Review: Quirky and light-hearted, a different Amy Lane
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 30, 2013
"Left on St. Truth-Be-Well" is a very short book - but it didn't feel short (in a good way).  It is also a very funny book - not something I associate with Amy Lane's angsty, sincere novels that explore human relationships with such poignant depth.Now I'm envious of Ms. Lane, because writing funny is harder than writing sincere, or even just writing well.In a very sly variation on the city-mouse-country-mouse tradition, we meet Carson, a waiter/stand-up comic, who heads off on a wild goose chase to a small resort town in Florida to find his boss's runaway nephew. Carson is the heart and soul of Chicago - a city boy from the chilly north.  He is small and feisty and constantly irritated at someone or something.  Then Carson pulls into what appears to be a sleepy little Florida coastal town - the opposite of what he finds interesting - and meets Dale. Dale is tall, laconic, and a waiter/surfer. He's a local boy and finds everything he needs in the critter-infested beaches where he grew up.Both men, as is Amy Lane's wont, are bisexual, (something, I confess, that tends to make me squirm, being a Kinsey 6 and hence unable to imagine). But Carson treats his flings with men as simple pleasure, and he's convinced he'll settle down with a girl someday to make his beloved stepmother happy. Dale, on the other hand, is more laid back; he's only waiting for the right person to finally "get" him - whoever he or she might be.  Carson is afraid to be a failure, and worries that his stand-up dreams are pointless. Dale accepts that people see him as a failure already, but is not willing to abandon his love of surfing to meet others expectations of what success means. These men's different approaches to life is what draws them to each other.Lane skillfully weaves the farcical murder mystery (yes, really) through the narrative - the gruesome death and the small-town setting provide a bright canvas that amuses and almost distracts from the romantic story at its core. But it is Carson and Dale who keep us focused - focused on the way one man's strong and confident sense of self gradually changes the heart and mind of another, who thinks he has it all figured out - but maybe doesn't.And, I have to admit, Amy Lane makes sex emotionally powerful, even essential, to her stories. She is not just fulfilling the readers' expectations, but opening windows of understanding into her characters' minds.