The Life And Times of John Reddy Heart

Bruce Von Stiers

A high school heartthrob turns into a murderer and becomes an iconic antihero. That is who John Reddy Heart was. Or so it would seem from the remembrances of people who knew him. Or thought they knew him.

John Reddy Heart is the central character of the novel Broke Heart Blues. The novel was written by Joyce Carol Oates. She is a best-selling novelist with books such as We Were The Mulvaneys and A Garden of Earthly Delights. Her novel, Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang was made into a feature film that helped launch the career of Angelina Jolie.

Broke Heart Blues was originally published in 1999. It is being re-released this year for the novel's twenty-fifth anniversary. This re-release contains all of the original novel plus a new afterword by the author. It is being published by Akashic Books.

Earlier I wrote that John Reddy Heart is the central character of the novel. Where that is strictly true, his story is told through others. That is, his fellow students in high school, both girls and boys. The girls, mostly, are enthralled with John Reddy, as he is called throughout the novel. Some of those girls would do anything to be his girlfriend, if only in secret. The boys, again mostly, are in awe of John Reddy. They'd like to be like him, seemingly cool and aloof. And having the girls swoon over them like they do him. In fact, one such recollection from one of the guys suggests that they were more than a bit jealous of John Reddy.

The reason that John Reddy Heart becomes an iconic antihero? He shoots and kills his mom's lover. But did he really kill the man, or was he covering up for the actual killer? A manhunt and subsequent trial catapults John Reddy into folk hero status.

Going back and forth between narratives, the reader learns about Dahlia Heart, John Reddy's mom. Apparently she'd been a blackjack dealer in Las Vegas and somehow got in good with an older gentleman. He was from Willowsville, a small suburban town just outside of Buffalo, New York. However it happened, Dahlia inherited a house in Willowsville from the man, who died in Las Vegas.

There is quite the uproar when Dahlia, John Reddy, Dahlia's father and her other two children come to Willowsville. They arrive in a salmon color Cadillac with John Reddy driving, even though he wasn't old enough to do so. While Dahila was already known in the gossip circles as “the blackjack woman”, she acquired a new nickname, the White Dahlia. This was a nod to an infamous murder that happened in the 1940's.

The novel takes place over the course of thirty years. From the early days of John Reddy, his mom and the other family member arriving in Willowsville, to the murder and subsequent manhunt for John Reddy, there is a lot of things that are remembered by the people who are narrating parts of the novel. And that's one thing that I really liked about the novel. The author goes into a lot of detail for specific events. Some are serious and others somewhat humorous, such as a girl stealing John Reddy's trash and finding a drink can that he'd had his mouth on.

The past remembrances cumulate in the premise of a thirty-year class reunion. There are things that are revealed and some past memories are not found to not be factual.

As I read this novel, I had a few remembrances of my own. When I was in eighth grade, I became friends with a guy named Jim who lived across the street and two doors down. We were both fourteen. I looked it, probably younger. But Jim had a face that had seen a lot already in his young life. Even though he was only fourteen, he looked at least ten years older. Jim could well have been the model for John Reddy Heart, had the author known him. But maybe she had a Jim in her life at some point.

Break Heart Blues is a great novel that has a bit of humor and a slice of mysteriousness in a tale that is truly All-American. There is the character, John Reddy Heart, who through the memories of those around him, might evoke comparisons to James Dean or Marlon Brando from the reader. There are the jealousies of not only the boys in the town, but the women who look down on Dahlia and the men who might want to know her a bit better. And, of course, there is the murder of Dahlia's lover, whose death might indeed have been blamed on the wrong person. The writing is first rate and paints a terrific portrait of how someone, through action or circumstance, can end up being a cult hero.

This re-release of Break Heart Blues is now available. You can get it through your favorite book retailer or order it directly from Akashic Books. Their website is https://www.akashicbooks.com/

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© 2024 Bruce E Von Stiers