Review: "Galveston" by Nic Pizzolatto

No book in my recent memory has been more unknown to me than Galveston. I probably went into this book more in the dark than I usually am, and bought this book (used) knowing only of Pizzolatto’s short story collection, which won a few small awards. The plot really interested me, and sounded like a good narrative driven piece. It also has a really cool cover, both minimalistic and brooding. And at only 257 pages with big print it was small risk. And while it is not an unsung masterpiece that deserves the kind of acclaim that a Swamplandia does, it still deserves an audience. It follows a middle-aged man named Roy Cady (or with great malice from his acquaintances, Big Country, for his style of dress and long beard), who was just diagnosed with a terminal illness and has also been double-crossed by his boss, a dangerous and unpredictable loan shark and bar owner. In the aftermath of this double cross, the only ones left standing are Roy, and a young prostitute named Rocky. Together, they along with Rocky’s younger sister Tiffany, embark on a road trip to Galveston, Texas, which will change all three of them, for better and worse. The good thing about Pizzolatto is that he does not adhere to any kind of sentimental rules when the fates of his characters are decided. Sometimes it is scary, and, with one death I did not see coming, quite sad. It is refreshing without coming off as cynical and the bad things always come with great poignancy. The bad aspects are a few random pieces where I did not know whether the things happening were in the past or present (I found out later). It reminded me too much of that Cormac McCarthy style that is too complex and jumbled and sacrifices the flow of a story for a stream of consciousness approach to the characters inner mind. But that was not all that bad, and it made up for it with a swell ending. I do recommend this book to anyone who wants hard-edged storytelling with a bite, if you don’t mind over-thought out prose. Pizzolatto needs some recognition; he is definitely someone to look out for.

Rating: 4/5