Maillard (Gloria) turns the spotlight on the Polish-American community in fictional Raysburg, W.Va., a steel town modeled after his native Wheeling and the setting for six of his previous novels. Discharged in 1969 after serving in Guam, noncombatant Vietnam-era vet Jimmy Koprowski returns to his parents' house and his old childhood bedroom ("the sloped ceiling is covered with all the Playboy
centerfolds I taped up in high school, and if you can imagine anything more depressing than Miss November from 1960, then tell me about it"). He takes a job doing TV repairs for "a couple cents above minimum wage" and tries to readjust to the smallness of life in Raysburg, mainly through excessive boozing and sordid back-alley trysts. After an erotic encounter outside the local mall, Jimmy gets caught up in a messy affair with a neurotic society matron named Connie. The last straw for his jangled nerves comes when his 21-year-old sister, Linda, also living at home, decides to take up the trumpet and start an all-girl polka band. Jimmy finds himself playing chauffeur to 15-year-old clarinet virtuoso Janice Dluwiekis, the goody-two-shoes daughter of a prominent accountant and the star of Linda's band. The engrossing tale traces Jimmy's losing struggle to tame his drinking as his carnal obsession with Connie and his disturbing feelings for the innocent Janice spiral out of control. Jimmy is a wry, down-to-earth, irresistible narrator, and Maillard draws all the characters in the working-class community with compassion and obvious affection. This moving, well-drawn story of sin and redemption in a fading industry town may remind readers of Richard Russo. (Mar. 1)
Forecast:A regional author tour will give
The Clarinet Polka a local boost, but word of mouth and bookseller attention (both likely to be forthcoming) will be key in getting it noticed elsewhere.
