Why The Tree Loves The Axe by Jim Lewis

A friend of mine recently ran a finger down a few spines and remarked "Most of your books have really cool names. Do you buy them just because of the titles?" Well to be honest, a lot of the time I do. Sometimes it pays off (I Want to Fuck You by PP Harnett is stunning) and sometimes it doesn't (God is a Bullet by Boston Teran was dull as dishwater). Othertimes I actually pick a book because of its size - I'm a big fan of stumpy little books that are just that little bit smaller than a regular paperback - its how I discovered Resume with Monsters. And now I'm rambling. Jim Lewis' book has everything - great title, great cover and the words inside do the business too.

It's kind of a road-novel but has a little more going for it. The plot is strange and the outcome stunning. It reminded me of Jim Dodge or perhaps a more coherent Brautigan. When I began to read Danielewski's House of Leaves I was instantly reminded of Jim Lewis. Like House of Leaves this novel begins with an old man with a secret and like House of Leaves the secret is not exactly what you thought it would be.

Our heroine, Caroline, is a compulsive liar who after a car crash stumbles into a job at a nursing home. There she meets and finds herself at odds with a devilish old bastard who terrifies everyone he meets. After a riot Caroline finds herself literally in her best friend's shoes and with the old man's box under her arm she sets off across the States to deliver his secret.

Part David Lynch, part Chuck Palahniuk, Why the tree loves the axe is a pretty fucked-up read. It begins as an interrigation but you soon become caught up in the character of Caroline and its a shock at the end of the novel to return to the inqusitor. You easilly forget that you've been reading a prolonged flashback sequence. Although this book came out in 1999 its still hard to beat. You may also want to try Sister by the same author - not quite as good but it has a great concept: besotted gardener decides to live in the crawlspace beneath the home of the teenage girls that he works for.

UK Paperback ISBN: 0006551033 ~ USA Hardback ISBN: 0609601091 (paperback is out of print and has a lousy cover)