Loose Ends

by Neal Bowers

A distraught Davis Banks arrives home for his mother’s funeral. Davis teaches poetry at a small college. He loves words — but not himself. His father had died some years before, and now Davis discovers a lot of little things in his mother’s house that don’t seem right.

Where are the keys to her car? In fact, he realizes he doesn’t even know how or where she died.

That night he visits his mother’s gravesite, dug next to his father’s. Near the bottom he discovers a man’s arm sticking out of the dirt where his father’s coffin is supposed to be. And when he finds out that his mother apparently died in a motel room with another man, he’s confronted with a myriad of loose ends thrashing about in a quicksand of details.

With a poet’s feel for language, Neal Bowers tells a story whose twists intrigue the reader as much as they do Davis.

208 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Neal Bowers was a Distinguished Professor of English at Iowa State University until his retirement in 2008. He continues to reside in Ames, Iowa.

Reviews

[Rebecca Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish giving this three and a half stars were an option. It's better than 3 but kind of a weak 4. I thought this was a fascinating read for a couple of reasons: I write poetry, the author writes poetry and the use of language was wonderful. Unlike most who have chimed in on the brevity of this book and therefore the ease most have with reading it quickly, I did not read it quickly (though I would have liked to). The story was cringe-worthy in oh-so-many-ways. I was very near the end when I suddenly thought of a bigger book that I'd read years before: Confederacy of Dunces. A book famous for, among other things, people either loving it or hating it. I've always counted myself among the latter. If I had world enough and time, I might try to reread Dunces. But, alas, that is not this book. This book has a strange protagonist with a strange take on life. I like that.

[Susan L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like it when poets write novels. Sometimes it doesn't quite work, but when it does, you kind of get this wonderful 200-page prose poem.

Really interesting stuff going on here, with that tension between lies and truth, and the diabetes I think being a metaphor for a lot of the things that Davis is going through. I thought there were a lot of stories and relationships being explored and all fed off of each other. Two main things: 1. I think it was a good call to use 3rd person so we would get distance from a man who is a self-proclaimed liar. However, I wanted more lying in the narrative, if that makes sense, something to make me more uneasy. 2. Lots of loose ends at the close of the book, but obviously that was the intention, and I like messy endings. This one was well done.

But seriously, did the jacket designer spend NO time whatsoever on this cover??? The photo is decent enough, even very good, with the hand and the blurriness and such...but the actual design part! Gross.

Grade: A-

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

In just 200 pages Neal Bowers manages to create a unique complex character in Davis Banks. He is a perpetual liar and diabetic. His own behavior is erratic and bizarre. Is it the lies or sugar highs and lows contributing to his unpredictable antic?

We follow Banks in route back to his hometown in Tennessee from Iowa to attend his mother's funeral. Too many things aren't quite right in his mother's house. He soon realizes he doesn't know how or where his mother died. Davis makes a shocking discovery about his father that would send anyone over the edge. Davis soon finds himself tangled in a set of lies not his own with a myriad of loose ends and confusion where nothing is what as it seems.

Definitely liked the fast pace with no diverting chapters taking me off course. Low rating results from the ending. There isn't one

[6 Yezan Salamoun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neal Bowers in Loose Ends challenges the reader’s morality with a book about a pathological liar. Davis Bank believes that he has never accomplished anything and feels as if his life is meaningless so he feels he must lie to make his life seem interesting. He feels as if lying connects people “The shortest distance between two people is almost always a lie”. His life is worthless so he pretends to be someone he’s not. Some of the lies he tells are just for the sake of testing himself to see if he can get away with it. “Actually I’m a motivational speaker” Davis says this on the plane talking to the man next to him. He also thinks the man next to him is lying as well about getting a medal for serving in the army. Bowers makes us question our own lies through the use of her character Davis.