The Revivalby Max Yoho
Max Yoho is the King of charming humor. In my experience, as both reader and reviewer, he has no equal. My grins, chuckles, and outright guffaws started in the first paragraph of The Revival. And Yoho's humor is not politically correct, which
only adds to his appeal as writer and storyteller.
Edwin J. Stamford, age eleven, is the hero of this book. Edwin spares his family nothing in the telling of one week in summer in the 1950s. It's revival week in Epic
KS. The Methodists and Holy Rollers are competing, with a goal of saving souls from
Hell. Small town sins and foibles are revealed, and none more pronounced than those
of Edwin's family. His sister Irene is a nemesis and plaguing thorn in his side.
Readers can't blame Edwin for enjoying situations that refocus Irene's attentions away
from terrorizing him. One particular passage involving a bee and an outing in the
family car is memorable:
"I guess if you could cross-breed a screaming Ubangi, a table saw, and octopus using an eggbeater, you could have an idea of Irene's reaction to one single little money-making honey bee innocently observing its environment. For a girl of Irene's size, she cleared the back of the front seat in an amazingly short time. Landing between Mom and Dad, she didn't slow down, but with her
fingernails, commenced trying to wear an escape hole in the windshield. Dad stood
on the brake and Judas Priest-ed the world until we screeched to a stop by the side
of the road. "
Grandma and Grandpa spend Revival Week with Edwin's family. Grandma has her own frailty—a multi-tonal flatulence that communicates better than words. But Edwin has
more than Grandma's farting to consider. A world of wonder awaits as he discovers
breasts in the form of a cast-off brassiere, a Voodoo Queen's toes, snake bite cure in
the form of blackberry brandy, and his first experience with a rectal thermometer.
Such wonders reveal themselves against the backdrop of Old Time Religion in the form
of revival meetings where Dad makes up his own blasphemous words to each old hymn.
Life's curiosities are sometimes overwhelming for a boy, but Edwin has his alter ego
Snake Shadow to rely on in a pinch. What Edwin can't overcome, good old Snake Shadow
can.
Max Yoho combines humor with memories of times past more effectively than any writer I know. His work is delightful, engrossing reading, and highly recommended. The
fictional characters he creates are endearing and real. But be warned. From the
first chapter to the last page, Max and Edwin might give you a case of the wheezling
geezlets.
review by Laurel Johnson
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