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A review by joshjorgz
The Auctioneer by Joan Samson
5.0
A new Barnes and Noble opened up in my neighborhood and while making the appropriate pilgrimage, I stumbled upon this novel. It had been on my radar before--the Paperbacks from Hell, Grady Hendrix, and the re-issues of particular titles are all extremely exciting to me--and it was the right time to pick it up.
The Auctioneer is the only novel written by Joan Samson--she died a few months after it was published. Blurbs compare it favorably to Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," and it is celebrated as one of the few 70s horror novels to sell 1 million copies.
I think it is a slow-burning masterpiece. The story centers on John, Mim, their daughter Hildie, and John's mother, Ma. They are farmers in Harlowe, New Hampshire, and they live off the land and their humble community resources (neighbors, shops, exchanges, etc.).
When a man named Perly Dunsmore--the Auctioneer--infiltrates their community, things seem to be both harmless and exciting. The items that he sells during his Auctions are funneled into the community--more police (because crimes are rising) and other necessary resources. But when the Auctions refuse to stop--John and Mim are thrust into a situation that is more than they, and the Harlowe community, bargained for.
This is definitely a pot-will-boil novel. I found the details and the set-up fascinating. It is like a time-capsule from the 1970s in rural America. The character development is gradual yet stark. As you go along, things become more and more unsettling.
The ending is fierce, bleak, and ultimately deflating--not because it is a let-down, but because there is no mistaking how easily a community can come to ruin.
The Auctioneer is the only novel written by Joan Samson--she died a few months after it was published. Blurbs compare it favorably to Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," and it is celebrated as one of the few 70s horror novels to sell 1 million copies.
I think it is a slow-burning masterpiece. The story centers on John, Mim, their daughter Hildie, and John's mother, Ma. They are farmers in Harlowe, New Hampshire, and they live off the land and their humble community resources (neighbors, shops, exchanges, etc.).
When a man named Perly Dunsmore--the Auctioneer--infiltrates their community, things seem to be both harmless and exciting. The items that he sells during his Auctions are funneled into the community--more police (because crimes are rising) and other necessary resources. But when the Auctions refuse to stop--John and Mim are thrust into a situation that is more than they, and the Harlowe community, bargained for.
This is definitely a pot-will-boil novel. I found the details and the set-up fascinating. It is like a time-capsule from the 1970s in rural America. The character development is gradual yet stark. As you go along, things become more and more unsettling.
The ending is fierce, bleak, and ultimately deflating--not because it is a let-down, but because there is no mistaking how easily a community can come to ruin.