Eddie's Bastard: A Novel

By William Kowalski

Book Overview

"There was something irrevocably different about my life, about who I was and how I came to be, that made me nothing like other kids my age; and what was more, it was too late to do anything about it. It had always been too late, in a sense. . . ." In this rich, deeply resonant literary debut, twenty-eight-year-old William Kowalski explores the power of family, the meaning of history, and the bonds of individuals united and shaped by love--a wondrous novel in the grand storytelling tradition of John Irving and Wally Lamb. "Eddie's Bastard" is one William Amos Mann IV, fondly known as Billy, the illegitimate blue-eyed son of "Ready Eddie" Mann--a legendary golden athlete and brave pilot killed in Vietnam--and an unknown mother. The last in a line of proud, fiercely individualistic Irish-American men, Billy is discovered in a basket on the doorstep of the once grand farmhouse that is his ancestral family home, now a dusty, haunted mansion. The sole inhabitant is Billy's grandfather, Thomas, a bitter and lonely recluse who will raise Billy on love, fried baloney sandwiches, and the fascinating lore of the Mann family itself. While his birth may have been inauspicious, Billy's life is destined for greatness. He is a Mann, Grandpa reminds him daily, the progeny of an indomitable family scarred by success and tragedy. Through the whisky-tinged tales of his grandfather, Billy learns how the clan's fortune was discovered by his great-great-grandfather and namesake, Willie, a hero of the Civil War, and how it was lost by Thomas himself, a veteran of World War II, in a scheme known as the Great Ostrich Fiasco of 1946. As he matures into adolescence, Billy will eventually capture these stories on paper, a tradition begun by his great-great-grandfather, who confessed his secrets in a journal he kept throughout his life. Through the tales of his ancestors and his own experiences, Billy learns of bravery and cowardice, of life and death, of the heart's capacity for love and for unremitting hatred, eventually grasping the meaning and true beauty of family and history and their power to shape destiny. Here, too, are the unforgettable people who will indelibly mark him, including the generous and loving Dr. Connor, his grandfather's best friend and the man who holds the key to the secrets of Billy's past and the promise of his future; the charmingly offbeat Shumachers, a "loud, Teutonic, and vibrantly healthy" tribe of Pennsylvania Dutch farmers who care for young Billy when his grandfather is hospitalized after a freak accident; Elsie Orfenbacher, a ripe, energetic woman who will later introduce him to the pleasures of manhood; and the love of Billy's life, Annie Simpson, an ethereal girl with a dark mystery that will first bring them together and then threaten to drive them apart. A novel of discovery, of a young man's emergence into the world and the endless possibilities for greatness it offers, Eddie's Bastard is a luminous reading experience, a novel steeped in imagery and lyricism that marks the debut of a talented new writer. "My life has been made of stories from beginning to end, and just when it seems one is ending, a new one begins. The world itself is woven of stories, each man and woman and child of us threading our own brightly colored tale into the bigger story that was already being told as we were born, and that will continue to be woven by others long after our threads have run out..." -- from Eddie's Bastard

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060193557
• ISBN13: 9780060193553
• Release Date: September 1999
• Publisher: Harper
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.3" x 6.1"

Customer Reviews

No silver spoon in this kid's mouth

This is a wonderful story of a family that is far from what most would call normal, or even desirable, yet skillfully avoids the sense of depressing gloom that its subject matter could easily invoke. Billy Mann is raised by an alcoholic grandfather who is often too besotted to provide Billy with his basic physical needs yet who somehow manages to instill in him a rich appreciation of who he is and where he comes from. Kowalski often uses the name 'Mann' as a pun to point out that there is a little of Billy Mann in all of us. Hopefully, his first work is evidence of other great books to come.

The universal search for identity

It is difficult to believe this is a first novel. That William Kowalski is a gifted novelist is simply a given. He is a fine story teller, able to weave threads of pulsing narrative toward a nourishing conclusion. He creates characters who are not only credible but about whom we care. Too many descriptive phrases might get in the way to the individual response to this rich novel.... Suffice it to say that the title EDDIE'S BASTARD is more than a label. A Bastard is one without parents and therefore without knowledge of history - genetic, philosophical, time sequence. This beautifully crafted book reveals the detective work involved in the main character's quest for self discovery. His journey is at once interesting, touching, warm, and curative. As he reads excerpts from his great grandfather's diary - sophisticated, elegant prose set off in italics which if separated from the novel would still provide a cogent guide to knowing ourselves through understanding our history - Eddie gains insight into his place in the world, his questions about his responses to that world, and eventually an understanding about where he fits in in a world that has seemed alien. Read this novel - for entertainment, for fresh words, for disarmingly beautiful story, and for restoration in the faith that we are a meaningful part of what was and, therefore, what will be.

a hero looking for a war

This novel tells the tale of Billy Mann, the youngest in a long line of small town heroes. He lives with his grandfather in an idyllic state of benign neglect, learning about life through observation, imagination, and the wise words left behind by his diary-keeping, soldiering male ancestors. Not surprisingly, in the midst of all this maleness, Billy's thoughts turn to contemplation of his mysterious mother and his young neighbor, Annie. This is a coming-of-age story layered with humor, history, and heartbreak. The writing is impeccable. Kowalski's craftsmanship is an absolute joy to read.

Refreshing, loveable and sincere

Because of lack of time on my part, this review won't do this novel justice. In short, if you love an intellectual hartwarming novel, buy this book! You won't regret it!

Billy Mann, worthy successor to Robertson Davies' heroes

"Eddie's Bastard" is honest and full of love. I think someone likened it to John Irving, which is fine, but I was more reminded of Robertson Davies, particularly of "Fifth Business" and Dunstan Ramsay. Kowalski's sense of Billy, and of course the rest of the characters, is pinpoint. I hope this turns into a trilogy at the least.Billy's romantic sensibilities, heroism, and ideals, are so much like mine I could cry, not least of all because his accomplishments are boyhood dreams of mine, and his coming of age is right on track. Enzo Fujimora rules!