Waveland

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina on Mississippi's Gulf Coast, mostly retired architect Vaughn Williams tirelessly scans the television channels; teaches a bit; thinks about his late father; waxes poetic, philosophical, and political; and deals with the personal difficulties of late midlife. When his ex-wife, Gail, is assaulted by her hot-tempered new boyfriend, she asks Vaughn and his landlady/girlfriend, Greta, to move in with her. Perhaps too cavalierly, they do, and complications of a distinctly Barthelme-esque nature follow, including memories of his father, gambling sojourns, adults playing with trains, the untimely arrival of Vaughn's annoyingly successful younger brother, and Gail's invitation to remarry.

The tattered landscape of the post-Katrina Gulf Coast is the perfect setting for these characters to work out their troubles in mind. Barthelme's acute eye and subtle wit uncover and autopsy an inner landscape of morality, love, regret, and redemption. The result is his most emotionally resonant work of fiction yet - and a new reason to celebrate him as an American master.