Alison's Automotive Repair Manual - Hardcover

Barkley, Brad

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312291388 ISBN 13: 9780312291389

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 2003

Synopsis

Two years after losing her husband, Alison reluctantly agrees to move out of her sister's West Virginia home as soon as she fixes--and learns how to fix--a 1976 Corvette that has been rusting in the garage. 25,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

Alison lives in a small West Virginia town with her sister and brother-in-law. As Alison's Automotive Repair Manual opens, her main occupation is mourning her husband who died in an accident two years ago. Her sister, her friends and her former boss at the community college have all grown weary of her grief and beg her to move on. But Alison is paralysed, maybe partially because she wasn't all that crazy about her husband in the first place. One day she discovers a disintegrating 1976 Corvette in her sister's garage and finally thinks of something she'd like to do: repair the Vette. Alison knows nothing about cars, but pegs away at her project anyhow, knowing all the while that "the whole thing was folly". Meanwhile, we follow her healing, her new love for a munitions expert named Max, her sister's quest to get pregnant, and the (literal) exposure of the town's secret history. While Alison is an appealingly complex character, forever stumbling into gaffes, the book is a little too neat with its themes, goals and love interests laid out tidily in the first 40 pages. But fans of quirky beings such as Jill McCorkle will find a sympathetic new voice here. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com

About the Author:

Brad Barkley teaches creative writing at Frostburg State University.

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0312291388
• ISBN 13: 9780312291389
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288