The Current Climate

by Bruce Jay Friedman

Harry Towns, a fifty-seven-year-old writer, finds his career faltering and his sense of fulfillment fading

200 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1990

About the author

American comic author whose dark, mocking humour and social criticism was directed at the concerns and behaviour of American Jews.

After graduating from the University of Missouri in 1951 with a B.A. in journalism and serving in the U.S. Air Force for two years, Friedman worked in publishing for several years before achieving success with his first novel, Stern (1962). The title character is a luckless descendent of the biblical Job, unable to assimilate into mainstream American life. Virtually all of Friedman's works are a variation on this theme; most of his characters are Jewish by birth, but they feel alienated from both Jewish and American culture. His works are also noted for focusing on absurd characters and situations.
-Encyclopædia Britannica

Reviews

[Nathan Southern · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1989, Bruce Jay Friedman authored this sly, comparatively gentle sequel to his 1970 comic masterpiece About Harry Towns. At the time of this story, antihero Towns has entered a more conservative period of middle age. 59-year-old Harry no longer engages in the most outrageous sexual aberrances or drug excesses of his 30s. He's grown older and at least a touch wiser; falling in love with postal worker Julie and her 4 year old daughter Megan has softened him from a freewheeling playboy into a would be family man. Yet a core of foolishness remains: he's convinced himself that he can play the field, as long as he stays emotionally faithful.

There are laughs aplenty and a few tender moments between Harry and little Megan (one wishes for more of the latter, but this isn't a serious impediment). What hurts this novel, however, is a lack of continuity between this and its prequel. In the premier Towns installment, the protagonist had a son who was just beginning to drift into delinquency thanks to dad's irresponsibility; in the sequel, the son and his fate/whereabouts are - inexplicably - never mentioned. A multi-chapter flashback, used to flesh out several incidents from Harry's early 20s, feels surprising but not at all unwelcome or disruptive to the narrative flow of the novel.

Once again, Friedman's delirious off-center wit saves the book. Climate benefits throughout from the author's razor sharp eye and instincts for irony and absurdity. I didn't love this volume as much as I loved its predecessor, but the middling reviews and complaints of the story as "too subtle" or "too meandering" are way off target. Friedman perfected the art of "comedy about nothing" decades before Seinfeld; he also loved the random perambulations of life. Critics who slag on him for his understatement or narrative caprices are denying the core pleasures of the work.

[Howard Weingarten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but....

I liked the style of writing, reminded me of Phillip Roth, but the ending left me flat. Quite the meander.

[J · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK. Seemed thrown together. Petered out at the end.