What is it with Rodney Ross and conflagrations? First, he releases ‘Diversionary Fires’. Hot on its heels, we have ‘Smoking with Didi’, another tale where people rake through the metaphorical ashes of their lives. In this case, it is a brother and sister reluctantly drawn back into the family orbit after the paterfamilias passes away (or, rather, succumbs agonisingly to cancer.) Ross has never shied away from the messy reality of death:
”He’s been knocking at death’s door so long he was wedged in the mail slot. He had cancer everywhere but his fingernails, and I’m not so sure about those, as gray as they got. Did you know I had to cut them with tin snips?”
It is a macabre detail, but a strangely endearing one that not only anchors Didi in a very particular reality, but has the reader rooting for her all the way through this all-too-brief novella. And on a side note, if you think the town Aughe (‘pronounced Oy’) rings a bell: Yes, it is the same setting as ‘Diversionary Fires’. Early on, Pete comments “that the outskirts of town had seen some resurgence due to the construction of a large senior care facility.” On Firefly Road.
Ross is also the master of the plot twist that either throws events into stark relief, or forces the reader to mentally recalibrate what has happened before. Or both. ‘Smoking with Didi’, in particular, carpet-bombs the poor reader with two incendiary twists in quick succession near the end. The twists are innocently contained in short separate paragraphs at the end of two specific chapters. I, for one, did a mental ‘WTF?’ U-turn before I could carry on reading. Really? was my initial response. He expects us to believe that?
But then Ross deftly fills in the blanks, and lets the reader consider the true implications of what seemed so preposterous at first glance. He also pokes fun at the very conventions he uses to such masterful effect: “This has all the call-outs of a crappy brother/sister movie on Hulu, to allow for swear words.” Pete remarks at one point that ”This trip’s already been like an O. Henry story.”
The story starts out with a sister (reluctantly) phoning her estranged brother to inform him of their father’s death, and the brother (equally reluctantly) agreeing to return to their home town (where he had long ago managed to “get that cherry business out of the way”, but with unfortunate [and unforeseen] consequences.) Pete wonders at the end, in the wake of all the ensuing drama: “Am I Dorothy, returned from Oz, having learned the lesson to never venture beyond my own cow barn?”
It ultimately transforms into a brother-and-sister buddy road trip as Didi is hellbent to rekindle memories of Harry Potter at Wizarding World in Florida. If that sounds crazy, fear not. Ross is in such control of his material, and has such an abiding faith in these damaged but endearing characters, that the reader can’t help be swept along in their wake of revelation and redemption.
Pete is gay and down and out on his luck, both in love and work. He is also on the wrong side of being a twink, with his gym-bunny sixpack a shadow of its former self. One of the best set pieces (in a long string of standout scenes for such a short story) is when Pete bumps into a former schoolmate at his dad’s funeral.
Of course, he had had the raging hots for this unattainable jock. Now, when the afterglow of youthful horniness has faded for both of them, and in the wake of the friend’s bypass surgery and a failed marriage, he invites Pete to his house for a beer and a dip in the jacuzzi. (At this point I was saying ‘no, no, no!’ quite loudly at Pete’s rashness. Actually, there are a lot of moments when the reader finds him or herself admonishing these characters for reckless behaviour, stupid decisions, or both.)
I know it is terrible to compare writers without sounding like a publisher’s marketing department, but Ross has the weird eye for detail and empathic humour of John Irving (and Richard Russo, come to think of it) that results in paragraphs such as this:
He came to The Blood Clot Badminton House, where the father of a childhood buddy, Marty, died of a cerebral aneurysm in front of the entire family, playing badminton. Swatting at a shuttlecock, he’d clutch his head and collapsed on their lawn. The wife, thinking it was a joke, kicked him in the ass. When he didn’t leap up and yell, “Fooled’ ya!” 911 was called.
That this bawdy and riotous tale manages to end against a backdrop of fireworks at Disneyworld is no small wonder, as it is testament to Ross’s unwavering faith in humanity:
Whistling projectiles soared high behind Cinderella’s illuminated castle. The expectant intake of breath was crowd-sized.
“And just like that,” Pete observed, “every adult, transfixed.”
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
