By Charlie Stella
Temporary Knucksline
November 1, 2010
TK Special Review: The best book of the year … Pike, Benjamin Whitmer (PM Press)
It
is rare, but there are times when a writer comes along who is so good
one has to take special notice of him and his work. Recently I came
across a few mentions about a book titled Pike by Benjamin
Whitmer. Then I saw his Dancing with Myself interview over at Nigel’s
joint, Sea Minor and thought he was interesting. I Googled for reviews
of his book, Pike, and found this one in Spinetingler magazine.
Intrigued
enough to make a purchase, I was fortunate to find the book on Kindle
(although the formatting here wasn’t great—some run-in words, missing
words, etc.). I had been reading Lermontov’s A Hero For Our Time (one of the kindle cheapies), but wasn’t enjoying it the way I had hoped. First chance I had, I gave Pike
a look-see and found myself so engrossed with the story AND THE WRITING
I hadn’t moved from where I was sitting (on the bench at the gym) and
my legs went numb.
When I could focus on Pike again, I
did so straight through to the end. Most of yous know how I feel about
writing awards (across the board). While I’m glad for friends when
they’re nominated and/or win, I don’t believe in any writing award
(mostly because the sheer volume of books published in any given year
precludes genuine vetting, but add the politics of the business to the
scenario and what you’re left with is … well, it isn’t legit). I’m
afraid Pike will prove my point (since I seriously doubt the
powers that be behind the politics of writing awards will give this
wonderful book a fair shake). While Temporary Knucksline is no literary
review or committee or anything other than a dopey blog (like all the
other dopey blogs out there), it is going to award this novel the
following: The best book of 2010 … hands fucking down.
Pike
is more than a dark story about dark characters; it is the most
impressive writing to come along in quite a while. Work like this
belongs in English literature classes (certainly as required reading in
any MFA coursework). For anyone into the darker slices of life, Pike will serve as a future template for crime writers exploring the real world.
Certain
writers should be required reading in schools the way certain movies
should be required viewing in schools (American History X, etc.). Pike is one of those books … the way Cormac McCarthy’s works have etched their way into our literary Americana, so does Whitmer’s Pike belong there. This is superb writing, start to finish. Absolutely mesmerizing. This morning I reread Pike during my commute because it is really that good.
I’ll probably reread it again before the end of the week.
I never heard of PM Press or Benjamin Whitmer or Pike before bouncing around these dopey blogs we all write. If there was ever a good reason for them (these dopey blogs) books like Pike are it. This is more than highly recommended reading, amci. Reading this book is a Temporary Knucksline demand.
Hands down the best book I’ve read this year … I shit yous not.
