Last Dance at the Frosty Queen

August 13, 2007
Raging hormones, angsty rants and reckless behavior fuel this accomplished black comedy about coming of age in middle-of-nowhere Kansas in 1988. Debut author Uhlig brings the quintessential stuck-in-Hicksville atmosphere to idiosyncratic life by drawing plenty of small-town details. Arthur Flood, the narrator, can't wait to graduate high school and leave—that is, assuming he can get past the sheriff, who has effectively blackmailed Arty into dating his daughter, the unlovely Geraldine, and she can't wait to lose her virginity and press Arty into marriage. Then there's Mrs. Kaye, Arty's high school English teacher, who has been conducting an affair with him in the back of the Floods' hearse (yes, the family business is undertaking, and it's dying, pun surely intended, thanks to aggressive competition from the new Golden Rule chain). As the residents tune in to Dallas
on TV, the local soap operas include arson, lots of alcoholism and the de rigueur beautiful, mysterious girl from out of town who changes the protagonist's perspective. Giving Arty a Sister Carrie and his town a Main Street (and another character the dialogue to shore up the references), Uhlig lets readers know that the stereotypes are intentional, occasions for jokes as well as insights. With all of his propensity for exaggeration, the author manages to portray Arty as someone readers can identify with: his ambitions to make a future for himself and his desires loom at least as large as the outrageous situations that bedevil him. Ages 14-up.