Kathy Giuffre

Upon hearing that I was mourning the death of Robert Pirsig, the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a friend recommended this book: The Drunken Spelunker’s Guide to Plato, as a means to read something similar and somehow re-igniting my memories of a philosophical work that changed my life. While this book is excellent in its own right, it isn’t ZAMM.
I must say that I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would, mainly because Kathy Giuffre, while a very good writer, had a hard time setting the stage for herself. I struggled with the characters as they were introduced. I had a hard time staying interested since the characters did not grip me at the very beginning, and she introduced so many of them at once that I kept sneaking back to figure out which characters she was talking about. But. She more than made up for it as she found her groove about half way through the book. The characters became real to me and as the narrative moved along, I started to empathize with the quirkiness of all the characters,
The structure of the book is ambitious. The author interweaves the story of Josie, the narrator, and her life as a bartender at The Cave, a dark and subterranean watering hole; a contemplation of Plato’s fable of prisoners in a cave; and finally a mixture of Greek mythological tales. At first the whole structure seemed to be a pseudo-intellectual exercise in pomposity. But the tapestry works, mainly because of the author’s sense of humor and her easiness with the language and her way with the story. She easily weaves in and out of the three threads and is able to make the story illustrate the mythology and the philosophical ponderings. I found myself being drawn in to the book as the story became more interesting until I was completely captivated and charmed. In the wrong hands, the easy parallel drawn between Plato’s cave and the bar named the Cave could have been a disaster. A lazy writer would have gone for the facile laughs and false profundity; this author never went for the cheap laugh or the fake gravitas. She worked pretty hard, in her research on philosophy and mythology to give us, the reader, a very happy and satisfying read.
The best compliment I can pay a work of fiction is that I was sad and forlorn when I reached the end of a book because I wanted the story to continue and I wanted to be led by the author through her thoughts.
I was sad and forlorn when I reached the end of this book.… (mais)

Funny how things happen sometimes. The unique title first drew me towards this book, I read the book jacket and wondered how the author was going to combine elements of Plato, mixed with Greek mythology, in a totally contemporary setting. I was intrigued. In my opinion she succeeded, brilliantly.

Josie, a young woman escapes her Appalachian hill town and by bus finds herself in Waterville, a southern college town. There she finds employment tending bar at a place called, "The Cave." she finds herself part of a hard drinking misfit group of regulars who inhabit the night. Yet, she finds so much more, friends who become her family, love and heartbreak and unconditional acceptance, tragedy and acceptance.. The characters are so wonderful, from Commie Tom who runs the bookstore, "Hammer and Sickle", to Blossom who owns a small diner and is always there when needed with food and solace. So many more, all amazingly real.

This was the time before internet, cell phones so there are discussions of books, music, ideas, thoughts, politics, refreshingly nostalgic. Josie is our narrator and her words are always proceeded by a reference to a particular story in Greek mythology or an excerpt of "The Cave." it fit in with what was happening seamlessly. Made me see how many of these older ideas and thoughts can still fit in today's world, how they can be applied to personal situations.

These were people I could see myself being friends with, if they were real of course. I will miss everyone of them. And this little book has become one of my favorite reads of this year.… (mais)