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Ames brings Lockjaw to life
By Chris Schobert
Gazing at the cover for Greg Ames’s debut novel Buffalo Lockjaw, I was filled with that ever-so-Buffalonian sense of dread. You know—the fear that we’re about to be seen only for our worst. After all, the image depicts a snowy street, cars and homes barely visible. The sheet of white is part of a larger image of a frothy beer.
But this is a misleading cover, as the Queen City comes off quite well in the author’s text. Ames has much love for the city, and that’s evident in the who-what-wheres of Lockjaw. Sure, chapter titles include “Whiteout” and “Slush,” but what do you expect from a novel taking place in WNY winter? Feast on some of the other namechecks: Upton Hall, “Dairy Queens boarded up for winter,” Hertel Avenue, La Nova, Essex Street Pub, the Lenox Hotel, the Psych Center, and even “Top shelf where mama hides the cookies!” Ames is most certainly not faking the Buffalo funk.
Plot-wise, Lockjaw centers on New York City denizen James Fitzroy, a writer having only mixed success in the big city. With his mother near-death, he returns home, meets with old friends, deals with a hard-headed father, and re-thinks his life. Fitzroy is a likable and engaging personality, and his story a moving one. Ames shows real talent for characterization, but more than that, for establishing place.
I especially enjoyed some of Ames’s expository descriptions of things a non-Buffalonian needs to know,e.g., Timmy Ho’s: “Tim Hortons is Buffalo’s equivalent to Dunkin’ Donuts. You know you’re getting close to Canada when local businesses are named after gritty NHL defensemen. Horton played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Buffalo Sabres, but now he’s known primarily for having the best coffee in town.” True ’dat, Greg—I’m sipping it right now.
Buffalo Lockjaw is a fine debut, and a marvelously creative view of a city too often used as punchline. Raise a Genny to Greg Ames—he, more than anyone, will appreciate it.
—Christopher Schobert
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