It is the story of Al. As it opens he’s waking up: “Al Ward, sixty-seven years old, bone-thin, with gray hair and blue eyes, looked out the window to falling snow.” Al lives in utter isolation in Nevada. He’s a musician - he has written lots of songs.
Al chose to become a hermit. He’s an alcoholic-life has nearly defeated him. The author employs this gorgeous technique; Al recalls songs he wrote then takes us into flashbacks to what he was doing when he wrote them. His memories are litanies of the losses he has endured.
We meet his uncle, Al’s dear companion. His uncle was a drinker who set his nephew along that same accursed trail of tears. We meet Al’s wife, the love of his life, and observe as he messes up their relationship. Al spent his career playing guitar in mediocre groups performing cover songs at casinos.
As he was getting ground down by the monotony of that existence he was writing songs-some of them quite good. Vlautin has a fun time sharing Al’s song titles with us. Now and then one of Al’s songs will actually get performed by one of his groups or will elicit the interest of someone in the music business.
He’d play music, get burned out, then do the other thing he does, cooking in diners. A singer who recorded some of his work makes an observation; his songs are all sad. As perusers of his song titles we recognize this too.
Yesterday I had coffee with a friend who is a successful songwriter. I mentioned the fictional Al. My friend said sometimes he’ll write a song he thinks is fantastic then make a quick recording of it. When he listens back to them he will sometimes recognize a song he thought was genius isn’t great after all.
And so it goes. One day Al notices a horse has materialized outside his place. It is in bad shape. Al tries to give it water and food.It stands there, unresponsive. It won’t even eat the pasta Al cooks for it. Unbelievable, right? Al hikes up the mountain to a meadow to try to find grass under the snow to offer the horse.
In his desperation Al realizes he and that horse are soul mates. Both are wounded, exhausted, starving, near the ends of their lives. How they needed each other. Let me note this story might seem depressing. It isn’t. “The Horse” is splendidly imagined and truly uplifting. You’ll shed tears of joy when you finish reading it.
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7 a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www.wyso.org/programs/book-nook. Contact him at vick@vickmickunas.com.
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