The Death Of Sweet Mister by
Daniel Woodrell
Summer in the Missouri hills and Shug, a friendless, overweight 13 year old
lives with his mother Glenda in the caretaker's cottage at the local
cemetery, scratching a living by tending the graves. Glenda's husband Red
(who may or may not be Shug's father and who comes and goes at will) is
training the boy in the family business - burglary. Red's reasoning is
that if Shug gets caught breaking and entering he'll be treated as a
juvenile without a record, sparing Red the risk of being sent down. Glenda
is a drunk who flirts incessantly even with her own son who is increasingly
aware of her charms. Over the length of the summer Shug struggles to
protect his mother from the volatile Red, from other dangerous liaisons and
her own poor judgement. But violent tragedy and death prove inescapable.
The Death Of Sweet Mister is beautiful, dark and brutal. Woodrell gives us
searing, soaring prose and a heartbreaking narrative. A quintessentially
American novel which explores the corruption of innocence and the harsh
lives of those exiled from the American Dream and which resonates long
after the last page has been read. One of the best books this year.
Manchester Evening News 22.2.02
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