How a supporting cast of small-town characters gives this year's One Read life
Editor's note: Each Sunday in September, Ida Fogle of Daniel Boone Regional Library will explore a different aspect of this year's One Read title, "The Big Door Prize" by M.O. Walsh. Columns may include mild spoilers.
Deerfield, Louisiana — population nearly 12,000 — is the setting for this year’s One Read tale. As the fictional town’s bicentennial approaches, a banner is hung proclaiming “Welcome to Deerfield!! Two Hundred Years of Peace and Quiet!!”
One of the things M.O. Walsh does well in his novel “The Big Door Prize” is capture the flavor of small-town life, which often runs contrary to the banner’s double exclamation mark celebration of tranquility.
All the dynamics are on display in a scene showing a raucous, chuckle-worthy city council meeting where petty personal grievances bubble to the surface during discussions about event planning and permits.
In my previous articles, I’ve concentrated on a handful of the story’s major players. But multitudes of characters help give Deerfield its civic personality. They provide pretty good entertainment value too.
Deuce Newman, former high school football star-turned-photographer, is well-known in the community yet appears to have no real friends. He’s the guy who drives a truck that’s bigger than some houses — not for any practical reason, but as a show of ego.
He bulldozes his way through situations, making no secret of his dual ambitions to take over the role of mayor by unseating Hank Richieu and to woo Cherilyn Hubbard away from her husband Douglas. Deuce uses the approaching bicentennial as a way to insert himself into everyone’s business, promising to create a giant mural composed of photos of town residents. There are hints he has a few other plans up his sleeve as well.
A black Lincoln Towncar is the vehicle of choice for Tipsy Rodrigue, the closest thing to a taxi driver to be found for miles around. A genial man in his fifties, Tipsy derives purpose in life from offering free rides to anyone in need. He can afford to do this because of a financial settlement he received following a slip-and-fall injury at Walmart.
He came to this vocation after a DWI incident in which he narrowly avoided tragedy. Now, constant chauffeuring is what keeps him from drinking. It also provides him with all the best gossip, another reason his service is so popular.
Deerfield Catholic School principal Pat Howell cusses up a storm — but in her own invented lingo, so it doesn’t count as foul language. She’s full of expressions like “dib-nab” and "cock-a-poo.” In frustration, she complains about the “dribbin’ students.”
Principal Pat embraces with enthusiasm the suggestion of the DNAMIX machine that carpentry is her true calling. Despite scant experience with tools or wood, she makes immediate plans to retire from education and go build her dream house by hand.
One of the most intriguing characters is Geoffrey Mallow, who is Douglas Hubbard’s trombone instructor, but also so much more. Geoffrey is a newcomer to Deerfield, coming from a family of New Orleans musicians — one I can’t help imagine was inspired by the real-life Marsalis family.
He’s the coolest cat around, confident in a way that manifests as kindness, a musical genius capable of playing multiple instruments, yet down to earth. He has moved to town to find a quiet space after a long, successful career. And now, thanks to the DNAMIX, he wants to become a master of magical illusion as well.
But unlike some others in the story, he finds a way to integrate his new dreams into the life he’s already built instead of abandoning one for the other. Perhaps we all could learn some lessons from his approach.
There are still a handful of One Read programs upcoming, including The Magic of Small Towns at the Center for Human Performance, Room 100, at William Woods University in Fulton from 2 to 3 p.m. Thursday. See oneread.dbrl.org/events for more information.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Small-town characters make this year's One Read feel lived-in
