The Green Suitby Dwight Allen
Algonquin Books, 288 pp., $22.95
Dwight Allen’s first book, The Green Suit, is more of a collection of stories than a novel (eight of the 11 chapters were published in literary journals) and, unfortunately, the main character, Peter Sackrider, is a sad sack, arguably not worth pursuing through an entire book. Sackrider mopes through most of his life, committed to nothing but his mentally unstable sister and, even then, it’s a commitment that begins and ends with his presence. The book is divided into three sections, each having a different voice or voices, which makes for a choppy whole. The second is by far the most interesting and best-written as it delves into the internal lives of four women in Sackrider’s life: Willie, his family’s maid; his abandoned wife, Claire; an ex-girlfriend; and his mother. But even these are more like well-done writing exercises than parts of a complete story. The title of the book comes from a story, of the same title, that Sackrider tries to write about a New York City neighbor who wears a green suit, says very little of interest, slugs Sackrider for groping his girlfriend, and disappears entirely from the story. Then, the reader is returned to Sackrider’s emotionless orbit which just spins and spins and …
This article appears in September 8 • 2000.