Unforgettable Automotive Story Never
Runs Out of Gas
By Chris Manson April 10, 2003 Issue

It is uncommon for a male author to find his way so perfectly into a woman’s soul, but Brad Barkley has done it. In the wonderful Alison’s Automotive Repair Manual (cleverly subtitled A Novel to avoid confusion, Barkley creates a character so memorably thoughtful and flawed that I couldn’t bear to see her go when I reached the final paragraph.

Barkley is a writer unknown to me, but I now hope to get my hands on a copy of his acclaimed 2000 novel Money, Love. A collection of short stories is planned, though Barkley’s style—paragraph upon paragraph of character-revealing insights—indicates that the full-length novel is the ideal format for his work.

Alison Durst is a thirtysomething widow living with her sister and brother-in-law. She hasn’t dealt with the loss too well, as she and the late Marty’s house has remained unoccupied for almost two years. Alison finally begins to realize that two years is a long time to moan and groan after she discovers the junked Corvette in Bill and Sarah’s garage. Alison decides she’s going to fix the old car up and get it running. She initially compares the wreck to the Hindenburg and the Titanic, but the Corvette becomes her life’s work. Or maybe just another way to put off getting back to reality.

In a lesser writer’s hands the mirroring of Alison’s auto restoration and putting her own life back together would play like a clumsy metaphor. But thanks to Barkley’s intelligent and often funny point-of-view--along with a striking eye for detail—the novel is a pleasure from start to finish. We share Alison’s grief, her reluctance to go back to work and her old house, as well as her fear of a new romantic connection. We also feel her sense of accomplishment as she completes another car repair task. When Alison gets the 8-track player working, you can practically hear Styx’s Miss America seeping out of the car’s tinny speakers.

Location is crucial in this story, as the small West Virginia town of Wiley Ford plays host to a memorable cast of eccentrics. One of them, Mr. Rossi--the trivia-spouting member of Sarah’s dance class—starts out like a knockoff of Cliff from TV’s Cheers but evolves into someone very unique.

There’s also Max Kesler, who works with explosives. He is the unattached son of “the late Mr. Kesler,” the vinyl record aficionado who supplies the music for Sarah’s dance class provided he shows up on time. The usual relationship stuff is out the window here—Alison and Max’s first date is a romantic trip to a demolition site with opera music playing on his truck’s stereo. Max has a long-standing grudge with his lying father, which poses a dilemma for Alison after she and the senior Mr. Kesler bond.

Everyone has eccentricities in Alison’s Automotive Repair Manual. Bill, the brother-in-law, is so determined to get his wife pregnant that he participates in some really kooky fertility rites. But he is not portrayed as a simpleton, nor is the auto parts store proprietor who hands out those little religious booklets often found in public restrooms. Barkley clearly respects his characters.

Each chapter begins with an excerpt from the Haynes Automotive Repair Manual. It’s a clever tool, as these introductions may or may not foreshadow the events in Alison’s journey back to life.

I urge you to discover the delights of Alison’s Automotive Repair Manual, a character-driven near-masterpiece that offers a wealth of useful information, by way of both Mr. Rossi’s trivia outbursts and the car repair tips. Barkley is a commanding storyteller, and it is imperative that you make his acquaintance.

By the way, I checked. There really is a town called Wiley Ford in West Virginia, but the sole website I located has not been updated in two years. Two years? Hmmmm, that’s a long time… (Top)

St. Martin’s Press, 274 pages. Available at bookstores and the Destin Library.

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