A
Collection of Friends
by
Tom Sheehan
ISBN
1-929763-17-4
241
pages at 17.95 paperback
Pocol
Press
6023
Pocol Drive
Clifton
VA 20124
According to one critic, Tom Sheehan is
a "national treasure." After reading A Collection of Friends, I agree. This book
is also a treasure. Sheehan writes with a kindly intimacy that welcomes
readers into his life. His words are rich with cadence and imagery as he
remembers the sounds, sights, scents, and ghostly voices from his years in
Saugus, Mass. Several stories from his book were nominated for Pushcart
Prizes and many more of them deserved to be.
In the Preface, Sheehan says of his
friends: "Piecemeal, as entities, in my ear, clapping me on the
back, giving me a push when needed, they have caused this book. I am
indebted to them, those who have given my life all its savage joys."
From a lovingly tended larder of memories,
the author spins camera-clear stories of family, friends, war, town drunks,
places and pleasures, long held sorrows. Each is a moving testimony to
man's grit and pride or quiet acceptance of adversity. Everything,
everyplace, and everyone become objects in Tom Sheehan's social
laboratory. His experiences as a lad made him what he is today as writer
in his eighth decade. He tells of hunger as if it were a living
entity, and the "awful sense of exposure" borne of poverty.
Sensory perceptions were absorbed in his youth like a sponge. Tragedies
forgotten over time still live fresh in his mind and won't let go.
Each story stands alone and is memorable in
distinct ways. I give only a few examples due to space
limitations "The Dumpmaster's Boy" is one of several paeans to
Sheehan's grandfather, who loved his fellow man, quoted Irish poets, wrote his
own lyrical poetry, and longed to see his homeland Ireland one more time.
"Orion's Belt" is an unintended
social commentary, a lesson in grace, strength, poverty, and snobbish
cruelty with Sheehan's beautiful, dignified mother shining as a central
figure.
"The Day Titanic Drowned", the
memory of a powerful draft animal that drowned decades ago, is a
standout. The day and the animal come alive through Sheehan's telling.
"Parkie, Tanker, Tiger of Tobruk"
is a numbing account of desert survival circa WW 2, how one man escaped death
in war only to die by inches for decades after his return to Saugus.
And "The Quiet, Empty Bedrooms of
Saugus" was so beautifully written, so emotionally overwhelming that it
must be read to fully comprehend. Any words I write here are inadequate.
Tom Sheehan treasures his memories. To
quote the author, "The clarity stings the memory.... Somehow,
inexplicably, it is soul deep, has pine aromas, the acrobatics of light, known
temperature touching my face the way I recall the stand on a lone Korean
outpost."
I've never been to Massachusetts, know
nothing of Saugus or Tom Sheehan, but feel I know them well through A Collection of Friends.
Laurel Johnson
Midwest Book Review
(She reviews for New Works Review; The Pedestal Magazine; Quill Poetry Review
Quarterly; and Midwest Book Review).