Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #208957 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-23
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

Customer Reviews

"Canst thou by searching find out God?"


Whether from crisis-of-faith or mid-life crisis, fifty-seven-year old Ken Carpenter has reached a point in his life where he questions everything, even his fundamental belief in God. Raised as a Baptist, Ken has spent the years of marriage and family doing the expected, an insurance salesman in Lincoln, Nebraska, living in bland, middle-aged boredom. His marriage to Nancy has fallen into predictable routine, their communication predictable and ordinary. When Ken sobs his confusion one night, questioning the existence of God, Nancy stands by, confused and unable to relate to her husband's emotional torment.

Unsurprisingly, the pastor is called and it is on his advice that Ken travels to London, where he had spent his time in the service. On the flight to London, Ken is propositioned by a divorced woman, a hint of the new experiences ahead. Nevertheless, Ken is a creature of his environment, lacking spontaneity or curiosity about the world-at-large. Although he is befriended by a young bartender and her sculptor flat mate, contributing financially to this odd threesome, Ken has yet to truly explore the questions that bedevil him. He does, however, derive some comfort in clumsy fledgling efforts at sculpture, suspending for a time the angst that has lately permeated his every waking hour.

At home, wife Nancy and eldest daughter, Ashley, wait, Nancy increasingly pained by Ken's emotional desertion, Ashley more direct in her anger. Although he harbors no immediate plans to do so, Ken returns home on the occasion of his mother's funeral, confronted by the family he left behind. Face to face with Nancy, Ken attempts to explain his recent actions, to navigate the difficult terrain back to his wife.

Letts fails to address Ken's burning issue of faith once he arrives in London, instead allowing his protagonist to slide into a more comfortable resolution, suspending thought while immersed in the relationship with his British acquaintances, dabbling in sculpture. If nothing else the scorn heaped on Ken's American naiveté and self-absorption allows him to adjust his rigid perception of himself and the world, an inkling perhaps that his problem is not nearly as serious as those faced by others: "All Americans are defensive. They can't help it."

Thanks to her husband's unexpected actions, Nancy Carpenter undergoes her own transition. A traditional wife and mother, Nancy chafes at being so easily cast aside, a slow rage gradually building. Letts displays a deft touch for the minute details of family life, the small betrayals and disappointments that result in upheaval and forced change, the unhappiness surfacing after years of tranquility. Luan Gaines/ 2007.