A Map of the Dark

by John Dixon

Overview

Halloween will never be the same . . .

Halloween night, 1963, in De Pere, Wisconsin, and all is not well. Evelyn Schmidt's life is almost at an end. she has cancer and has been given only days to live, But she'll be damned if she'll go quietly, in the hospital or at home. She's heading for the Idle Hour to drink up a storm, whether her fellow drinkers want her there or not. Steve Omsted is only sixteen, but he feels his life might as well be over already. He's on academic probation, he's been kicked off the football team, and now his girlfriend has dropped him. He's looking for a convenient target for his rage and has set up a nighttime ambush for his victim. Chuck Williams feels his life has hardly even started yet, but he can't wait any longer. he'll go trick-or-treating, but he won't be waxing windows like his fellow fifth-graders. he's going to hang out with the older kids and cause some real trouble. As the evening unfolds, the paths of these characters and others converge in a series of shocking events that will change the lives of everyone involved. In stark language and with bold, cinematic vision, John Dixon delivers a stunning portrait of a small town at war with itself.

This book is #5 in the Visible Spectrum Series, which focuses on new and inventive work in fiction, graphic art, photography, poetry, and cultural criticism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781953835055
Publisher:	Visible Spectrum
Publication date:	07/18/2022
Pages:	142
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.33(d)

About the Author

Wisconsin native John Dixon studied playwriting in San Francisco, where his debut, Too Stupid to Live, was first staged in 1982. He died in 2007, leaving behind a substantial body of unpublished work.

Editorial Reviews

Halloween turns into a very grim holiday in Dixon's stark but flawed debut novel about a group of teenage boys on the rampage in small town De Pere, Wis., in 1963. Rambunctious fifth-grader Chuck Williams wants to hang out with the older boys-Omsted, Carner and Rusch-for an evening of more tricks than treats. He gets his wish as the night unfolds, but his choice of companions proves fateful when the gang quickly graduates from wreaking havoc amid innocent revelers to a fight over a girl that ends in the murder of Putzie Van Vonderan. Between descriptions of the teenagers' violent mayhem, Dixon details the downward arc of Evelyn Schmidt, a cancer victim who goes on a drunken bender as her son, David, floats in and out of the chaos. Dixon's story churns with action as the boys hurl insults and test their limits, and Evelyn Schmidt agitates for another drink at the local bar. But the novel's lack of backstory or character development makes the violence of this pivotal Halloween night feel especially random and gratuitous. Though the author demonstrates talent with the dark action sequences in this grim, charged portrayal of smalltown life in the early '60s, the novel remains thin and episodic. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

A small Wisconsin town explodes one Halloween night in a domino effect of violence that leaves no one untouched. Recalling the work of fellow Midwesterner Sinclair Lewis in its stark portrayal of social hierarchies and the lengths to which people will go in order to fit in, playwright Dixon deviates from his predecessor by eschewing all description of the inner workings of his characters. He focuses instead on their actions, only hinting at the inner turmoil that presumably motivates them. The events of Halloween 1963, in De Pere, Wisc. (the author's hometown), are delivered in minimalist prose, reading like a catalogue of masochism. The ensemble cast includes a number of misfits, each of whom takes out personal suffering on others. Chuck wants to hang out with the older boys, who treat him viciously. He follows their lead and bullies his younger friend, Dale. Dale turns on his friend Little Lee, who occupies an even lower social caste. Little Lee, accordingly, beats up David, the son of a cancer sufferer and the true pariah in all this nastiness. David's mom Evelyn, who just received her diagnosis, lurks as the specter of death at the center of the story, going on a massive bender and abusing her fellow drinkers, all of whom are terrified of her. The existential, misanthropic point of it all comes off as hollow. There is nothing to balance the unmitigated cruelty and self-interest exhibited by virtually every inhabitant of De Pere. In this debut novel, adults are mean, but little boys are meaner.

Kirkus Reviews

A small Wisconsin town explodes one Halloween night in a domino effect of violence that leaves no one untouched. Recalling the work of fellow Midwesterner Sinclair Lewis in its stark portrayal of social hierarchies and the lengths to which people will go in order to fit in . . . In this debut novel, adults are mean, but little boys are meaner.

From the Publisher