Alison's Automotive Repair Manual: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Brad Barkley
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Book
List Price: $12.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 873793
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.5 x 0.7
ISBN: 0312325797
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312325794
ASIN: 0312325797
Publication Date: February 1, 2004
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Amazon.com
Alison lives in a small West Virginia town with her sister and brother-in-law. As Alison's Automotive Repair Manual opens, her main occupation is mourning her husband, who died in an accident two years ago. Her sister, her friends, and her former boss at the community college have all grown weary of her grief, and beg her to move on. But Alison is paralyzed, maybe partially because she wasn't all that crazy about her husband in the first place. One day she discovers a disintegrating 1976 Corvette in her sister's garage and finally thinks of something she'd like to do: repair the Vette. Alison knows nothing about cars, but pegs away at her project anyhow, knowing all the while that "the whole thing was folly." Meanwhile, we follow her healing, her new love for a munitions expert named Max, her sister's quest to get pregnant, and the (literal) exposure of the town's secret history. While Alison is an appealingly complex character, forever stumbling into gaffes, the book is a little too neat, with its themes, goals, and love interests laid out tidily in the first 40 pages. But fans of quirky Southerners such as Jill McCorkle will find a sympathetic new voice here. --Claire Dederer
Product Description
A widow in her mid-thirties, Alison has been mourning for two years. Now living in small town West Virginia with her sister Sarah and brother-in-law Bill, Alison is unable to move on with her life. Finally, she promises Sarah and Bill that she will start over---once she restores the abandoned, nearly ruined 1976 Corvette she found rusting in the garage and immediately loved. Unfortunately, Alison doesn't know the first thing about cars, and the fact that the townspeople (with the exception of a cute demolition man) find a woman messing with automotive parts bewildering doesn't help.
With beautiful frankness and surprising hilarity, Brad Barkley tells of a gutsy woman's attempts to overcome loss, and fit into a close-knit community, in a triumphant look at grief, love, loss, and moving on.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Good, not great. April 15, 2008
This is a good book in the way some movies are good movies; it's not necessarily a book that stays with you long after you've finished it, but you don't feel like you've wasted your time. One thing blocking my wholesale enjoyment is that the characters in the story seem like just that: characters. There's the damaged widow, her shrewish sister, the quirky townspeople, the troubled lover of the widow who has an equally troubled relationship with his father---they all seem to be brought into the book to add "depth" because the plot itself--widow finds renewal by restoring an old car--doesn't really have much depth when taken on its own merits. And you can see how it's all going to end at least thirty pages before it does.
Having said that, the book has its moments and certainly gets you turning the pages. There are also several passages of plain, flat-out GOOD descriptive writing, so it isn't like a plate of Twinkies that are empty calories. When all's said and done, I'd be interested to read Brad Barkley's other books now that I've read this one.
 Has some very good moments December 5, 2003
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I enjoyed reading this book. It is the story of Alison, wa woman in her thirties who is widowed when her husband dies in an accident. Like some woman in this situation, Alison romanticizes her relationship with Marty to the point that she is unable to get on with her life in any concrete way. After two years of wallowing in misery, she begins to rebuild a totally rundown 1976 Corvette.THe novel is cleverly written. Each chapter heading is a section of an automotive repair manual, that gives you a brief description of what Alison is going to learn in the ensuing chapter. What I liked best about this novel was the complexity of the characters that we meet. There are no wasted characters. Everyone we meet is well texted, they are complete, and they have strengths and weaknesses, and some are not all that likeable. Most of the dialogue is good- to the point, few embelishments, and very realistic. You capture a nice picture of small town America. I was not always happy with the interior narrative of Alison however. Sometimes I felt the narrator was a little too detached, and I guess this supposed to be part of Alison's character, but it separated me a little too much from Alison, and sometimes I really didn't like her character. This is always a big literary sticking point with me- how is the reader supposed to feel about the hero? Are we supposed to like them, or is that too pat? I also didn't see the pattern of Alison's growth very clearly. I don't like things spelled out, but I think the reader needed to make too many leaps and guesses as to how Alison's character developed throughout the novel. I guess I was not convinced of any real transformation. But, that aside, I think this is a novel that deserves to be read, and discussed, and reread.
 You MUST read this one! September 11, 2003
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
Alison Durst was in her mid-thirties when she became a widow. Her husband had died two years before, yet Alison was unable to let go. She resided with her sister, Sarah, and her brother-in-law, Bill, in a small town in West Virginia. They urged Alison to either move on with her life or move back to her own house. Yet Alison could not bring herself to leave the small town and return to the house where she had so many memories. Alison finally told Sarah that she would get on with her life - just as soon as she renovated the nearly ruined 1976 Corvette that was rusting in Sarah's garage. Alison knew absolutely NOTHING about cars. But she bought a manual and tools, rolled up her sleeves, and went to slow work. Max Kesler was a handsome munitions expert. His father was a compulsive liar whose biggest lie (that was around fifty-years old) may soon become exposed. That lie made Mr. Kesler the town's celebrity! But Max was tired of all the lies and actually looked forward to the town learning the truth in the very near future. ***** Brad Barkley has earned a place on my list of favorite authors! Nicholas Sparks has heavy competition here! I could not stop reading. I cannot recommend this novel high enough. A MUST READ! ***** Reviewed by Detra Fitch.
Great for a lazy afternoon May 30, 2003
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Okay, so it's not a page-turner. This book is a subtle treat. The author has an amazing grasp on small town life, and the people who make it so. The repairing of the 1976 Corvette shows an obvious parallel to Alison's soul.
After her husband dies, Alison moves to a small town in West Virginia with her sister. The devistation of losing her partner is too much for her to bear. She finds herself unable to work, live alone, or love.
When she discovers the Corvette in her sisters garage she goes through a slow metamophosis while making it new again. She learns that it is possible to go on. If the car can do it, so can she.
The townspeople become her own, and she even manages to find a bit of romance. This is an excellent book with a wonderful positive message. Go out and get it.
Depth Behind the Humor April 27, 2003
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
With it's wise-cracking dialogue and oddball characters, this book explores serious themes of loss (accidental and intentional), love and death, and truth. Alison Durst, a former badgirl turned community college history teacher, still mourns the accidental death of her husband Marty after more than a year, and Sarah, her married (but not comfortably so, as she and her husband Bill struggle to get pregnant), encourages her to get on with her life. She meets Max, but of course pushes him away at first as he competes with the ghost of Marty. She is drawn to him--he, the munitions expert, adept at destroying things, buildings, silos, relationships--and at the same time sets about trying to make things right. Against a background that at first seems silly--the unifying thread is Alison's restoration of a hopeless 1976 Corvette--this book does a masterful job of portraying, and resolving, Alison's conflicts.
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