“Last Word”: Father-son tale is masterfully crafted by author

Sometimes the person telling the tale doesn't understand the full story. That's one of the lessons of Jonathan Blum's novella, 'Last Word” (Rescue Press, 86 pages, $14). Kip Langer, a frustrated father who can't connect with his teenage son, tells the story of the boy's expulsion from his private Jewish school, but it's clear from the beginning that Kip doesn't fully understand what's happening in his own family.

Blum, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, does a masterful job crafting Kip's voice. We're privy to Kip's frustration, his confusion, his striving, and even his blind spots as he tries to protect and straighten out his son. He wants his son to be better - more in shape, more successful with girls, less engrossed by his computer - but he also wants to protect him from all those who would criticize the young man.

Kip is given to misplaced optimism - 'I leaped with joy,” he tells us after receiving a report card that seems to indicate his boy has turned a corner. 'Every wrong decision I had made dating back 35 years felt somehow vindicated. Eric might even choose college. I lifted his restrictions ...” -and he is consistently disappointed. Desiring the best for and from Eric proves to be a far cry from doing the work that might lead to those outcomes.

Still, at story's end, Kip is still trying to forge that elusive connection. Having heard his tale, we might be convinced he hasn't found the right path to his son's heart and mind, but we believe he's doing the best he can, just as we all are.

'Rob Cline is a writer and published author, marketing director for University of Iowa's Hancher.

Book reading

'What

: Jonathan Blum reads from 'Last Word”

'Where

: Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City

'When

: 7 p.m. Monday

'Cost

: Free