And Your Little Dog, Too

I've avoided posting about Jonathan Carroll's books for a while now because they are terrific and I'm afraid I'll screw it up (yes, Tripp, also because I post once a month during the busy season). I finished Outside the Dog Museum recently, though, and have to take a whack.

Carroll, for those who have not encountered him or read Tripp's earlier post on Land of Laughs, writes what is often described, for lack of a better category, as "urban fantasy". What makes his books worth reading? Shit, I'm blowing this already.

Four reasons to pick up one of his books (Dog Museum is a good place to start, by the way):

1. He writes like a dream. I'm not a particular Stephen King fan any longer (when I was 13 I thought he kicked ass, of course), but one thing I have to hand him is that the guy can write about almost anything and make it interesting. Carroll has the same gift, without some of King's more obvious literary pretensions. Carroll is one of those writers who makes you say (or makes me say, anyway) "If I could write like that, I'd do it for free. I'd do it on a desert island, just to read my own stuff."

2. His stories are basically redemptive. The four Carroll books that I've read follow a similar narrative arc: protagonist undergoes a life-changing series of events and ultimately recognizes that he/she has led a life of purpose. Call him the un-existentialist (and there is generally bit more to it, thankfully). In lesser hands this kind of story is trite and irritating, but Carroll pulls it off. Call me a weenie, but with two kids, a mortgage and two more years of Bush in store, I need someone to tell me that there is a method to the madness every now and then.

3. He is not afraid to take on big ideas and write with a (somewhat) straight face about the supernatural. Examples would be big-time spoilers here, unfortunately, but his plot devices are similar to those of Tim Powers, right down to the way they really click at times and fizzle a bit at others.

4. An English bull terrier features prominently in every one of his novels, and some of them talk.