Taking the Wall

Novelist (South of Resurrection) and short fiction (Bend This Heart) writer Agee's collection of bittersweet stories dissects the rough world of auto racing from the working-class perspectives of drivers, pit crews, fans, family and other hangers-on. While ""taking the wall""--crashing into it--is the worst possible scenario, Agee's characters secretly wish for the excitement, horror and suspense it offers: will the driver walk away from the fiery wreck? Domestic life unfolds around the racetrack throughout the collection. ""The Pop Off Valve"" is a monologue in which an unnamed narrator recounts her na vet in marrying a man obsessed with racing, and the wake-up call she received on her honeymoon 15 years ago at the Motor Speedway in Irish Hills, Mich., when not even a terrible accident could thwart her husband's devotion to his hobby. Her description of the crash is chilling: ""the rescue workers used the jaws of life to pry what was left of the driver from the shattered burnt shell of the car."" Nonchalantly, she adds, ""We grilled steaks on the hibachi at dark, unable to see the bloody raw meat until we cut into it."" Agee's parsimonious language is stamped with a stark, forceful clarity. This is a stellar collection about blue-color folk, their plucky and despairing relationships and their dreams of speed and glamour. The final two stories (""Caution"" and ""Mystery of Numbers"") close the book on a slightly different tone, featuring untethered voices not as direct or tautly styled as the previous pieces. If this book were a movie, it would be a noisy midwestern starring Steve McQueen, Jack Nicholson and Sissy Spacek, with Martha Plimpton as the feisty young grease monkey working at the Glory to God garage, across from the Curl Up & Dye Hair Salon. (Oct.)