< Back | Home

Pritchett and his publicist decided to put keys on the cover because Bill, one of the main characters, spends a lot of time driving aimlessly around.

Off the Shelf

Pritchett gets good grade for 'Melancholy Fate'

By: Jessie Burche

Posted: 10/8/07

What grade would Creative Writing professor Michael Pritchett's students give his new book?

Pritchett, Ph.D., spends much of his time grading stories his students write.

There are rules to writing in his class, which he tosses at you the first day. Then he says you can break them, but you better have a good reason.

For example, we, the reader, must support character motives because they involve something the character needs. The setting must be described in detail. We must know the thought processes of the main characters.

Pritchett's latest book, "The Melancholy Fate of Capt. Lewis," does not break any of the rules, but doesn't feel formulaic either.

His approach to the book is unique. There are two main characters: Merriwether Lewis and Bill Lewis. Merriwether is, of course, of the famous Lewis and Clark expedition across the United States to find the all-water route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.

Bill is a high school history teacher who is writing a book about Merriwether. It could get confusing, but it never does.

Both Lewis' suffer from depression. This link, among others, causes Bill to be obsessed with Merriwether. He even buys a gun, much like the one Merriwether carried on his expedition.

Pritchett has cyclical depression, this how he made Bill and Meriwether's depression so realistic in the novel.

"I've had my own struggles with depression and that's another reason why when I found out more about Lewis' story I really connected to it," Pritchett said. "Remembering times in the past when my depression was at its very worst was how I was able to write those scenes."

The characters' depression and the urgency it creates in their lives is completely believable. Bill's need to receive some kind of sign that he would be OK pressed on the reader.

Pritchett says never show a gun unless it's going to show up again and play a part in the novel, and it does later on.

And the reader doesn't feel sorry for Bill's need for a solid relationship with a woman to stabilize his life; readers sympathize with him because that need is so urgent and incredibly heart-wrenching.

In class, Pritchett has told students it's hard for a reader to like a character who leaves a dedicated relationship.

He comes close to breaking this rule when Bill almost has an affair with Joanie and later with Rita. Pritchett included this to show an aspect of relationships men struggle with.

"Fidelity is something that men generally have a problem with," Pritchett said. "I was really interested in doing a story about a guy who's having a great problem being true to his marriage and contrasting that to Lewis who was absolutely in the opposite position; he could not find anyone who would marry him."

Pritchett worried in the interview he had broken another rule of modern writing: The story must have some tension all the way through it.

"The [Lewis and Clark] expedition has its own [story] arc," Pritchett said. "I was afraid once I let the dramatic tension lapse I couldn't get tension to build up towards Lewis' suicide."

That's right, Lewis committed suicide. Don't worry, Bill lets the reader know about Lewis' tragic fate throughout the book; the ending is more surprising.

There is only one rule Pritchett definitely breaks. A character who is on the Lewis and Clark expedition finds a golf ball from the future.

Even with the blatant broken rule, this book is a great read. It's local, which is one of the best parts, and the reading experience is vivid.

I give "The Melancholy Fate of Capt. Lewis" an A plus.

jburche@gmail.com