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Reviewed by Bob Williams
Five Days in Autumn
by Langston Keane
White Elk Press
2007, ISBN 0-9777237-2-0, $11.95, 192 pages
This is a first novel. I have been unable to find any information about the author except that he is a
resident of Tennessee where Five Days mostly takes place.
Some of the novel is in the first person and some in the third with excerpts from the journal of a dying
man, the chief character’s grandfather. This mixture of narrative styles creates an initial surprise but it
soon makes sense and becomes acceptable.
Carter Lee at 42 is a successful executive of a high-powered firm. His devotion to his firm is absolute
and all consuming. He exacts the same high standards from his subordinates and this precipitates
concern in his superior who demands that Carter take a week off to review and moderate his
supervisory strategies.
He doesn’t know what to do with himself since his whole life has been dedication to business and he has
neither friends nor interests. His mother then calls and asks him to sit with his dying grandfather in a
hospice. For a man who so far has been presented as pure cold efficiency, it comes as a surprise that
he has human reactions to his grandfather, reactions of disappointment since his grandfather never
took the trouble to know him. He leaves the city in which he works and commits himself to five days of
sitting with his grandfather.
It proves more convenient to live for these five days in his grandfather’s house, a farmhouse not far
from the hospice. With no special purpose other than to fill the time he has available, he begins to read
his grandfather’s journals. He quickly discovers that his grandfather was a more complex and
interesting person than he had imagined. Keane skillfully shows how the experience breaks down Carter’
s crust of monomaniacal devotion to business and humanizes him. Along the same lines is his
experience with Jessica, nurse at the hospice.
It becomes a love story, one made especially piquant by the influence of the grandfather who becomes
a benign ghost, a guide for Carter through the complexities of his artificial life.
Keane is not a Flaubertian writer. There is no anguish over the selection of the exact word. Many times
Keane uses any handy word even when the exact word that he should have used is in obvious sight. He
strains to keep his metaphors unmixed but they sometimes teeter away from his control.
Despite these flaws this is a rare entertainment and moving to the reader because the writer is honest
in his own devotion to the implications of his book. These are virtues of a high order and compensate
generously for infelicities of style.
http://www.compulsivereader.com/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1810
Five Days in Autumn
by Langston Keane
White Elk Press
2007, ISBN 0-9777237-2-0, $11.95, 192 pages
This is a first novel. I have been unable to find any information about the author except that he is a
resident of Tennessee where Five Days mostly takes place.
Some of the novel is in the first person and some in the third with excerpts from the journal of a dying
man, the chief character’s grandfather. This mixture of narrative styles creates an initial surprise but it
soon makes sense and becomes acceptable.
Carter Lee at 42 is a successful executive of a high-powered firm. His devotion to his firm is absolute
and all consuming. He exacts the same high standards from his subordinates and this precipitates
concern in his superior who demands that Carter take a week off to review and moderate his
supervisory strategies.
He doesn’t know what to do with himself since his whole life has been dedication to business and he has
neither friends nor interests. His mother then calls and asks him to sit with his dying grandfather in a
hospice. For a man who so far has been presented as pure cold efficiency, it comes as a surprise that
he has human reactions to his grandfather, reactions of disappointment since his grandfather never
took the trouble to know him. He leaves the city in which he works and commits himself to five days of
sitting with his grandfather.
It proves more convenient to live for these five days in his grandfather’s house, a farmhouse not far
from the hospice. With no special purpose other than to fill the time he has available, he begins to read
his grandfather’s journals. He quickly discovers that his grandfather was a more complex and
interesting person than he had imagined. Keane skillfully shows how the experience breaks down Carter’
s crust of monomaniacal devotion to business and humanizes him. Along the same lines is his
experience with Jessica, nurse at the hospice.
It becomes a love story, one made especially piquant by the influence of the grandfather who becomes
a benign ghost, a guide for Carter through the complexities of his artificial life.
Keane is not a Flaubertian writer. There is no anguish over the selection of the exact word. Many times
Keane uses any handy word even when the exact word that he should have used is in obvious sight. He
strains to keep his metaphors unmixed but they sometimes teeter away from his control.
Despite these flaws this is a rare entertainment and moving to the reader because the writer is honest
in his own devotion to the implications of his book. These are virtues of a high order and compensate
generously for infelicities of style.
http://www.compulsivereader.com/html/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1810
Five Days in Autumn
Langston Keane
White Elk Press (2007)
ISBN 9780977723720
Reviewed by Danielle Feliciano for Reader Views (1/08)
Carter Lee is the true definition of a workaholic. He has no life and no connections outside of his
professional environment. He is accessible around the clock and demands the same of his coworkers.
It is this unrelenting drive that brings Carter’s supervisor to force a one-week vacation on him. Carter
now faces a week with no email, no cell phone, and strict instructions not to work at all. At the same
time, Carter’s mother calls requesting he help sit with his dying grandfather as she has other
obligations this particular week. With nothing else to do and a sense of family obligation, Carter packs
his bags and travels from the chaos of Atlanta back to the small town in Tennessee that he grew up in.
This series of events brings Carter to his grandfather’s home where he finds piles of journals
documenting his grandfather’s life. Carter begins reading these journals and soon finds himself
immersed in getting to know a grandfather with whom he has never had a relationship. The time he
spends in Tennessee combined with the journals and a brief encounter with his grandfather help
Carter truly reevaluate his life and move on to be the person he wants to be.
This book is written in a number of points of view, jumping from first person to third person narrative,
which at times became confusing. There were points where the book was overwritten and I would have
liked to have had more journal entries included to help develop the story. The author did a wonderful
job of telling a strong story of family and self in a very simple way. With minimal characters and a
subdued setting, the point of the story never got lost. The story was beautiful and moving and left the
reader feeling very satisfied with the story told in “Five Days in Autumn.”
http://www.readerviews.com/ReviewKeaneFiveDaysAutumn.html
Langston Keane
White Elk Press (2007)
ISBN 9780977723720
Reviewed by Danielle Feliciano for Reader Views (1/08)
Carter Lee is the true definition of a workaholic. He has no life and no connections outside of his
professional environment. He is accessible around the clock and demands the same of his coworkers.
It is this unrelenting drive that brings Carter’s supervisor to force a one-week vacation on him. Carter
now faces a week with no email, no cell phone, and strict instructions not to work at all. At the same
time, Carter’s mother calls requesting he help sit with his dying grandfather as she has other
obligations this particular week. With nothing else to do and a sense of family obligation, Carter packs
his bags and travels from the chaos of Atlanta back to the small town in Tennessee that he grew up in.
This series of events brings Carter to his grandfather’s home where he finds piles of journals
documenting his grandfather’s life. Carter begins reading these journals and soon finds himself
immersed in getting to know a grandfather with whom he has never had a relationship. The time he
spends in Tennessee combined with the journals and a brief encounter with his grandfather help
Carter truly reevaluate his life and move on to be the person he wants to be.
This book is written in a number of points of view, jumping from first person to third person narrative,
which at times became confusing. There were points where the book was overwritten and I would have
liked to have had more journal entries included to help develop the story. The author did a wonderful
job of telling a strong story of family and self in a very simple way. With minimal characters and a
subdued setting, the point of the story never got lost. The story was beautiful and moving and left the
reader feeling very satisfied with the story told in “Five Days in Autumn.”
http://www.readerviews.com/ReviewKeaneFiveDaysAutumn.html
| March is National Small Press Month, a nationwide promotion highlighting the valuable work produced by independent presses, and the innovative writers they publish. An annual celebration of the independent spirit of small publishers, Small Press Month is an effort to showcase the diverse, unique, and often most significant voices being published today. Co-sponsored by the Small Press Center (The New York Center for Independent Publishing), the CLMP (The Council for Literary Magazines and Presses), and PMA (The Independent Book Publishers Association), Small Press Month is a collaborative initiative that seeks to increase the public's awareness of the crucial and creative work put forth by independent presses. |
| Five Days in Autumn highlighted as a recommended title for National Small Press Month |
I found this to be a delightfully moving story of loves past and present. It also provided insight on how the
decisions we make in our lives affect us and those around us. It questioned the importance of achievement
versus acceptance and graciously guided us to the answer. Set primarily in the beautiful mountains of eastern
Tennessee, Five Days in Autumn is much more than a love story - it will touch you deeply.
Pam White
Skyland Books
West Jefferson, NC
decisions we make in our lives affect us and those around us. It questioned the importance of achievement
versus acceptance and graciously guided us to the answer. Set primarily in the beautiful mountains of eastern
Tennessee, Five Days in Autumn is much more than a love story - it will touch you deeply.
Pam White
Skyland Books
West Jefferson, NC