The Up-Down

January 12, 2015
First introduced in Gifford's Wild at Heart, Sailor Ripley and his wife, Lula, have starred in seven novels, and though both characters are now dead, their story lives on in the author's latest, a quick yet effective tale centered around their son, Pace. Parentless at age fifty-eight, Pace leaves his home in New Orleans to seek out the "up-down"âa sort of spiritual, inner centering. He travels to Chicago, Wisconsin, and Wyoming in his pursuitsâwhich come to a sudden halt after he nearly dies from a dangerous fallâbefore finally taking up residence on an inherited property in North Carolina. Here, he begins to write the story of his parents, as well as his own memoir, in hopes of crafting an account of salvation for lost souls to read (while simultaneously introducing a metafictional layer to Gifford's multi-volume epic). As the years slip by and he slowly inches toward death, Pace engages in romantic trysts, acts of violence, and moments of redemption. Fans of Gifford's earlier work will surely enjoy this final trip with familiar characters, but the novel is equally successful for those unfamiliar with Sailor and Lula's history, for the author works wonders filling in the gaps on past events throughout. A rambling victory.

March 1, 2015

Son of Sailor and Lula Ripley, first seen in Gifford's film-worthy Wild at Heart, Pace Roscoe Ripley abandons his home and career in New Orleans to seek the Up-Down--"a fifth, mysterious direction" appreciated by ancient cultures that takes one to the heart of things. His first stop is Chicago, as he hunts for a savant of sorts named Dr. Furbo; later he has a nasty encounter with an angry eagle and begins writing about his parents and himself in separate manuscripts that play out significantly at book's end. VERDICT At once genial, wacky, and compassionate, this is pretty earthy as spiritual journeys go and full of human connection.

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