Review -- The Typewriter Satyr by Dwight Allen
A Romantic Fiction of an Unconventional Love Story in Midvale
Apr 1, 2009
A story of two not-so-ordinary people who meet, fall in love, get married then go their separate ways. Along the way, the fun and sadness of their lives are intertwined and widen the circle with other characters living in a midwestern city.
Crazy Thrill of Romance in Midvale
Dwight Allen creates Midvale; a town filled with progressive citizens in the middle of Wisconsin, a small conservative state. The fictional Midvale attracts funky people but still living common lives in The Typewriter Satyr.
Set during the early years of the Iraq war, this crazy romance begins the day an old typewriter is left on the curb of a side street. Annelise collects old things including men and music. But that day, she picks up the old fashioned typewriter with no intention of keeping it, a metaphor for her life thus far.
In search of a person to repair the found typewriter, Annelise meets the entrepreneur and sole proprietor of The Typing Poole. The typewriter is a Royal Quiet De Luxe, the kind used by Hemingway, he informs her. But the typewriter has done its matchmaking; years later a homeless man types another manuscript on its platen.
Characters Oliver Poole and Annelise Scharfenberg
Oliver Poole is a tall and gangly man who prefers his bicycle to a car. The 50 something, father of four sons and spouse of a lady lawyer, is gray-haired but still playing softball. Oliver loves his typewriter repair business where he feels needed, now if only his family felt the same.
Annelise Scharfenberg is a late night deejay that plays oldies for a fringe radio station. Annelise has secrets she doesn’t easily share, loves sugarcoated donuts and aspires to be a Buddhist practicing yoga. She is only in her 30’s but seems to have already lived a lifetime.
Saturday’s Greenmarket in Midvale Wisconsin
In the book, Midvale is described as “a city of liberal-minded (but not too liberal-minded) folk in the heart of Wisconsin.” The reference might as well have been Madison the author was speaking about.
Most of the book takes place in neighborhoods and side streets not commonly associated with Madison. However, the Saturday greenmarket where people naturally walk counter clockwise, loudly offer political opinion speeches or meet and greet in the middle of the sidewalk is a sure indication from where Midvale’s inspiration came.
Writer and Author Dwight Allen
Dwight Allen is a graduate of the University of Iowa Workshop and was on the editorial staff of The New Yorker. Among the author’s writings is a short story collection called The Green Suit, September 8, 2000, published by Algonquin Books. Dwight Allen lives in Madison, Wisconsin.
Allen, Dwight. The Typewriter Satyr, March 17, 2009, Terrace Books of University of Wisconsin Press, 256 Pages. ISBN 978-0-299-22990-0
For books by other Wisconsin authors consider book reviews of Night Sisters by Sara Rath or In Love With Jerzy Kosinski by Agate Nesaule.
Permission received for all photos used in this article.
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