“Sometimes a wave offers no room to maneuver…”
Many months ago Tom Mahony sent me a copy of his first book, Imperfect Solitude. It has taken me a while to get around to reading it; work deadlines kept getting in the way. I also kept thinking that I wasn’t in the mood for a “surf novel.” Well, putting off reading this book was a mistake.
Imperfect Solitude is a smart and well-written book that wrestles honestly with some complicated issues around the environment, family and friends, and our often fickle commitment to each. The conversation the characters have with these issues are affective and make the reader’s body as uncomfortable as their assumptions on the issues. Tom presents us with difficult questions. His characters offer no answers, but rather explore honest faults and contradictions that we all tend to try to push aside in an attempt to simply get by in what is at times an ugly and exploitative social system that we have been cast into. There is no easy way of resisting the desires this system produces and fulfills at the same time. All the characters make compromises and squirm as they try to work out how much their conscience can hold or what they can forget (or not) as demands beyond their choosing impact them.
The book starts in a slow burn. The characters and settings creep up on you, and soon you are swept up in their scenarios and problems and come to join the main character, Evan, in his longing for a paddle-out at his local spot for some respite. Tom delivers these sessions intermittently with the nous only a surfer with considerable experience could. The surfing scenes take a back seat to the main issues, yet they sincerely capture the role surfing plays in so many of our lives – intermittent bursts of sanity amongst the mayhem.
Imperfect Solitude heats up two-thirds of the way in. However, I found the somewhat dramatic shift of pace disconcerting. The first two-thirds of the book had me making comparisons to an Annie Proulx novel, whereby you are not sure where things are going, but you go along anyway with oh, so subtle changes in the lives of others. You end up different (alongside them), without being quite aware of when that difference arrived. Personally, the shift into high gear was jarring, and I found myself wanting Tom to slow down again and let me get to know more of the characters even better and to mine their problems and contradictions further. There was far more rich material here to explore and a longer journey to be had. The “more” speaks volumes. I wanted more of this novel, not less.
The writing itself has all the hallmarks of Tom’s short stories: crisp, sharp sentences, lucid thought, and an ability to capture your senses. The dialogue is honest, and the voices are those we hear around us every day. No conversation is forced or feels out of place.
Imperfect Solitude is definitely worth a read. It’s got depth to it without being even remotely preachy in regards to the issues it brings up. The writing is sparse and without any fanfare. Just how I like it. George Orwell would have been proud.
Quite clearly Imperfect Solitude is not a “surf novel.” In fact, it was a disservice for me to refer to Imperfect Solitude as a surf novel with the cliches and tired narrative that genre implies. What Tom has written is, rather, a modern, fresh and bold first novel about issues facing coastal communities in modern America. Tom Mahony is a writer of considerable talent and has important things to say, and if given the space and support promises to stand out as a significant young American author worth seeking out.
Tom Mahony, is a surfer, biological consultant and author from Northern California. He has previously published works of short fiction. Imperfect Solitude is his first novel and can be purchased here.
