Review: Portrait of the artist as a  blues musician
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 9, 2014
The Psalmist is the third novel by Jason Akley that I’ve read, and it is my favorite of the three. Akley is an ambitious, immersive writer, and having read more of his work, I am admiring his vision more and more. As I felt with his novel Lazarus, Akley’s spiritual writing-godfather seems to be Faulkner, and that is a very good influence indeed!Spanning decades, from varying perspectives and in differing modes including straight narrative and journal entries, The Psalmist is structured as smaller books working together to form the larger picture. Unfolding the life of David Threnody, a blues musician, Akley shows Threnody’s life and its different veins and pulses. He explores the relationships Threnody has, and at times the novel feels like an extended blues jam where Threnody is swept down paths that then wend back.  It is an inside and outside exploration of the musician as artist, including his substance abuse, difficulties staying on the straight and narrow, and the constant calling of his music. Akley captures Threnody’s inner and outer worlds in vivid detail, and anyone interested in the lives of artists will find this novel worth reading. It’s a double edged sword living through music, and Akley’s novel weaves together a real life, not of a superstar, but of a regular human caught in the song.