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Steve Amick, The Lake, The River & the Other Lake (Pantheon, 2005)

reviewed by A. J. Gretz

Steve Amick’s first novel is a reflection of the characters contained within — unusual, thoughtful, and, though flawed, incredibly likeable. The Lake, The River & the Other Lake is the story of one summer in a tiny Northern-Michigan town, and the all-too familiar sense of connection among its various inhabitants. The book revolves around a dozen or so characters that Amick manages to flesh out nicely, creating memorable and surprisingly deep moments of wit and retrospect. This is all the more impressive since many of their surface-level quirks — be it a nervous young billionaire, disgruntled Indian or nymphomaniac teenager — seem so potentially one-dimensional. However, as the novel progresses they each come alive in the classically Midwestern struggle to overcome the confines of a small-town identity, while still "doing the right thing."
      Amick manages to effectively capture the laid back, disposable feeling of summer with his understated writing style. The writing is warm and rich with detail without becoming overbearing, making Weneshkeen an easy read with wide appeal. However, the prose is consistently impressive, as Amick seems to have a knack for making the small details count. The opening is particularly memorable, as Amick writes "there was a heavenly time, a sliver-thin window of peace that Roger Drinkwater cherished ever year on Meenigeesis — those early days when the water warmed just enough for him to bear but all others steered clear and he could swim in peace and hear nothing but the water and his breath and the birds and the distant road: the way it had once been on this lake." Anyone who has ever spent time in one of Northern Michigan’s tourist trap like Mackinaw City will be able to smell the mix of suntan lotion, boat exhaust, and fried food right away.
      The heart of the book lies in the relationship between Kimberly Lasco, a teenager, and the retired preacher Gene Reecher she befriends over the summer. Of all the characters that populate the fictional community of Weneshkeen, he proves to be one of the most challenging and engaging. He is a man with a good heart who, overwhelmed by the loss of his wife, fights a losing battle to keep from losing all sense of himself. Although these two characters are more isolated than the others in the novel, it gives the narrative space to breathe, and their interactions feel the most evenly paced of any in the book, despite Reecher’s uncomfortable feelings for Lasco. At one point, the old man awakens from a dream about the young girl, saying "it was a warm, languid dream, bright with sunlight. It was something out in back of the house. The chaise lounges, the nutty liquid of the iced coffee. And skin — yes." Amick’s writing is at once poetic and disturbing, an unflinching look at the darkness present in the human condition.
      The plot-line involving Mark the pilot boy and his "girlfriend" is also worth mentioning here. One can’t help but watch the train wreck crafted by Amick, as their relationship goes frighteningly beyond the normal awkwardness of teenage romance. His teenage voice is, thankfully, painless to read. This is partly because of his skill as a writer, and partly because every character has a difficult time distinguishing him/herself from Amick’s naturally dry tone.
      Although this is a very solid effort for a first novel, the landscape of The Lake, The River & the Other Lake is mostly subplots and character explorations, and the author has a difficult time juggling all of his loose ends at once. Other than Reecher and Roger Drinkwater — think Native Companion with a vendetta against Jet-Ski’s — most of the adults in town are distracting. As the book progresses, it becomes more and more difficult to keep tabs on who is doing what, and several characters seem to simply disappear in the final 30-40 pages. Although it is interesting to watch each person progress over the summer, the book would have benefitted from a smaller scope of characters. This would have allowed him to give more attention to the relationships and connections that seemed to matter the most.
      Still, there is a lot to like about Amick’s writing. With an offbeat sense of humor and a sharp eye for detail, he offers a unique and unabashedly small town voice for the overlooked Midwesterner in all of us.

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A. J. Gretz is an undergraduate in the Writing Department at GVSU.