Review: "Love is More than a Spoken Word"! A Social Commentary on Life...
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 13, 2014
"We are all in our own way lost in this race against time."  Bridge McCoy not only has a lot to say and think about love but has an incredible number of opinions, positions, postures and attitudes about life, change, relationships, religion, war, poverty, culture, capitalism and politics to name just a few.Bridge falls apart when his wife leaves him and tells him he is a lousy writer and will die in poverty!  Besides, she tells him, he can't buy her any gold or diamonds. From that point on, his life changed drastically and in ways Bridge McCoy couldn't understand.So Bridge and his friends, primarily Stoops typically start their day at the 'This Isn't Heaven Bar' in Lost City where they drink their breakfast--a Bloody Mary.I loved reading this book. Mr. Swisher's free flowing, free association like writing style is uniquely and well delivered in this novel.  The author aptly uses Bridge McCoy's love story as a framework for making some very pointed  social commentary. No ethic group, interest group, advocacy group, religious group is sacrosanct and due to Mr. Swisher's clever and 'in your face' play on words, I found myself laughing throughout this book.  I loved the characters with their obvious and many times exaggerated flaws which only make them more lifelike and adorable.Mr. Swisher describes his novel as an 'off center love story'; I couldn't agree more. The love story may be off center but the author delivers a very sound, direct 'front center' message.  I have read and enjoyed one other novel by this author and expect that I will continue to read his work!