Synopsis
Roy Hill married the girl of his dreams, dotes on his eleven-year-old son, and is next in line for a big promotion in the Atlanta office of a global corporation. Then, almost imperceptibly at first, everything starts to unravel. He losing control of his life.
Library Journal
Abrahams's tale is faintly reminiscent of Julio Cortazar's Blow Up in that it revolves around a perceived reality. In Last of the Dixie Heroes, protagonist Roy Hill (namesake of a Civil War hero) experiences a depressing personal cycle when he loses his wife and his job. His salvation seems to be in reliving the Civil War with a local reenactment group, but eventually the reenactments turn real, and Roy's personality becomes confused with his famous ancestor's. Massive amounts of whiskey, self-pity, and Yankee-hating only make Roy's situation worse. Eventually, a union reenactment group kidnaps his son, and war is officially declared. While undoubtedly a creative undertaking, this story struggles to convince the listener that Roy and his unit are anything but a bunch of drunken good ol' boys still fighting the war. Buck Schirner's narration unfortunately only reinforces this perception. People who participate in war reenactments are likely to be insulted by this work. Not recommended. Ray Vignovich, West Des Moines P.L. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.