Cathie Pelletier Running the Bulls

Running the Bulls

Cathie Pelletier

Hardscrabble, Sep 2005, $24.95, 320 pp.

ISBN: 1584654872

In 1998 Maine, retired Bixley Community College literature professor Howard Woods is stunned when his spouse, former history professor Ellen, informs him that twenty years ago she had a short affair with ancient history teacher Ben Collins. Shocked Howard accuses her of being Lady Macbeth unable to cope with her guilt and vows to kill the man who cuckolded him even though Ben is already dead.

Frightening his family, the grandfather announces that he is going to Spain to run with the bulls in Pamplona as his hero Hemingway did in the 1950s. Still he is miserable and lonely sleeping in a motel and badly missing the orderly life that he shared with Ellen his beloved "night owl" though he emulates his 1950s heroes and has an affair with the desk clerk. Ellen refuses to help him out of the chaos he is making of his life. Howard is sixty-three years old and having the time of his life yet he wonders why he is miserable. He now needs Ellen since their grandson dies in a car accident while riding the bike they gave him.

RUNNING THE BULLS is an intriguing coming of age character study in which an obviously intelligent grandfather learns about life as he emulates his childhood heroes especially Hemingway. The story line mostly focuses on Howard as he reacts to guilt laden Ellen's confession by RUNNING THE BULLS of his 1950s mind, but brought back to 1998 reality with his grandson's death. This bittersweet portrait is family drama at its realistic best as Cathie Pelletier provides a potent and poignant portrayal of the frailty of relationships.

Harriet Klausner