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Oklahoman Billie Letts has made a nice career out of writing sturdy—if ultimately unremarkable—yarns about down-on-their-luck Middle Americans. She's been an Oprah’s Book Club selection and has had New York Times bestsellers with Where the Heart Is and The Honk and Holler Opening Soon. Her latest, Made in the USA, is something of a sea change: a coming-of-age story suitable for teens, but still right in the wheelhouse of her devoted, Snuggie-friendly fan base. The lowdown: After the sudden death of her father's morbidly obese girlfriend Floy—in a damned Wal-Mart, no less—15-year-old Lutie McFee flees Spearfish, S.D., with her 11-year-old brother, Fate, in Floy's old Pontiac. (Letts, it should be said, shares at least one thing with Thomas Pynchon: their love of ridiculous monikers and placenames.) They head toward Vegas with only an apartment address to guide them. Everything is tied up at the end, albeit with a very weird, deus ex machina kind of bow. No, Letts' work isn't going to be mistaken for Robert Bolano or Edna O'Brien anytime soon. However, for those looking for non-genre work told tautly, Letts certainly goes one better than most of the grocery-store fiction out there.
Thu., Dec. 10, 7 p.m., 2009
Thu., Dec. 10, 7 p.m., 2009
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