With by Donald Harington New Milford, Conn: Toby Press - 2004 $19.95 (paperback) 490 pages Farther along we?l know all about it, Farther along well understand why; Cheer up my brothers, live in the sunshine, We?l understand it all by and by. - Traditional hymn When Sug Allen shot a drug dealer and discovered that the dead man had over $500,000 on him, he knew that he had been given the means of realizing a life-long dream. Now, he could get out of law enforcement and pursue his favorite fantasy. First, he moved into an abandoned farm on a remote Ozark mountaintop called Madewell, and stocked it with enough provisions to last a decade. Spreading the word that he intended to move to California, he resigned his job with the Arkansas Bureau of Investigation and then implements the final phase of his plan: the kidnapping of a seven-year-old child (female). Having spent the majority of his life tracking down drug dealers and child molesters, Sug is ideally qualified to plan and implement a kidnapping. When he sees Robin Kerr in the parking lot at Wal-marts, he stalks and captures her at a skating rink and immediately transports her to his remote farm. He then burns his pickup, covers his tracks and makes one final perilous journey up Madewell Mountain to the solitary farm where he intends to live an Eden-like life replete with illicit sex, leisure, Jack Daniels and an enormous stock of pickled pigs?feet. However, there is a hitch in Sug? plan. He is dying. Within days of accomplishing his goal, the would-be rapist/molester finds himself unaccountably weak and increasingly limited in what he can do. Plagued by pain, near-blindness and partial paralysis, he attempts to teach his prisoner to survive. Robin reluctantly learns to cook, and maintain a garden while her captor spends the majority of his time in a drunken stupor. When Sug feels the certain approach of death, he attempts to get Robin to agree to one final request: to shoot him with his own shotgun. Now, this summary of the initial events in With could easily represent the plot of an entire novel. In actual fact, the action thus far is merely the prelude to an epic novel. In fact, Sug Allen and Robin Kerr are only two characters in a literal menagerie of intriguing beings, including endearing beasts (dogs, wolves, a raccoon, a bear, a snake, a cow, cats, a bob-cat and assorted chickens and horses); inanimate objects (a chunk of quartz) and an assortment of invisible spirits (called ?n-habits?. Oh, and a skeleton in the outhouse (Sug Allen). A number of critics have already observed that the novels of Donald Harington (there are ten so far) defy classification. Such terms as fantasy, allegory, mystery, historical fiction and realism do not apply because?ell, Harington does them all, and frequently in the same work! ?e is an undiscovered continent,?says Fred Chappell who has become an ardent fan. Chappell? comment is especially apt in view of the fact that all of Harington? novels take place in the same geographical location ?the nonexistent environs of an abandoned town called Stay More (the residents are called Stay Morons) near the fanciful Madewell mountain (named for a remarkable family of barrel-makers who migrated to California). Harington? characters appear in his other works, too ?each with a complex ancestry, which is dutifully reported. A minor character in one novel (Latha Bourne, the school teacher in With) may emerge as the central character in another (Lightning Bug) and all of his creations, animal spirit and human) have interwoven destinies ?even the insects! (The Cockroaches of Stay More). Not surprisingly, Harington is being compared to Faulkner who created a mythical place called Yoknapatawpha County, but unlike Faulkner, Harington seems to have little use for ?eality,?a word that Harington? idol, Vladimir Nabokov once said should ?lways have quotation marks around it to indicate that it doesn? exist.? Does all of this mean that Harington is about to be hailed as one of America? greatest writers? Probably not, although he undoubtedly is. Even his most ardent fans agree that he may be a ?riter? writer,?an incredible talent that will be more cherished and applauded by writers than by the general public. While folks like Peter Straub and Pat Conroy call him ?n astonishing talent,?there is a basic feeling that his satirical style and his love of language (linked with his refusal to adhere to accepted standards for writing novels) will make the general public uncomfortable. Jack Butler, a professor at the College of Sante Fe, has been reading Harington for three decades. ?e breaks all the rules,?says Butler, ?nd the reader must be willing to accept that.? Butler fears that most readers won?. That, in conjunction with the fact that Harington is firmly committed to an Appalachian setting (and female protagonists) will, in the opinion of Butler, probably limit, or qualify, his audience. Reluctantly, I agree. Harington? ability to shape language, indulge in puns and craft unique sentences, then abruptly shift gears from the past tense to the present, and then to the future while indulging in provocative sexual subjects (intercourse with disincarnate beings, for example) ?not to mention digressions into canine genealogy ?will reduce his audience. Such factors won? eliminate me though! Harington? unpredictable style sure beats reading another formula-written romance! Count me in. In closing, I want to comment on the basic question posed by With ?what happens to a seven-year-old girl marooned on a remote Ozark mountain? Can she survive without TV, pizza and her stuffed bear, Paddington? Left to her own ingenuity and without recourse to teachers or her mother (divorced), what will she do for moral and ethical guidance? Can pleasure be found without ice cream, a peer group and clothing? As the years pass, Robin finds some solace in the old hymn that promises, ?e?l understand it all by and by.?This is good advice for the reader, too. Be patient. Robin? daunting problems will be resolved in surprising ways. I sincerely hope that these unanswered questions just might prompt a modest number of readers to read this book. In the meanwhile, Donald Harington teaches art classes at the University of Arkansas. He is working on a new novel. (Incidentally, he is deaf ?a condition that makes me deeply appreciative of his amazing knack for musical sounds in his writing. He has also managed to wire his stereo into his hearing aids.)