Family Gathering by Fred Chappell (review)

in a cage. And that doesn't even include an alcoholic husband, a cruel grandfather, and a seemingly feckless preacher's wife. While abnormality seems to drive the engine of the plot, actually the story traces the eventual exoneration of the mother which, in turn, leads to the partial, lest we stretch credulity, reunification of the family after her death and subsequent burial. The author, Barbara Smith, is a well-known and prolific writerprofessor at Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, West Virginia, whose works include seven books of non-fiction and scores of short stories and journal articles. The Circumstance of Death adds an additional dimension to her resume, for in the main, this is a solid piece of writing whose plot devices only seldom baffle readers and whose characters rarely speak out of character. Those readers interested in a story that not only accounts for how cruel families can be to one another, but also a novel where many of these same members can pull together for the common good, will find this work engaging. What is most satisfying about Smith's work, however, is that she seldom stoops to using the tired stereotypes thatpopulate the pages ofall too manyAppalachiannovels. All the characters seem like people you're likely to meet in the filling stations, schools, and churches of not just the mountains of West Virginia, but also on the main streets ofAmerica. Too long Appalachian novelists have fed the other United States a diet of cliched characters that reinforce the notion Appalachia is populated by Li'l Abners, Daisy Maes, and Pappy Yokums. This novel goes a long way in proving that dysfunctional families happen everywhere, even in the hollers and hills of rural West Virginia. —Marshall Myers Chappell, Fred. Family Gathering. Banton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2000. 62 pp., trade paperback. North Carolina Poet Laureate Fred Chappell uses humor to hook readers in his poetry book, Family Gathering. You'll keep time to the beat of each line in his poems. This hilarious collection sketches weird, wild and wisecrack characters that have gathered to cast eyes upon each other. More than anything, this family loves to gossip: She loves to gossip, Aunt Alicia does; The problem is, her memory's all fuzz, 93 And so she can't attach the proper name To the proper personage and must defame. . . Did Cousin Danny rob a jewelry store Or did he lately move to Labrador? Additionally, Aunt Lavinia's casserole probably causes a buzz around the dinner table. Her dish is a terror to the soul: .. .The fumes it breathes are strong enough To set the smoke detectors off; The radon gauge screams into red, The Geiger counters go stark mad. For mankind's future we must control Aunt Lavinia's casserole... You'll also find a poem about the "Packrat" in this collection. Cousin Reeves saves everything even lengths of string for he believes it will be useful later. Does this sound like some of us?And almost everyone has a chair that's been part of the family for ages. You just can't depart with it although the seat is: Lumpy, frumpy, boggy, saggy, butt Sprung and dingy, weary to The bone and older than the Pleasures of King Tut. Chappell has captured portraits of family members who may remind us of our own relatives. The gathering may be a family reunion, a specially occasion such as a holiday, wedding, or birthday. Whenever the family meets, skeletons come out to dance. Odd personalities , braggarts, crab apples, womanizers, and bigots sizzle at these gatherings. This collection is a mural of mean fun. You'll find crazy Uncle McGhee, hen-pecked Hubert, shy Jill and Cousin Lola who charts her lovers. Cousin Elmer drives you mad with his genealogy and there's Uncle Britt— Cuts you off before you say Two sentences and lets you know He knows already what you think And what you think is pretty dumb. 94 But not everyone expresses his opinion. Uncle Nahum is like a calculator and studies his kinfolk from the dark corner. He's silent. Grandfather Settle just dozes and makes rasping, rattling, buzzing noises. Finally, Fred Chappell captures...