cover image Hustle

Hustle

Jason Skipper. Press 53 (Ingram, dist.), $18.95 trade paper (218p) ISBN 9781935708346

Part coming-of-age story, part family drama, Skipper's highly episodic debut novel%E2%80%94set in 1980s Texas%E2%80%94offers a thin storyline, and proves tender to the point of blandness. Narrator Chris Saxton, an aspiring musician, has his talent both nurtured and threatened by his dysfunctional family%E2%80%94grandfather, Buddy, is an ex-con hustler whom Chris first meets in the aftermath of a life-threatening bender; his father, Wrendon, is a seafood salesman who chases women and booze. As Chris tries to make music and forge a path out of poverty, his friends and family struggle with alcoholism, divorce, disparities in wealth and class, AIDS, cancer, and drug use. Despite the overarching theme of hustling as a way of life%E2%80%94an attempt to satisfy the "want" that plagues us from childhood%E2%80%94the book feels more like a linked story collection than a novel. Because Skipper seems unwilling to make his narrative too unpleasant, the characters are all basically good, and moments of both grief and ecstasy take on a frustrating sameness. Though the novel offers a well-intentioned story of a protagonist battling against adversity, readers should not expect surprises. (June)