Beyond John Dann

Beyond John Dann: A book review by Charlie Dale (The Writer's Journey)Set in Hayward, CT. Meet John Dann, the youngest child of Susan and John Dann Sr., and the only boy in a group with five sisters. John Sr., or Big John as he is nicknamed, is an alcoholic as well as being an abusive husband and father in the beginning of the story, who is prone to both physical and mental abuse of everyone except John Jr.With John Jr. still just a young child, Big John leaves the family high and dry by walking out on all of them, though he wasn't really there all that much to begin with. In an ironic twist, Susan, now on her own with six children to raise, throws all the girls out of the house to fend for themselves, "keeping" only John Jr.at home. In this midst of a life she can't control, Susan weaves her way through a string of men who John Jr. believes are just "friends". This string of men ending with a man named Austin.  Austin, well he is the character I tend to believe, everyone will hate--unemployed, no ambition, a bit of a bum, who we come to learn is abusive in his own cruel way. While many women would  immediately walk away, Susan does everything in her power to--- in the words of Tammy Wynette ---"stand by her man," including mortgage her home, lose her family and go into a tailspin of self-abuse and denial. 
Alcoholism, drug use, and abuses of every kind, are all experiences that are honestly discussed here. It is this theme that, in my opinion, reverberates throughout the entire text. The girls (sisters), all but one, share their problems with men, marriage, booze, pills, and sexuality. But this book isn't only about the loss, the hurt, the shame-- this book is also about the hope, the laughter, the triumph and growth it takes to become more than "our problems." John Sr. himself goes through a metamorphosis in this book and with his outcome, which I do not want to give away, you are left vulnerable and sensitive just like his family is. The majority of this story is John Jr. and his struggle with accepting and acknowledging his own pain, his own loss, and his own addictions and failed relationships. The agony here is very authentic and rips your heart out, where in parts you are left crying as you turn the page, while at others the tears are from laughter. Like John Sr., John Jr. also goes through his own transformation, and we the readers of this text get a painful yet joyful front seat to that glorious transformation.
Thurman P. Banks Jr., weaves sentences like no other--there are so many quotable passages here that linger in you consciousness--I want to give you an example:
"Mine is a tortured love affair that I have tried to walk away from, but cannot.  My destiny has been to walk these roads.  Every laugh, every tear, every emotion is another string tying me to this place.  But it's the memory of her dying eyes that hold me with the greatest strength now.  Like a spiders prey caught in the web, they hold me, and devour me."
There is here in this literary narrative the setup for the greatest tragedy the family must face, and an honesty, vulnerability, openness, and outright frankness that makes you the reader feel his experiences like no other human being. John and the girls have an exceptionally rare relationship where one can say anything without offending, know everything without walking away, know each other to the core, and still beyond everything be able to deeply love. If we can have that with one other person, than we are deeply blessed.
This book, if you give it a chance, will be life changing. It will give you characters and scenes you will not be able to forget.Thurman, thank you for incredible gift of "Beyond John Dann" and for sharing his life with us, you were right--you are the only one who can tell this commanding and important story and we your readers thank you very deeply.  
Charlie Dale (The Writer's Journey)