Author Joseph Coulson develops his protagonist in Of Song and Water, Jason ‘Coleman’ Moore, through a circular narrative which incorporate his own life as well as his father’s and his grandfather’s. At middle age, Coleman finds himself incapable of continuing on as a jazz guitarists and increasingly distanced from his daughter and ex-wife, this compared with his father and grandfather, both of whom were sailors of the Great Lakes and when on land, possessed egos and ambitiousness which only led to alienated lives. It’s a structure that utilizes constant flashbacks and time leaps to relay their stories, but it never feels as though pieces of a puzzle are being revealed. Instead, more like a piece of jazz music which emotionally intertwines its musical components to create a unified whole.

With the specific geographic region and the use of successive generations, the influence of Steinbeck becomes immediately apparent. However, I find a significant difference. As I learned in the introduction for To a God Unknown, Steinbeck sought to create a ‘wall of background’ for his characters, which was to create ironic complexity through the incorporation of the vast number of influences which effect his characters, such as history, family, culture, psychology, etc. At times, Steinbeck’s characters almost become hidden, even lost, within these forces (which I personally believe reflects real life). In contrast, Coulson uses the background details to create transparency rather than density. A ‘window of background’? While sometimes Steinbeck’s character do become much larger than what we can directly relate to, from being extreme embodiments of the forces which effect them, Coulson’s approach can actually become an oversimplification. They are well rounded, not at all flat and one dimensional, but they lack that to-the-core paradox, the tragic irony which can allow us to see something in ourselves in the characters and shed light on the human condition. I think to do this a writer needs to learn from a study outside of literature, such as religion, mythology, anthropology, or the behavioral sciences, some place where our extremes and contradictions are specifically addressed. Admittedly though, this is more of a personal preference than a direct criticism.

In the end, I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this book. Its entirely engaging as it demonstrates a masterfully composed structure and capable of capturing a locale and its people, as I would know, being from Michigan and knowing a thing or two about sailing. Its also wonderfully researched with respect to both jazz and sail boats, but now its time to find a way to make those theories of musical riffs, boom vangs and foresail telltales stick to our ribs.