A review by judyward
That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo

3.0

Well, here's middle age disappointment at its best. Jack Griffin is disappointed with his life--his job, his marriage, where he lives, etc. And now he finds himself on the way to Cape Cod to a wedding. The very Cape Cod where he and his parents vacationed every summer while he was a child. Oh, and by the way, he's carrying his father's ashes in the trunk of his car. Those ashes have been in his trunk for over a year. And his mother is calling him repeatedly on his cell phone, giving him orders and expressing her deep disappointment with her only son. To say that the novel picks up from here and becomes lighter wouldn't be exactly true. Fast forward another year and he is heading to Maine for another wedding and now he has two urns of ashes in his trunk. This is a novel that crossed genres--it's a family novel first and foremost. Russo reminds us that we never understand our parents and we are never loose from them. The novel is also an academic novel, both for Jack and for his parents who are both college professors and it also touches on being a Hollywood novel with its descriptions of the competitive work of screenwriting. But all in all, it works right up until the very end.