How
to Catch a Coyote
Christy Crutchfield. Publishing Genius Press,
$12.95 paperback (208p) ISBN: 978-0988750388
How do
you survive a family? That is what is at the heart of How to Catch a Coyote.
In Christy Crutchfield’s first novel, she lays everything out for the reader –
an entire family history from start to finish, first unplanned pregnancy and
all. But the history has been ripped apart, the pieces scattered to the four
winds. It’s a great creative leap by the author, who shows us the collective
patchwork of each family member’s memories, skipping back and forth between
time periods. The primary focus goes to Daniel, the youngest of the Walker
clan, who begins the novel writing a sort of family history for a college writing
course, finding the effort pointless. With a bit of confidence, Crutchfield has
Daniel lay out all the bare facts in the very first chapter. It’s a brave move
as most authors (and their editors) would be too scared to reveal it all from
the get go. Crutchfield handles it with deft skill. She returns to each era,
showing it to the reader from different angles and points-of-view, each family
member telling their side like a southern Rashomon. So we already know
about the parents break-up and what ultimately happens to Hill Walker, the
father. But as we return to the past again and again, seeing how each family
member saw it unfold, we find new details and revelations. We also see more of
the stark humanity of each family member. Each as complex as the other. All a
sum of their faults.
All of
this would have been a mere literary gimmick if Crutchfield couldn’t match it
with really outstanding writing. She has a great knack for being both spare in
her prose, not wasting a word, and yet somehow injecting something bigger
within the simple lines. Small incidents have larger implications.
“The
middle of the week is when his mother takes the longest showers. He hears her
mumble in there, probably about work or money. The sound is amplified and
garbled, but it sounds like she’s working something out. The permanent house
feels as empty as the rental house sometimes. His sister warned him of that.”
As the
novel progresses, we learn that each member is trying to adapt and overcome the
rift that ultimately drove them all apart. Crutchfield again shows a bit of
daring by hinting at the source of the rift, but leaving it tucked in the
background, a dark stain that no one wanted to clean up. It sends Daniel’s
sister Dakota off into the wilds, so to speak, showing characteristics that are
eerily similar to the coyotes they see appearing at the edges of the story. It
forces Mom to put all her energy into being a woman she really doesn’t want to
be, losing the connection with her own children. It leaves Daniel adrift, as
confused by himself as the rest of his family. And it leaves Hill Walker
banished from his own family, never quite able to get them back.
In
the end, the novel has moments of tragedy and beauty, all welded together in
simple scenes that communicate the tiny losses that stack up over time. “You
can never go back” seems to be the lesson learned. You can only adapt and
survive like a scavenger in the wild. (July 2014)
Purchase
How To Catch A Coyote HERE.
