Junior, by Ray Donley

You just have to love a book that the author had so much fun writing.  Ray Donley, an Austin lawyer, surely didn't set out to write a literary masterpiece or even a mainstream best-seller.  As his bio says, "Ray decided to write a novel so he could just make stuff up. He researched, as lawyers do, and determined that what the world needed was a novel that combined his interests in the Bible, sports, cosmic cause and effect, silly religiosity, and movies where things get blown up."   So Donley's perceived need has been fulfilled in his debut novel, Junior, which he clearly had a good time writing.

Junior opens with Junior on the run, the chief suspect after an explosion takes the lives of Senior (his dad), the President and Vice President, and most of the cabinet and top congressional leaders, as well as many other bystanders.  Junior was nowhere near the explosion, but is at the top of the list of suspects.  Junior is the journal of Junior on the run.  Besides telling the story of his life as a fugitive, we learn about Senior, who is, of course, Junior's dad.  Senior, a fabulously successful and popular businessman, demonstrated the good that can be done by someone with nearly unlimited funds and lots of friends.  Among his successes:

• saving the Jewish people and providing the nation of Israel with a new homeland mere weeks before Jerusalem is destroyed by an atomic bomb.
• finding a cure for AIDS and providing cities of refuge for homosexuals.
• solving the problem of pedophilia in the U.S. Catholic Church and saving the Vatican from bankruptcy.
• eliminating the problem of excessive cell phone fees by monopolizing the industry.
• solved overcrowding in prisons, gang violence in American cities, and got U.S. troops out of the middle east (yes, those things are all interlinked in Senior's world).
• was instrumental in Mexico's becoming a U.S. state and in deposing the Mexican drug cartels.

As you might guess in each of these cases, Senior made lots of friends--but also accumulated a few enemies, some of whom might want to blow him up.  Junior, aided by his Mossad friends and a few others, travels the world, narrowly avoiding getting blown up or killed on numerous occasions, and tells the story of Senior and who might want to have killed him.

Along the way, as you might suspect, Donley has plenty to say about American life, politics, and culture.  There are few amusing insights as he projects his idealism onto Senior's accomplishments.  One of Junior's ongoing struggles is with his life as it fits with God's will.  Even though he is rising to prominence, even on the run, and some try to convince him that he's an important figure, he doubts that he matters much. The "God's will argument . . . presumes that I am important enough for God to rearrange history for.  And I am not. . . . The 'God's will' argument is often summarized by folks as 'everything happens for a reason.'  I am no so sure that is true.  It seems to me that sometimes, things just happen. . . . We are just not that important."  Later, during a stay at a convent, he relays his position on the will of God to one of the nuns.  "'I am just not convinced the higher power is organizing the world for my benefit.'  Sister Flannery smiled, as if she believed she had won the argument, and continued, 'You are right, Junior.  He is not arranging things for your benefit. He is arranging things for His purpose.'"  Wise words, indeed.

Another passage I think worth repeating also takes place at the convent, which is a home for children with disabilities.  I liked this passage enough that I will quote it at length.  Junior is again chatting with Sister Flannery.

"So what inspired you to work with handicapped children, Sister?"
"What did you call them?"
"Who?"
"The children."
"Handicapped?"
"This is the twenty-first century, Junior.  Sensible people consider that term to be inappropriate.  Try again."
"Challenged?"
"Makes them sound inferior."
"Disabled?"
"They are perfectly able, within the limits God has given them."
"Developmentally impaired?"
"Impaired is worse than disabled.  And if you say the 'r' word, I will punch you in the shoulder.  Hard."
. . .
"I give up.  What do you call the children, Sister?"
"I call each of them by their given name."
"That's cheating.  You know what I mean."
"These children are God's Elect.  He has chosen them."
. . .
"So you are saying God chose these kids to be different? . . . But why would God choose these children to have problems?  Why would God choose to make a child deaf or blind from birth?"
"I don't know, Junior.  I am not God.  I do not know his reasoning."
"Well, Sister, I'm guessing that these kids, and their parents, may not be all that fired up about being chosen in this fashion."
"You need to get over yourself, Junior. . . . We are all important to God.  Even if we are not happy about our station in life.  God has a purpose for these kids, Junior." . . . And then she punched me in the shoulder anyway.  Hard.

I don't normally include such lengthy quotes in my reviews, but I really like the sensitivity and humor with which Donley approaches this subject.  It makes me wonder if his life has been touch by disability.

There is much to like about Junior and Junior.  It's fun to read, but, at bottom, I got a little bored with Junior's plight.  Three years on the road is a long time, and the story began to drag at times.  Plus, during the course of the story, we learn that Junior has become a revered folk hero, yet I never was convinced as to why he was esteemed so highly.  So a fun, silly road story, with some good-humored commentary, and a few flashes of brilliance, combined for a flawed, but fun, diversion.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy.