The King of Taos

May 18, 2020
Evans (The Rounders) draws on his years in 1950s Taos, N.Mex., for this wistful picaresque (after For the Love of a Horse), an entertaining outing that engenders empathy for its flawed characters. Zacharias Chacon, supported by his hard-working and long-suffering wife, lives in perpetual hope that his fortunes will change. Every day, he expects a check promised by the government to compensate him for the noncombat injury he suffered during WWII, in an amount that will give him and his family some financial stability
. Zacharias maintains his optimism and equanimity (with the frequent aid of alcohol) despite years of disappointment. Shaw Spencer, an aspiring portrait painter, is a newcomer to the small community who has no problem pocketing someone else’s loose change left on a tabletop, and who finds companionship and inspiration with a prostitute. After he meets Zacharias at a bar, the two men latch onto a plan to start a construction business with Zacharias’s elusive check, and experience various ups and downs—Shaw is ripped off by a Santa Fe gallery owner, and Zacharias eventually gets a new lease on life. While the rambling story line features minimal action and lots of talk, the characters are consistently charming. It’s a treat to watch Evans pull this off.

June 1, 2020
Evans (Goin' Crazy with Sam Peckinpah and All Our Friends, 2014) may have been born in Texas, but New Mexico?the setting of many of his 25 novels?captured his heart. His latest, written at 95 years old, is no exception. A series of sharp vignettes describe the meandering misfortunes of the drunken ne'er-do-wells who populate post-World War II Taos. Zacharias Chacon drinks to ease the physical pain of a war injury and the psychic pain of waiting for wealth. Shaw Spencer, a wannabe painter, drinks to inspire artistic brilliance. Serapio Vargas, the town undertaker, drinks because he is simultaneously fascinated and haunted by death. Some, like Indian Tony, drink just to drink. Evans has written a book about men (women make brief cameos as complacent wives, demanding daughters, or saintly hookers) and the ever-present alcohol shows that men need it to either feel emotion or numb it. Don't begin The King of Taos looking for an intricate plot; rather, read it for the striking characters who experience life's highs and lows with a bottle at their lips.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)