Review: You know, I must just want seconds on that pie
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 04 11, 2011
Roby Snow seems to like to hang around wakes, even those of people he barely knows.  He helps the family in this time of grief, makes small talk, arranges the myriad of food that people bring, and he's oddly obsessed with making  sure everybody gets a piece of pie.  Why pie?  Oh, you'll find out.Much of the pleasure of this book is in the description of the relationships in a southern family.  They grieve for the loss of a husband and father, but not so much as to forget their concerns with who inherits  an old tractor,  a plow horse, and other items.  Family members argue, they vie for positions, discuss things that seem odd to be voiced in front of the widow (and BY the widow) - yet at the same time they check to see that proper wake protocols are being followed.This all seems so real. Yet it is juxtaposed with the surreal in the story of Roby.  Roby has sold his soul to the devil and part of the pact is to make sure the family mourners eat a piece of this special pie.The story was very strange, but in a good way.  I couldn't figure out where it was going until I got to the "ah ha!" moment.  And then I still couldn't figure it all out!Interesting premise, but I was left wanting more details about the pacts with the devil.  But maybe that was what Scott Nicholson intended.  Still, a good short read.  (More, please!)