Nice

Following Apology for Big Rod, this second novel by Iowa-born Holdefer (who resides mainly in France) is set in Iowa, where the author still spends his summers. Striving for satire in his chronicle of the absurd foibles of an obsessive but simpleminded do-gooder, Holdefer unfortunately fails to display the necessary sense of timing, finesse and writerly flair to carry off this predictable shaggy-dog story. Tediously referred to throughout as Mr. Nice Guy, protagonist Jerry Renfrow is so eager to please that he has encouraged his wife Barbara to take other sexual partners to satisfy her restless libido. A curator at a museum erected above a labyrinthine cavern on the fringes of an Iowa city, Barbara takes her husband at his word and seduces men in the bowels of the cave. In keeping with his unbridled altruism, Mr. Nice Guy is proprietor of Home Made Services, Inc. While striving to fulfill a contract to supply 20 purebred apricot Labrador puppies for a surprise birthday party for the daughter of a Middle Eastern sheik, Mr. Nice Guy is called to jury duty, leaving the pups in the care of a less-than-trustworthy employee. As a consequence, Mr. Nice Guy is sent to prison for five years for animal cruelty. Not surprisingly, Barbara moves her shenanigans above ground and takes off for Mexico with one of her casual lovers. Sadly, the already undistinguished narrative slides even deeper into the tedium of daily prison life before the reader is finally granted a reprieve. If admirers of The Music Man librettist/composer Meredith Wilson ever wanted to argue that most Iowans are indeed inherently humorless, they'd find evidence here. (Apr.)