We now have the aftermath of Mike Noonan's little adventure in the lake with Max Devore. Mike stumbles into his house, wondering what to do about the attack that Max launched on him. His first instinct is to call the authorities but after a minute he thinks better of it. He knows that there were no witnesses and it would be hard for most people (especially the reader) to believe that two elderly people almost killed a healthy middle-aged man by pelting him with rocks.
Mike also takes into consideration his "celebrity status" and we get a couple of paragraphs of thought about his feelings about the media. King has always had a pretty decent relationship with the press and a few years ago you could always find him in the front section of Fenway Park watching the Red Sox games. But writers are very small on the celebrity scale and King is one of the biggest authors around. I wonder if he would even get top billing on the Tonight Show over, say, Mathew Broderick? King gives the same old celebrity cliches that just because people are famous that doesn't give the public a right to know every detail of their private lives. King gives the argument very briefly and I think even he doesn't buy it.
Noonan then tries to call his lawyer but his lawyer is away so he leaves a message. He then calls Mattie and is saddened to hear her sound sad and resigned because she was fired from her librarian job. The official explanation was layoff but she knew that Max Devore used the threat of withholding money from the library to get her fired. Mike automatically thinks of making her his private mistress as long as she, "never says no." But thinks better of it. He then tells Mattie that he will take care of her and thinks that, "You'll never take your clothes off when I'm with you. That's a promise." Another instance of Mike lying to himself, all he thinks about with Mattie is having sex with her.
Mattie tells Mike that John called her and they are going to have lunch together soon. Mike immediately invites himself, and Mattie is very excited. Oh, Mike when will you let the girl go?
Mike stares at the refrigerator with the alphabet magnets on it and begins rearranging them, in a trance. I wonder how many thoughts King has while rearranging his fridge magnets? He gets a delivery from Max Devore saying that Max will drop the custody case if Mike, "ceases to ask questions about him, and if you promise to stop all legal maneuvering." A pretty easy deal since, to my knowledge, Mike is not asking any questions about Max Devore except when it comes to Mattie and Kyra. Mike quickly calls Max and gets his assistant, Rogette, and agrees to the deal. At the end of the chapter, Mike goes to the refrigerator and sees that the magnets are rearranged into a message that he thinks means 19 down. Mike then goes to look through his old crossword puzzle books but can find none with any 19 down clues that might apply to him or his current situation.
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Analysis:
This is simple chapter with a quick setup for the next chapter (which I will talk about in the next post). The man delivering Max Devore's message is characterized very weakly and I'm not sure how King wants us to see him. Mike sees that he looks like Woody Allen and is dressed like Woody Allen but then Mike quickly realizes he is just another man, "who sold his soul to the devil." And so can't be Woody Allen at all. The character description falls into one of two categories in this novel. A) You're either totally with Mike Noonan and Mattie or B) You're not with him and are in the pocket of Max Devore and therefore barely human. The only character with any kind gray area is Bill Dean, who we'll see in the next chapter. I thought earlier, when he warned Mike to get out of town, King was putting him simply in the evil category but it looks like he's going to fall into at least a little bit of middle ground and be back on Mike's side somewhat. But we'll discuss that in the next chapter.
Noonan then tries to call his lawyer but his lawyer is away so he leaves a message. He then calls Mattie and is saddened to hear her sound sad and resigned because she was fired from her librarian job. The official explanation was layoff but she knew that Max Devore used the threat of withholding money from the library to get her fired. Mike automatically thinks of making her his private mistress as long as she, "never says no." But thinks better of it. He then tells Mattie that he will take care of her and thinks that, "You'll never take your clothes off when I'm with you. That's a promise." Another instance of Mike lying to himself, all he thinks about with Mattie is having sex with her.
Mattie tells Mike that John called her and they are going to have lunch together soon. Mike immediately invites himself, and Mattie is very excited. Oh, Mike when will you let the girl go?
Mike stares at the refrigerator with the alphabet magnets on it and begins rearranging them, in a trance. I wonder how many thoughts King has while rearranging his fridge magnets? He gets a delivery from Max Devore saying that Max will drop the custody case if Mike, "ceases to ask questions about him, and if you promise to stop all legal maneuvering." A pretty easy deal since, to my knowledge, Mike is not asking any questions about Max Devore except when it comes to Mattie and Kyra. Mike quickly calls Max and gets his assistant, Rogette, and agrees to the deal. At the end of the chapter, Mike goes to the refrigerator and sees that the magnets are rearranged into a message that he thinks means 19 down. Mike then goes to look through his old crossword puzzle books but can find none with any 19 down clues that might apply to him or his current situation.
------------------------------------------------------------
Analysis:
This is simple chapter with a quick setup for the next chapter (which I will talk about in the next post). The man delivering Max Devore's message is characterized very weakly and I'm not sure how King wants us to see him. Mike sees that he looks like Woody Allen and is dressed like Woody Allen but then Mike quickly realizes he is just another man, "who sold his soul to the devil." And so can't be Woody Allen at all. The character description falls into one of two categories in this novel. A) You're either totally with Mike Noonan and Mattie or B) You're not with him and are in the pocket of Max Devore and therefore barely human. The only character with any kind gray area is Bill Dean, who we'll see in the next chapter. I thought earlier, when he warned Mike to get out of town, King was putting him simply in the evil category but it looks like he's going to fall into at least a little bit of middle ground and be back on Mike's side somewhat. But we'll discuss that in the next chapter.
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