Review: a cross between the southern fiction of Fannie Flag and the ultimate creepy guy that is Napoleon Dynamite
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 15, 2013
"Save Me, Rip Orion" is stylistically a cross between the southern fiction of Fannie Flag and the ultimate creepy guy that is Napoleon Dynamite. Deeply emotional, infused with humor and extreme plot twists and turns, Bower presents us with a very human story. Bower's characters aren't heroes and they're not anti-heroes, they're real people trying to do the right things but not always sure what the best right thing might be. In the end, the work the reader is presented is engaging in a very blue collar, Bible belt, regular people kind of way. In short, "Save Me, Rip Orion" is one truly compelling read.Roscoe is a virgin who finished high school and started grounds keeping at the local cemetery. He lives in a very grey and hot little apartment that's crumbling around him. Bower describes him in the first passages as an almost golem like character. Thin with his chin glued to his shoulder. Eyes downcast. Trying to be as small as he can be so that he won`t be seen ... something that the reader feels he`s done all of his life. This is not a guy who craves the spotlight. Mitch is the over weight kid from high school that no one let forget how fat he was. Bullies called them ``The Amazing Lard-O and Twiggy. ``In reflection of Roscoe and Mitch, there are Damon and Jason. Damon is the star player that Roscoe injured in high school and Jason is the former cool kid turned cop who deeply regrets the way he treated Mitch and Roscoe when they were children. Roscoe and Jason are trying to move on but Damon and Mitch still hold deep resentments. These are people we all know. We may not know their inner battles but we've met these characters before and we suspect that no matter how happy their endings, they have inner demons to be battled. Of course, no one said the ending was happy.I will not spoil but the ending was spectacularly done.One reviewer suggests that anyone who would give this novel a positive review is clearly related to the author. The reviewer cites the author needing an editor and unclear plot points. I'm no editor but there were phrasings that seemed awkward to me. I'm sure there's a good, sound, literary reason for using the characters name once in a paragraph and then referring to him as "the groundskeeper" or "the fisherman" but it confused this humble reader. The unclear plot point of what happened with Mitch's family struck me as having a greater impact because of what is left to the reader's imagination. In the end, I thought if what was implied happened we'd have heard about it from the other characters but in the moment my heart broke for Mitch. He tells Roscoe early on, Sorry I can`t save the world with you, I`ve got to save myself first. There are many ways to save oneself.I truly enjoyed this novel and believe that people who tend to lean toward cozy mysteries, southern fiction or stories about the human condition should buy this novel today.