an uncle who occasionally relates messages from who knows where, but never says anything more.
Lonnie’s is a redemptive journey tenderly and playfully woven into a surprisingly deep story that changes each of its characters in some way and leaves the reader with an engaging glimpse of real life in some of Arkansas’s forgotten small spaces.
The only down side to this worthwhile and enjoyable read is that there will be no more vibrant use of language and memorable characters from the mind of George Avant. Find The Strange Side of the Tracks in a Carroll-Madison Library – Eureka Springs, Berryville, Green Forest, Huntsville, Kingston and St. Paul.