20241010_ExLibris

6 E X L I B R I S • Y E L L O W S P R I N G S L I B R A R Y A S S O C I A T I O N • F A L L , 2 0 2 4 CHRIS MURPHY YSLA board member I found this book in a stack of free books at the Nashville, Indi- ana YMCA. I was taking a break from camping in Brown County and sought a shower, a plug to charge my phone and camping battery, and some air condition- ing. You just never know when or where you’ll find a good read. “Handling Sin” follows a small town insurance salesman who “obeyed the law and tried to do the right thing.” Our hero, Raleigh Hayes, embarks on a road trip from North Carolina to New Orleans. Within the broad frame of this trip, we meet many memorable characters and have many adventures. The storytell- ing is strong and the pages fly by as you follow Raleigh in his quest to fulfill his dying father’s wish to meet him in New Orle- ans. In addition, his father has given our hero a series of tasks he must complete prior to this rendezvous. The father checked himself out of the local hospital where he was under observation and testing for a suspected heart condition. He withdraws a large amount of money from his bank accounts, buys a big flashy con- vertible, and leaves town with a mysterious young woman on his arm. He writes to his son that if he wants to ever see his consider- able inheritance, he will complete Review: Handling Sin | Michael Malone a list of tasks and meet him by a certain date in New Orleans. The heart of the story is the comple- tion of these tasks and the strug- gle to meet the deadline. Our hero is not motivated by the hope of an inheritance, but by a love for his father. We meet unsavory hit men, we break up a Klan meeting, we visit Charleston, we pretend to be a movie producer and crash a high society party. None of this is typical of our hero’s life. He is spun out into a world that is way beyond his comfort zone. The author, Michael Malone, is a strong storyteller. He sharp- ened his skills as a head writer of ABC-TV’s “One Life to Live.” “Entertainment Weekly” once wrote that “OLTL was airing some of the most literate drama to hit daytime - too good to be called a ‘soap opera’.” Once I read this in the author ‘s bio, I understood how this tale can spin from one adventure to another - none of which could be anticipated but all written with a strong literate tone. What happens when our hero finally arrives in New Orleans? Give “Handling Sin” a read to find out. It is a trip worth taking. Publisihed 1986, Washington Square Press Fiction. Comma I’m never sure of where they should be placed, especially in sonnets. I’ve been told a poem reader’s breathing should be paced by commas and judiciously controlled. It’s elementary, I think again. I’m certain I can follow such a rule, composing fourteen lines, avoiding strain, by using punctuation as a tool. But then my editor reads every line, responds with marks and commas in bright red, as if her breath is shallow, less than mine, thus, making me conclude, I’ve been misled. To lessen editorial support, henceforth, I plan to make each sentence short. Poem: Punctuation Gerald E. Greene