Hobson's Choice : A Biography of Sorts

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Stories- Great Writer
Review: Peter Heyrman has the wit of Mark Twain and the style of Hemingway and Faulkner. In "Hobson's Choice" he creates a story that very few could put together. It is a "fictional history" with a lot more truth than I think Heyrman is willing to admit. (Although Heyrman does say, "It is in fiction that one finds the deepest truth." ) I'd have to agree. He brings us back in time to the old south, to the period of the reconstruction through the the eyes of a flamboyant character, Arthur Fairly Hobson. If you want to be brought back in time and just escape, this is the book. The writing doesn't get any better and the stories really show something about the history and human nature of all of us. Hobson's Choice a is GREAT read.

Rating:
Summary: An American paradigm and parable
Review: Peter Heyrman's Arthur Fairly Hobson is a man who never was. And yet in Hobson the reader finds a paradigmatic American intellectual: difficult to decipher or know other than in passing, charming to those he meets--both men and women alike-- and yet simultaneously hollow and enigmatic to those who flock to his side.

The fact that Hobson is a fiction does not matter: this "biography" reminds one of the loneliness of history and of the many great men who have faded into obscurity.

Hobson's Choice is to some extent a metafictional commentary on or homage to the styles of great American writers as well. When exploring Hobson's childhood in the deep South, one can hear the strains of Sherwood Anderson in one chapter and Faulkner-esque rhythms in another. The style seems to follow the time, the place, and the events.

Ultimately, Hobson's story is the American story: what passes for power may be mere circumstance, what passes for beauty may be mere vanity. All the time the reader traces the events of Hobson's life-- the real Hobson remains elusive. Hobson is neither admirable nor despicable: it is impossible to know Hobson well enough to feel either about the man himself: the book in that sense is more about those who revolve around Hobson than about the man.

Ultimately, Hobson's secret is revealed, and along with that secret, Heyrman reveals a parable for the American fascination with political might and mythmaking. Yet it is not a political novel: there is little expression of political philosophy and no moralizing commentary on public policy. It is a book about humanity, which is drawn toward power as moths to a flame.

This is a good book for those who like biography or character sketches generally, or for those who are interested in the history of the times from the Reconstruction through the depression (Although Hobson is a fiction, his life in politics is set amidst very real events). More than anything, it is a good book for those who admire a thoughtful and well written novel with myriad levels of metaphor and nuance.