Dandy

by Richard Krawiec, Charles Recoursé (Translator)

Artie, qui vit dans une pauvreté extrême, essaie de ne pas s’enfermer dans le désespoir et la solitude. Il rencontre Jolene, mère célibataire d’un enfant malade, contrainte de trouver de l’argent pour le soigner en essayant de garder sa dignité – « quand on est une fille, y a plus beaucoup de moyens respectables de se faire de l’argent ».

De leur rencontre naît une association bancale, qui permet à Richard Krawiec de faire le portrait d’un monde souterrain que le rêve américain a laissé sur le bord de la route. Il nous oblige à regarder en face ceux que l’on fait semblant de ne pas voir quand on les croise tous les jours, en allant au travail ou en se promenant dans les rues.

Dandy est un livre dur, qui attaque frontalement la misère de nos sociétés contemporaines. Cependant, la grâce de l’écriture de Richard Krawiec lui évite de sombrer dans le voyeurisme, lui permettant au contraire de poursuivre son exploration de la face honteuse de la société de consommation américaine, de creuser ces deux personnages complexes, partagés entre espoir et résignation.

239 pages, Paperback

First published February 17, 1986

About the author

Richard Krawiec has published two novels, *Time Sharing* and *Faith in What?,* a story collection, *And Fools of God*, two books of poetry, *She Hands Me the Razor* and *Breakdown*, four plays, two young adult biographies, and book reviews and feature articles for national publications. *Time Sharing* was a *Publisher's Weekly Recommended* selection, and made the*Village Voice Real Life Rock Top Ten*.*She Hands Me the Razor* was one of only 17 poetry books nominated for a 2012 SIBA Award. *Yao Ming: Gentle Giant* was cited as one of the Best Young Adult Books of the Year by the Pennsylvania Libraries Association.

Krawiec has won fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the NC Arts Council(twice) and Pennsylvania Council on the arts. His work appears in *Shenandoah, sou'wester, Witness, Cream City Review, Florida Review, West Branch, NC Literary Review, 2Rivers View, Connotation*, and dozens of other literary magazines. He has edited anthologies featuring the work of Dorianne Laux, Marge Piercy, Reynolds Price, Lee Smith, Allan Gurganus, Elizabeth Spencer, Fred Chappell, Kathryn Stripling Byer, Joe Millar, Michael Chitwood, Jaki Shelton Green and others.

He teaches Beginning Intermediate and Advanced Fiction Writing online for UNC Chapel Hill, for which he wrote the curriculum and won their Excellence in Teaching Award. As founder of Jacar Press,a Community Active Press, he
publishes books of poetry. He has worked extensively with people in homeless shelters, abused women and children, literacy students, prisoners, immigrants, and others who have been traditionally excluded from literary programming.

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with a lot of awful people doing awful things in absurdly comedic ways, except as it went on the comedy became less funny and more of a horrific commentary on the cycles of poverty, abuse, and generational trauma.

[Richard Locke Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best and most painful books I've ever read.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much happens in this book, but it captures something that is rarely captured in literature.

Time Sharing is a poignant, realistic look at the decision-making/thought processes of truly dumb people - namely, in the actions of our hero Artie and his love interest Jolene.

Often, in literature, dumb people are presented as unaware spiritual guideposts (see Stephen King), happy-go-lucky comic relief (see any comic movie ever made) or tragic, accidental monsters (see John Steinbeck). Here, in the form of Artie and Jolene, they are the main focus of the story.

This book really gets dumb right.