In 1987, with the publication of "Walking Across Eygpt," Clyde Edgerton proved himself a master storyteller with a gift for dark humor. His story was set in North Carolina, where he grew up. The main characters - a 78-year-old woman and a teenage delinquent boy - were charming.
This year, with his new novel "Redeye," Edgerton tries a new setting, the Old West. Edgerton proves he still has a sense of the absurd, but humor is a lot harder to carry off when the author doesn't know the territory.Edgerton sets his story in the Four Corners area, at a dramatic time in history. As Utah struggled for statehood, the federal government outlawed polygamy. At the same time, Anasazi ruins were being harvested, with pots and mummies being sold to collectors in the East and in Europe.
The novel's tension is inherent in the setting. Edgerton's characters are stereotypes - and meant to be. They play out humorous scenes within a basically tragic situation: the rape of the ruins.
Humor is what Edgerton does best and, to an extent, he does it successfully in "Redeye." He gives us droll dialogue, as in one scene where a bunch of doltish cowboys try to bring a mummy back to life with electricity.
"I'd say she didn't come back to life," said Zack.
"I'd say she's on fire," said Mr. Copeland.
"You got any water in here?" Mr. Blakenship asked the brothers.
This particular scene works because it is uncomfortably true. The reader knows the people who discovered the mummies had no reverence for anyone else's culture or ancestors.
Other scenes don't work as well because they are uncomfortably untrue. Some of Edgerton's main characters are Mormons, and topics of dialogue include the Mountain Meadow Massacre, plural marriage, missionary work. Some Utahns will be put off by the topics. But Edgerton makes matters worse by taking license with the facts.
Too many readers in this part of the country know their pioneer history and will go squirmy over details such as this: The author has two young male missionaries traveling in tandem, which is more typical of the 20th century mission program than of the 19th century.
This is a small point to be sure, but it is indicative of a larger problem. When we are reading historical fiction, we expect the dialogue to be made up. We are willing to have some of the details fictionalized. But we expect consistency. This author bases the action around actual events, such as the Mountain Meadows Massacre and the discovery of Mesa Verde, but then he uses the actual name of the massacre and a fictional name for the ruin. The reader is confused, begins searching for clues about what is fiction and what is history, and ultimately gets sidetracked by minor details.
Utahns may enjoy "Redeye." Certainly the Eastern critics are finding it extremely funny. But "Walking Across Egypt" was better than funny. It was insightful. "Redeye" offers humor but not substance.