Country People
Wonderfully dry, intellectually frisky ... Mason...is a lively, fluid writer; here he glides smoothly between present and past, myth and everyday detail, skepticism and credulity ... Never gets too self-consciously quirky; Miles may have his head in the clouds, but the novel has its feet on the ground, even as it plays with the idea of a world beneath the ground. It is also, simply put, very funny ... Infectious ... The book’s barbs are pointed but not mean.
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Whimsical sprites have been given free rein. This story of self-delusions, bizarre eccentrics, and absurd antics is narrated in an arch, long-suffering voice that brings out the comic flavor like salt on caramel ... The plot of Country People is no more disciplined than the family’s Italian dog, which chases down every stray scent. This novel never meets a roadside attraction it can resist. But soon enough, all these quirky encounters and diversions accrue into a stalagmite of real mystery ... It’s possible that this chronically distracted character whom I enjoyed so much will strike some women readers as a tedious reminder of their first husband. But I hope not. For all his infuriating indirection, Miles remains tremendously endearing. Mason has written a comedy about a man who can’t quite secure his place above ground but senses the wonder lurking just beneath our feet.
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Mason favors an elastic, lightly ironic voice that drifts among observation, anecdote, and reflection. The narrative structure is playful, occasionally intrusive, and permissive; it wanders, doubles back, incorporates fragments that seem, at first, peripheral. The humor—dry, humane, occasionally absurd—is ever-present ... The Vermont setting, spare and bracing, acts as a quiet amplifier of these idiosyncrasies, while Mason remains attuned to the natural world. Into this landscape he introduces a thread of the uncanny, a local legend that hovers between conspiracy theory and genuine mystery.
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