Following Atticus

We here in Newburyport (our fair city) have been very fortunate to be featured in three wonderful books recently.  The first was Joel Brown’s superb murder mystery “Mirror Ball Man,” next was Andre Dubus’ celebrated “Townie” and next up is Tom Ryan’s “Following Atticus.”  Newburyport residents know Mr. Ryan as the provocative editor of the local political journal “The Undertoad.”  He was reviled by some and loved by many for his intrepid news reporting and his courageous stands against authority and power.  Mr. Ryan and “The Undertoad” were by turns smart, petulant, insightful, caustic, sentimental, enormously funny and ALWAYS worth reading.  In the days of “The Undertoad” you truly could not be considered “in the know” about Newburyport if you had not devoured the latest issue. 

Those of us who got to know Tom Ryan knew he was a fine writer, great storyteller and immensely witty.  Much like our local son’s Joel and Andre, Tom simply knows how to write.  In what I trust will be the first of many books, on September 20 “Following Atticus” will be published.  Newburyporter’s will certainly delight in his characterizations of our fair city and his observations of some of its inhabitants, both named and un-named. 

“Following Atticus” is best described as a memoir that really reads like a novel.  As I got further into the book I would often forget that I knew Tom and much of the story and find myself just enjoying the craft, wit and heart of his storytelling.  The core of the book is Tom’s relationship with his amazing little dog Atticus and their adventures hiking in the White Mountains, but the story begins to unfold as family elements come into play and you soon realize that what you are really reading is a tale of redemption and discovery.  About a third of the way thru the book my wife asked me how I liked it and I told her with great authority that; “I didn’t care what Tom said, this is a dog book.”  Of course about 50 pages later as the book deepened and opened up I had to eat my words; this was certainly not a “dog book” or a “hiking book” but a great story.  In the way Moby Dick is not a “whale book”
Tom had succeeded in using his hiking quest and his friendship with this little dog to tell a much grander story about love, survival, fear, change, dysfunctional families, and of course small New England cities.  Like all great writers he uses the colors of his simple story to paint a much grander canvas about life itself and he does it with a quiet skill and artfulness of a fine writer.  So it will not matter if you love dogs, or care anything about hiking or the White Mountains, or live in a small New England city this book will draw you in with its heartfelt tale of love, survival and triumph.