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The Auctioneer
Harrowing tensions explode in a series of events that could happen anywhere, to anyone, just as they do to John Moore-whose days of freedom run out, who is stripped of his possessions, his courage, and his hopes, by the ominous presence of an insidious stranger impossible to resist.
Published to wide acclaim in 1976, but almost neglected since then, The Auctioneer is a bona fide classic of American literature. The story of John Moore, his wife Mim, and his mother, it is a gripping tale of greed in a small town being quietly overrun by auctioneer Perly Dunsmore. Acclaimed by writers including Stephen King, and an influence on King's Needful Things, The Auctioneer is here reprinted for the first time in thirty years.
Joan Samson (1937-1976) wrote The Auctioneer, her only novel, and was working on her second when she died of cancer.
239 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
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July 31, 2018
”Just remember this,” he said in a deep voice that cut neatly through the confusion. “Whatever I’ve done, you’ve let me do.”
When Perly Dunsmore moves to Harlowe, New Hampshire, with his auctioneering company and starts espousing the natural beauty of the community, he is mostly regarded as a man a few slices short of a full loaf. Most of the people in Harlowe have been on the land for many generations, and for most of the year, they exist at a sustainable level. They are poor and don’t know it. They raise a lot of their own food and trade for what they don’t have. They are salt of the earth people, suspicious of strangers, and content with what they have.
When Perly decides to start having a regular auction every week, there are snorts of laughter and several shaking heads over this fool from out of town thinking he could make money in Harlowe. Perly decides that the first auctions should be held as a benefit to add a deputy to the police force.
Deputy?
They barely needed a sheriff. Well, there was that person hacked up not too long ago, but then that crime must have been committed by a stranger passing through town, right? Because no one around here would kill someone.
The sheriff comes around looking for donations, stuff that people aren’t using anyway. Everybody pitches in because no one wants to be seen as not helping the community, and everyone ends up with a check after the auction. Cash money is as scarce as hen’s teeth. Then there is an auction to help the volunteer firemen. Perly puts advertisements in papers as far away as Boston for people to come to the auction.
And people come.
Perly doesn’t seem to be as crazy as everyone thinks.
John and Mim Moore have a four year old daughter named Hildie. John’s mother lives with them. Several generations of Moore’s are buried up on the hill, resting under poison oak and the dust of many seasons. They clean out the barn of all the stuff they aren’t using anyway for the auctions and then the attic. Every week the Sheriff, sometimes accompanied by the honey worded Perly, stops by to see if there is more to be contributed.
The weekly contribution is becoming something more than voluntary.
”’Does it mean so much to you? I know the pleasures of a dressing table to a good-looking woman. But there are other things--better schools for Hildie, year-round church, more ready cash, more comforts…I know what I want.’
Mim could not move without flailing out at the man and making him back off, and she trembled from the effort of suppressing her need to do so.
‘Comfort,’ he said almost fiercely.’You’ve never known much comfort, have you Mim?’
Mim raised her eyes to Perly’s, blue and defiant.
Perly dropped his gaze to Mim’s hands, pressed flat and angry against the wall behind her. Slowly, he raised his eyes to Mim’s again, his face curling into lines of pleasure, perhaps of triumph.’You and I will have to get together someday, Mim,’ he said. ’I admire a woman with grit.’ Then, with his own glittering stillness, he held Mim motionless against the wall while the clock in the kitchen chimed over and over again. When she dropped her eyes, he moved quietly away.”
I wanted to share this scene because it conveys the simmering, menacing uneasiness that permeates the whole novel. Perly keeps adding more and more deputies who are really just there to keep the contributions coming for the auctions. People give and give and give until all they have left is the land, and Perly has plans for that as well.
There are so many points in the novel where I wanted the Moore’s to make a stand. To push back, but when others in the community push back, unfortunate misadventures happen to them. Everyone has families, and having families makes it natural for strong men to be afraid. It almost seems implausible, the level of control that Perly achieves over this community, but it is so gradual that, by the time people realize how bad it is, it is almost too late.
I kept thinking to myself, where is my line in the sand? Where do I make my stand and say... no more? How do I do that and keep my family safe?
Joan Samson
There is very little to share about Joan Samson, unfortunately. She passed away shortly after the publication of The Auctioneer from cancer. She was 39 years old and was working on a second novel. If she had lived, there was a good chance that she would have surpassed the work of Shirley Jackson or at least be mentioned in the same sentence as the famous gothic horror writer. This book has fallen into obscurity, but like other novels I’ve reviewed on Goodreads, a perfect example being Mortal Leap by MacDonald Harris, I’m simply not going to let this book stay a lost novel. It is a wonderful example of gothic horror with superb writing that will make you feel the mounting terror as options for these good people shrink to the size of a mustard seed.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
When Perly Dunsmore moves to Harlowe, New Hampshire, with his auctioneering company and starts espousing the natural beauty of the community, he is mostly regarded as a man a few slices short of a full loaf. Most of the people in Harlowe have been on the land for many generations, and for most of the year, they exist at a sustainable level. They are poor and don’t know it. They raise a lot of their own food and trade for what they don’t have. They are salt of the earth people, suspicious of strangers, and content with what they have.
When Perly decides to start having a regular auction every week, there are snorts of laughter and several shaking heads over this fool from out of town thinking he could make money in Harlowe. Perly decides that the first auctions should be held as a benefit to add a deputy to the police force.
Deputy?
They barely needed a sheriff. Well, there was that person hacked up not too long ago, but then that crime must have been committed by a stranger passing through town, right? Because no one around here would kill someone.
The sheriff comes around looking for donations, stuff that people aren’t using anyway. Everybody pitches in because no one wants to be seen as not helping the community, and everyone ends up with a check after the auction. Cash money is as scarce as hen’s teeth. Then there is an auction to help the volunteer firemen. Perly puts advertisements in papers as far away as Boston for people to come to the auction.
And people come.
Perly doesn’t seem to be as crazy as everyone thinks.
John and Mim Moore have a four year old daughter named Hildie. John’s mother lives with them. Several generations of Moore’s are buried up on the hill, resting under poison oak and the dust of many seasons. They clean out the barn of all the stuff they aren’t using anyway for the auctions and then the attic. Every week the Sheriff, sometimes accompanied by the honey worded Perly, stops by to see if there is more to be contributed.
The weekly contribution is becoming something more than voluntary.
”’Does it mean so much to you? I know the pleasures of a dressing table to a good-looking woman. But there are other things--better schools for Hildie, year-round church, more ready cash, more comforts…I know what I want.’
Mim could not move without flailing out at the man and making him back off, and she trembled from the effort of suppressing her need to do so.
‘Comfort,’ he said almost fiercely.’You’ve never known much comfort, have you Mim?’
Mim raised her eyes to Perly’s, blue and defiant.
Perly dropped his gaze to Mim’s hands, pressed flat and angry against the wall behind her. Slowly, he raised his eyes to Mim’s again, his face curling into lines of pleasure, perhaps of triumph.’You and I will have to get together someday, Mim,’ he said. ’I admire a woman with grit.’ Then, with his own glittering stillness, he held Mim motionless against the wall while the clock in the kitchen chimed over and over again. When she dropped her eyes, he moved quietly away.”
I wanted to share this scene because it conveys the simmering, menacing uneasiness that permeates the whole novel. Perly keeps adding more and more deputies who are really just there to keep the contributions coming for the auctions. People give and give and give until all they have left is the land, and Perly has plans for that as well.
There are so many points in the novel where I wanted the Moore’s to make a stand. To push back, but when others in the community push back, unfortunate misadventures happen to them. Everyone has families, and having families makes it natural for strong men to be afraid. It almost seems implausible, the level of control that Perly achieves over this community, but it is so gradual that, by the time people realize how bad it is, it is almost too late.
I kept thinking to myself, where is my line in the sand? Where do I make my stand and say... no more? How do I do that and keep my family safe?
Joan Samson
There is very little to share about Joan Samson, unfortunately. She passed away shortly after the publication of The Auctioneer from cancer. She was 39 years old and was working on a second novel. If she had lived, there was a good chance that she would have surpassed the work of Shirley Jackson or at least be mentioned in the same sentence as the famous gothic horror writer. This book has fallen into obscurity, but like other novels I’ve reviewed on Goodreads, a perfect example being Mortal Leap by MacDonald Harris, I’m simply not going to let this book stay a lost novel. It is a wonderful example of gothic horror with superb writing that will make you feel the mounting terror as options for these good people shrink to the size of a mustard seed.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at: https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
August 1, 2018
4.5/5 stars!
Evil in a small town is one of my favorite horror tropes and books like this are the reason why!
Harlowe, New Hampshire is a small town surrounded by small farms. It's a tightly knit community, or at least the townsfolk believe it is, until an outsider comes to town and slowly things begin to unravel.
Perly Dunsmore is an auctioneer. Taking over a recently available old mansion in town, (due to the death of the previous owner), Perly sets about "improving" Harlowe by holding auctions to benefit the police department. These auctions are funded by the generous donations of the townspeople. Until they're no longer able to do so, (eventually there's nothing left), in which case they are gently and quietly threatened to come up with more donations, or ELSE. Will Harlowe survive these auctions or will it rise up against Perly in protest? You'll have to read this to find out!
I've been thinking about what this novel was really about and I'm still not quite sure. The strongest feeling I have about it relates to that old poem: "First they came for the Socialists...", but that's not quite right. Then I was wondering if it was really about fascism-the auctions after all first funded a police department, to the point of having almost as many officers and deputies as there were citizens in the entire town. But that doesn't quite fit the bill either, especially in light of the finale. Then I finally gave up the analyzing and endeavored to enjoy this novel for the yummy, atmospheric piece of horror fiction that it was.
If this is the type of story that usually works for you, (quiet, small town horror a la Tryon's HARVEST HOME, or maybe Michael Rowe's ENTER, NIGHT), I highly recommend you give this book a shot! I listened to it on audio, narrated by Matt Godfrey, whose voicing of Ma Moore I will never forget.
Atmospheric, full of tension and fear, THE AUCTIONEER still holds up as an excellent tale, even now, 40 years later. I give it my highest recommendation!
*I received this audiobook from the narrator in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it! Further, I consider Matt Godfrey to be a friend, although we've never met in person. This has not affected the content of this review.*
Evil in a small town is one of my favorite horror tropes and books like this are the reason why!
Harlowe, New Hampshire is a small town surrounded by small farms. It's a tightly knit community, or at least the townsfolk believe it is, until an outsider comes to town and slowly things begin to unravel.
Perly Dunsmore is an auctioneer. Taking over a recently available old mansion in town, (due to the death of the previous owner), Perly sets about "improving" Harlowe by holding auctions to benefit the police department. These auctions are funded by the generous donations of the townspeople. Until they're no longer able to do so, (eventually there's nothing left), in which case they are gently and quietly threatened to come up with more donations, or ELSE. Will Harlowe survive these auctions or will it rise up against Perly in protest? You'll have to read this to find out!
I've been thinking about what this novel was really about and I'm still not quite sure. The strongest feeling I have about it relates to that old poem: "First they came for the Socialists...", but that's not quite right. Then I was wondering if it was really about fascism-the auctions after all first funded a police department, to the point of having almost as many officers and deputies as there were citizens in the entire town. But that doesn't quite fit the bill either, especially in light of the finale. Then I finally gave up the analyzing and endeavored to enjoy this novel for the yummy, atmospheric piece of horror fiction that it was.
If this is the type of story that usually works for you, (quiet, small town horror a la Tryon's HARVEST HOME, or maybe Michael Rowe's ENTER, NIGHT), I highly recommend you give this book a shot! I listened to it on audio, narrated by Matt Godfrey, whose voicing of Ma Moore I will never forget.
Atmospheric, full of tension and fear, THE AUCTIONEER still holds up as an excellent tale, even now, 40 years later. I give it my highest recommendation!
*I received this audiobook from the narrator in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it! Further, I consider Matt Godfrey to be a friend, although we've never met in person. This has not affected the content of this review.*
December 5, 2016
A brief bestseller when it debuted in 1975, Joan Samson’s The Auctioneer has been totally forgotten. Sites like Will Errickson’s Too Much Horror Fiction have kept its tiny flame from becoming completely extinguished, but it’s basically a literary shooting star that flared once, and was gone. Contributing to its short shelf-life, Samson wrote The Auctioneer in her 30s and died of cancer shortly after it was published. Her death is our loss. This is one of those books you stumble across with no expectations, and when you finished reading you think, “Why isn’t this more famous?” Spare, unforgiving, and hard all the way down the line, if Cormac McCarthy had written Needful Things, you’d get The Auctioneer.
Read the rest of this review.
Read the rest of this review.
October 28, 2022
Oh no! I was so eager to love this book after years of hearing its praises. I had been warned that it was a "slow burn" and "quiet horror" rather than a typical pulp in-your-face shocker. Usually I'm down for that, but unfortunately this slow burn stayed at room temperature.
Part of the book's struggle is that it's since been done better. Written in 1975, it pre-dates Stephen King. This is significant because almost every reader will associate The Auctioneer's New England setting and folksy characters with King, who has since made that his entire brand. Samson deserves credit for doing it first, even if her effort is weak tea next to the highly comparable Needful Things (1991). King mentions The Auctioneer specifically as an influential text in Danse Macabre (1981) so it is noteworthy as a source of inspiration if nothing else.
Due to certain real-life political events, its premise also feels worn out. The characters are hijinxed by a worldy stranger (the auctioneer) who comes to town and proceeds to possess their beloved guns, tractors, land and even children for the purpose of some vague sinister conspiracy. The villain's power over the community is indescript, making his schemes improbable and (worse) not scary. We don't really understand how he's able to dupe his victims so effectively, but it's generally explained as a vast plot of insider connections with The Government.
The victims come across as rather pathetic for a long, long time, but that might be the point. Politics have changed since the 1970s, but not as much as we might think. I don't know enough about Samson to know if she meant this to rouse rural readers into action, with a dire warning that if they don't act fast they could end up like the sad characters in this book. In today's political climate it feels that way, anyhow.
I have no problem reading a fictional manifesto, if that's what this is supposed to be, but I do wish there had been fewer characters. The novel's biggest sin is having a phonebook full of names, none particularly fleshed out, and never digging into any of the internal story. Everything is external. Faceless characters speak and move from place to place, but there's no soul behind it. The villains lack plausibility and the victims are just daft. It is fair to say that I was generally confused the entire time, not remembering which character I was following and not understanding how any of the events could have taken place. By the end, my only emotion was relief that I could move on and read something else.
All negativity aside, major kudos are deserved for Samson's creation of a fictional template that no doubt fueled many Stephen King novels. Her story also deserves to endure because it is timeless. In the introduction, Grady Hendrix argues that Samson "captures the lightning of the Sixties and Seventies in a bottle." I would agree but go on to say that her work is just as relevant today. Its exceeding relevance is perhaps what made me struggle with it.
There are millions of people who can't sleep at night because they have visions of fantasy villains like The Auctioneer. They have vague fears of "the city" and "the government". They imagine someone walking into their home to snatch their children and guns. For better and for worse, Samson has captured that anxiety, but such a premise deserves to be fully realized. There are reasons to fear flashy con artists and the government can be terrifying. Not arguing against that at all. I just feel this book could have done a better job of illustrating that point.
Part of the book's struggle is that it's since been done better. Written in 1975, it pre-dates Stephen King. This is significant because almost every reader will associate The Auctioneer's New England setting and folksy characters with King, who has since made that his entire brand. Samson deserves credit for doing it first, even if her effort is weak tea next to the highly comparable Needful Things (1991). King mentions The Auctioneer specifically as an influential text in Danse Macabre (1981) so it is noteworthy as a source of inspiration if nothing else.
Due to certain real-life political events, its premise also feels worn out. The characters are hijinxed by a worldy stranger (the auctioneer) who comes to town and proceeds to possess their beloved guns, tractors, land and even children for the purpose of some vague sinister conspiracy. The villain's power over the community is indescript, making his schemes improbable and (worse) not scary. We don't really understand how he's able to dupe his victims so effectively, but it's generally explained as a vast plot of insider connections with The Government.
The victims come across as rather pathetic for a long, long time, but that might be the point. Politics have changed since the 1970s, but not as much as we might think. I don't know enough about Samson to know if she meant this to rouse rural readers into action, with a dire warning that if they don't act fast they could end up like the sad characters in this book. In today's political climate it feels that way, anyhow.
I have no problem reading a fictional manifesto, if that's what this is supposed to be, but I do wish there had been fewer characters. The novel's biggest sin is having a phonebook full of names, none particularly fleshed out, and never digging into any of the internal story. Everything is external. Faceless characters speak and move from place to place, but there's no soul behind it. The villains lack plausibility and the victims are just daft. It is fair to say that I was generally confused the entire time, not remembering which character I was following and not understanding how any of the events could have taken place. By the end, my only emotion was relief that I could move on and read something else.
All negativity aside, major kudos are deserved for Samson's creation of a fictional template that no doubt fueled many Stephen King novels. Her story also deserves to endure because it is timeless. In the introduction, Grady Hendrix argues that Samson "captures the lightning of the Sixties and Seventies in a bottle." I would agree but go on to say that her work is just as relevant today. Its exceeding relevance is perhaps what made me struggle with it.
There are millions of people who can't sleep at night because they have visions of fantasy villains like The Auctioneer. They have vague fears of "the city" and "the government". They imagine someone walking into their home to snatch their children and guns. For better and for worse, Samson has captured that anxiety, but such a premise deserves to be fully realized. There are reasons to fear flashy con artists and the government can be terrifying. Not arguing against that at all. I just feel this book could have done a better job of illustrating that point.
August 19, 2020
Look, with all due respect to Joan Samson, who tragically died of cancer within weeks of this book's publication, and who is a wonderful writer, this book is more theme than story. Here's what I mean by that:
The whole premise of this story is based on the idea that a bunch of farmers with acres and acres of land they've owned for generations would allow an outsider to "smooth-talk" them into giving away a) All their earthly belongings b) All their cattle and livestock c) All their GUNS d) Their children???
I totally get that Samson was trying to make a point. But even with the idea that the whole book is an allegory for XYZ, you still need to base the tale in some sort of rooted reality. Either that, or go straight allegory so it reads as more of a fable.
But Samson tried to have it both ways. Creating a realistic thriller / horror novel with "real" characters struggling to overcome an evil interloper, and a heavily-themed allegory on material possessions or modern vs tradition or blah blah blah.
Point is this. If you ever worked on a farm, or ever knew an actual farmer, this story is as laughable as it is infuriating. Because folks, if you think a farmer would let you so much as put a fingertip on his or her belongings without catching a cloud of buckshot in the process, than you're out of your mind.
Samson would have us believe that a whole community of farmers would stand idly by while the villain and a bunch of "deputies with sidearms" take their furniture, their most sacred belongings, their tools, their livestock, inappropriately fondle their wives and seduce their children... while they all just sort of fret and pace and wonder what to do.
Yeah, okay.
Sorry, but like I said, even the most outlandish fantasies need some basis in reality, especially when they're actually shooting for realism, and this book is so frustratingly impossible that you spend the entire time mentally screaming at the characters (and the author) to show a tiny bit of realistic, empathetic humanity. (I personally know of two uncles that would have happily gunned-down and secretly buried the antagonist and his cronies by the end of chapter two).
And by the time they do finally stand up for themselves, you don't care anymore because it's been drawn out too long and you no longer believe a word of the story or care about these unrealistic people.
That all said, the writing is wonderful, and the basic premise is actually interesting, and the themes are worth exploring, but the blind eye to reality is ultimately too much to overcome.
The whole premise of this story is based on the idea that a bunch of farmers with acres and acres of land they've owned for generations would allow an outsider to "smooth-talk" them into giving away a) All their earthly belongings b) All their cattle and livestock c) All their GUNS d) Their children???
I totally get that Samson was trying to make a point. But even with the idea that the whole book is an allegory for XYZ, you still need to base the tale in some sort of rooted reality. Either that, or go straight allegory so it reads as more of a fable.
But Samson tried to have it both ways. Creating a realistic thriller / horror novel with "real" characters struggling to overcome an evil interloper, and a heavily-themed allegory on material possessions or modern vs tradition or blah blah blah.
Point is this. If you ever worked on a farm, or ever knew an actual farmer, this story is as laughable as it is infuriating. Because folks, if you think a farmer would let you so much as put a fingertip on his or her belongings without catching a cloud of buckshot in the process, than you're out of your mind.
Samson would have us believe that a whole community of farmers would stand idly by while the villain and a bunch of "deputies with sidearms" take their furniture, their most sacred belongings, their tools, their livestock, inappropriately fondle their wives and seduce their children... while they all just sort of fret and pace and wonder what to do.
Yeah, okay.
Sorry, but like I said, even the most outlandish fantasies need some basis in reality, especially when they're actually shooting for realism, and this book is so frustratingly impossible that you spend the entire time mentally screaming at the characters (and the author) to show a tiny bit of realistic, empathetic humanity. (I personally know of two uncles that would have happily gunned-down and secretly buried the antagonist and his cronies by the end of chapter two).
And by the time they do finally stand up for themselves, you don't care anymore because it's been drawn out too long and you no longer believe a word of the story or care about these unrealistic people.
That all said, the writing is wonderful, and the basic premise is actually interesting, and the themes are worth exploring, but the blind eye to reality is ultimately too much to overcome.
January 29, 2023
I ended up hating this one. I had read good things about it; Grady Hendrix gave it a glowing endorsement and it was supposed to have been the inspiration for Needful Things by Stephen King. That was more than enough to pique my interest. Admittedly, my hopes were probably set too high, but The Auctioneer was a huge disappointment.
The book starts out pretty good. It was a little confusing trying to figure out the relationship of the main characters, but the story had promise. The tensions slowly starts to build and you're waiting for the monster to reveal himself, but then the story plateaus and repeats the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over up until the town finally realized they had the bad guys outnumbered, finally said no, and the story ends. Think Pixar's A Bug's Life, without the circus bugs. Because of the Needful Things connection, I was expecting some sort of supernatural element, but there wasn't one; it was just a bunch of people too scared/weak willed to say no. The monster of the story is just a crooked businessman who comes to town and outsmarts all of the yokels.
I lost track of how many times John, the MC, wanted to put a stop to things, then his wife stopped him and immediately afterwards would start to complain that John didn't stand up for himself. Then John's mother has to throw her two cents in and tells John that he's clearly overreacting right before she pulls a 180 and complains about him not resisting. There were multiple points where the story might have improved/become interesting if the women in his life would have just kept their mouths shut for a few minutes. I know that sounds extremely misogynistic, but the women in this book were horribly written caricatures. The nagging wife/mother is something you might expect from something written in the 70's, but it seems weird coming from a female author, especially when Grady Hendrix is raving about it.
It got to the point pretty early where I could no longer suspend my disbelief. There's no way that the auction would have continued for that long before someone put a bullet in the auctioneer or the deputies when they came collecting "donations". These are all farmers in the 70's. People were shot for a hell of a lot less. Sure, the bad guys eventually disarmed everyone and took all of their guns, but it was almost as an afterthought. It happened long after those guns should have been used to, at a minimum, drive the bad guy out of town.
This would have landed on my DNF shelf if I'd realized how long it would take me to finish reading it. My kindle version says it is only 188 pages, but that must be with bible font and spacing. My reading rate is pretty consistent, and I finished this book in the time it would normally take for a book twice this size. In hindsight, I should have just quit at the halfway point, but I'm stubborn about finishing a book once I start it.
The book starts out pretty good. It was a little confusing trying to figure out the relationship of the main characters, but the story had promise. The tensions slowly starts to build and you're waiting for the monster to reveal himself, but then the story plateaus and repeats the same thing over and over and over and over and over and over up until the town finally realized they had the bad guys outnumbered, finally said no, and the story ends. Think Pixar's A Bug's Life, without the circus bugs. Because of the Needful Things connection, I was expecting some sort of supernatural element, but there wasn't one; it was just a bunch of people too scared/weak willed to say no. The monster of the story is just a crooked businessman who comes to town and outsmarts all of the yokels.
I lost track of how many times John, the MC, wanted to put a stop to things, then his wife stopped him and immediately afterwards would start to complain that John didn't stand up for himself. Then John's mother has to throw her two cents in and tells John that he's clearly overreacting right before she pulls a 180 and complains about him not resisting. There were multiple points where the story might have improved/become interesting if the women in his life would have just kept their mouths shut for a few minutes. I know that sounds extremely misogynistic, but the women in this book were horribly written caricatures. The nagging wife/mother is something you might expect from something written in the 70's, but it seems weird coming from a female author, especially when Grady Hendrix is raving about it.
It got to the point pretty early where I could no longer suspend my disbelief. There's no way that the auction would have continued for that long before someone put a bullet in the auctioneer or the deputies when they came collecting "donations". These are all farmers in the 70's. People were shot for a hell of a lot less. Sure, the bad guys eventually disarmed everyone and took all of their guns, but it was almost as an afterthought. It happened long after those guns should have been used to, at a minimum, drive the bad guy out of town.
This would have landed on my DNF shelf if I'd realized how long it would take me to finish reading it. My kindle version says it is only 188 pages, but that must be with bible font and spacing. My reading rate is pretty consistent, and I finished this book in the time it would normally take for a book twice this size. In hindsight, I should have just quit at the halfway point, but I'm stubborn about finishing a book once I start it.
September 2, 2018
4.5 stars.
THE AUCTIONEER, by Joan Samson, was first issued in 1976. This new edition released by Valancourt Books in 2018 comes with an all new introduction by Grady Hendrix, as well as an afterword by the author's husband, Warren Carberg.
This novel takes place in a farming community called Harlowe. In a quiet, peaceful American town where change is very slow to come, John and Mim Moore farm the land that John's family had owned for many generations. With their beautiful four-year-old daughter, Hildie, and John's mother, "Ma", living with them, we have a perfect postcard picture of perhaps a "simpler" time in America.
However, the author is quick to show the slow and calculating terror that can overcome a community almost before they even realize what's happening. In this case, it all starts with a newcomer named Perly Dunsmore and his slight request for old items to be donated to his planned auctions . . .
"When your life turns into a lie, the first person you need to deceive is yourself . . . "
Samson weaves this tale with exact precision. We'll get a taste of the happy Moore family going about their everyday duties together, and then a small intrusion into their slice of paradise to give the first stirrings of trouble.
THE AUCTIONEER is not "in-your-face" horror, but a much more subtle, slowly mounting terror that takes a while to reach its peak. Nonetheless, once it starts, the emotions, losses, and their implications never let up--the fear is always present, ratcheting up inexorably page by page.
". . . He won't stop . . . There are people like that. Either you give in or you run."
The language used is beautiful in its simplicity. We learn as much of how these changes are slowly devastating their traditional way of life by what is NOT stated as we do by what is. The omissions; usual outings that are cancelled, and the strain upon the household, shows us more than words could convey. This was true--not only in households--but also in interactions between neighbors.
". . . They talked the way they always had, except that now the familiar conversations seemed to be built on a silence as deep as the one that prevailed at home."
Overall, I felt this was a brilliantly executed story that showcases how "unwanted" change can stealthily creep in on even the most complacent of towns. We are shown the old-time values, and how they contrast with "newer" lifestyles in more populated regions. Even the most loyal of citizens can be taken in by smooth-talking charlatans if the topic is right.
When things are beyond out-of-hand, how would you react, and how far would you go to protect your family and your way of life?
Recommended!
THE AUCTIONEER, by Joan Samson, was first issued in 1976. This new edition released by Valancourt Books in 2018 comes with an all new introduction by Grady Hendrix, as well as an afterword by the author's husband, Warren Carberg.
This novel takes place in a farming community called Harlowe. In a quiet, peaceful American town where change is very slow to come, John and Mim Moore farm the land that John's family had owned for many generations. With their beautiful four-year-old daughter, Hildie, and John's mother, "Ma", living with them, we have a perfect postcard picture of perhaps a "simpler" time in America.
However, the author is quick to show the slow and calculating terror that can overcome a community almost before they even realize what's happening. In this case, it all starts with a newcomer named Perly Dunsmore and his slight request for old items to be donated to his planned auctions . . .
"When your life turns into a lie, the first person you need to deceive is yourself . . . "
Samson weaves this tale with exact precision. We'll get a taste of the happy Moore family going about their everyday duties together, and then a small intrusion into their slice of paradise to give the first stirrings of trouble.
THE AUCTIONEER is not "in-your-face" horror, but a much more subtle, slowly mounting terror that takes a while to reach its peak. Nonetheless, once it starts, the emotions, losses, and their implications never let up--the fear is always present, ratcheting up inexorably page by page.
". . . He won't stop . . . There are people like that. Either you give in or you run."
The language used is beautiful in its simplicity. We learn as much of how these changes are slowly devastating their traditional way of life by what is NOT stated as we do by what is. The omissions; usual outings that are cancelled, and the strain upon the household, shows us more than words could convey. This was true--not only in households--but also in interactions between neighbors.
". . . They talked the way they always had, except that now the familiar conversations seemed to be built on a silence as deep as the one that prevailed at home."
Overall, I felt this was a brilliantly executed story that showcases how "unwanted" change can stealthily creep in on even the most complacent of towns. We are shown the old-time values, and how they contrast with "newer" lifestyles in more populated regions. Even the most loyal of citizens can be taken in by smooth-talking charlatans if the topic is right.
When things are beyond out-of-hand, how would you react, and how far would you go to protect your family and your way of life?
Recommended!
March 10, 2018
What happens when good people do nothing?
A searing hot read through and through, The Auctioneer — the author’s only release, due to dying of cancer the year after publication — barrels forward like a race car. I was hooked from page one, helpless to put it down.
A stranger has come to Harlowe, a small farm town in New Hampshire. The stranger, Perly Dunsmore, has lived in forty countries and done business all over the world — he just oozes charm — and he’s chosen to move in to town: a place that reminds him of where he grew up. And with money and persuasion he soon gains control of the local police force.
The story unfolds from the perspective of John Moore, a local farmer, and his family. Through them Samson captures a gritty, realistic ‘American’ perspective circa 1975.
The stranger holds weekly auctions for townies and strangers, using items donated by citizens of Harlowe. Dunsmore wants to use the money raised for expanding the police force and building up the town. It starts with old wheels and moth-bitten clothes. But it doesn’t stop there.
Though this book can certainly be read as an allegorical examination of the dangers of fascism (with the increase of police in town too increases crime) and ‘hive’ mentality — that’s the way I read it, and it is from this interpretation so much of the horror comes — this can also be read as a straightforward horror story a’la Shirley Jackson. Think “The Lottery” on a bigger scale. Or Needful Things, as written by Richard Bachman.
This is the sort of novel I love. It is a total success; I could not put it down. It is a shame this title has fallen into such obscurity, but a used copy can be obtained online for a relatively reasonable price. My highest recommendation.
A searing hot read through and through, The Auctioneer — the author’s only release, due to dying of cancer the year after publication — barrels forward like a race car. I was hooked from page one, helpless to put it down.
A stranger has come to Harlowe, a small farm town in New Hampshire. The stranger, Perly Dunsmore, has lived in forty countries and done business all over the world — he just oozes charm — and he’s chosen to move in to town: a place that reminds him of where he grew up. And with money and persuasion he soon gains control of the local police force.
The story unfolds from the perspective of John Moore, a local farmer, and his family. Through them Samson captures a gritty, realistic ‘American’ perspective circa 1975.
The stranger holds weekly auctions for townies and strangers, using items donated by citizens of Harlowe. Dunsmore wants to use the money raised for expanding the police force and building up the town. It starts with old wheels and moth-bitten clothes. But it doesn’t stop there.
Though this book can certainly be read as an allegorical examination of the dangers of fascism (with the increase of police in town too increases crime) and ‘hive’ mentality — that’s the way I read it, and it is from this interpretation so much of the horror comes — this can also be read as a straightforward horror story a’la Shirley Jackson. Think “The Lottery” on a bigger scale. Or Needful Things, as written by Richard Bachman.
This is the sort of novel I love. It is a total success; I could not put it down. It is a shame this title has fallen into such obscurity, but a used copy can be obtained online for a relatively reasonable price. My highest recommendation.
August 5, 2018
A shady auctioneer named Percy Dunsmoore is terrorizing a small town named Harlowe by taking people's property selling them on his numerous auctions. Things got out of hand when he starts selling children and land. Suddenly a little town has more police than New York City per capita. John Moore seems to loose everything, even his cows are taken away from him but then the tables are turning. The book has a bit of a long winded start. Language is very rural/authentic and there's not much action going on. Later when more and more items are taken away from the featured family you begin to feel for them and are literally drawn into the book and its surrounding. A very interesting, parable like novel having as subject the idolized countryside becoming a real nightmare. A book with much potential for discussion and analysis inside and a clear recommendation. I wouldn't say its horror, more a psychological thriller. It's a modern classic you should know!
October 26, 2022
As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I don't do horror anymore. That slowly mounting sense of dread, the knot in the stomach, hating to turn the page because of what might happen, but powerless to stop yourself....it's all a bit much for me these days. I need peace and calm. I need reassurance that people are basically good.
Perly Dunsmore settles in the small town of Harlow, NH. He suggests holding auctions to benefit the tiny police force and fire department, for the good of the community. A charming man who wants to serve the community, they think. Until donating old furniture and cast-offs is no longer voluntary. Until those who say enough pay the price, one way or another. Until it's no longer just unwanted junk. Until their farms and everything they love is threatened. How do you stop him when no one will listen?
This book was written in 1975, and the author died just 5 weeks after it was published. It is a warning to us all about listening to con men who have our best interests at heart. Because of course they don't, but sometimes once you figure that out, it's too late.
Perly Dunsmore settles in the small town of Harlow, NH. He suggests holding auctions to benefit the tiny police force and fire department, for the good of the community. A charming man who wants to serve the community, they think. Until donating old furniture and cast-offs is no longer voluntary. Until those who say enough pay the price, one way or another. Until it's no longer just unwanted junk. Until their farms and everything they love is threatened. How do you stop him when no one will listen?
This book was written in 1975, and the author died just 5 weeks after it was published. It is a warning to us all about listening to con men who have our best interests at heart. Because of course they don't, but sometimes once you figure that out, it's too late.
January 7, 2020
This is an excellent example of 'quiet horror'. It's a slow-burn of a story that gets under your skin, fills you with anxiety, and pulls the rug out from beneath your feet. If you like stories set in small towns where people are the real monsters, I'd definitely recommend this one.
The story follows the Moore family - John and Mim, their young daughter Hildie, and John's elderly mother, known as Ma. They run a farm in the small town of Harlowe in New Hampshire. They live a hard life with minimal mod cons, no proper bathroom, having to heat water on the stove to wash, living off the produce of their land.
Then we meet Perly Dunsmore. He rocks up into town and charms the locals with his big plans. It starts off with a couple of auctions. If everyone can donate a few things the money raised at auction can go to fund the pretty much non-existent local police force. But before they know it things get out of hand and, as 'accidents' happen, they are unable to say no.
This is an excellently written novel. Bleak and filled with dread and helplessness. It says a lot about American values and the American way. Owning land and having a home with your family is seen as not only a goal but also a right. It deals with themes of small town community and politics, mob mentality, progress versus tradition. The story went to a couple of places that I wasn't expecting and I thought the ending was perfectly fitting.
The story follows the Moore family - John and Mim, their young daughter Hildie, and John's elderly mother, known as Ma. They run a farm in the small town of Harlowe in New Hampshire. They live a hard life with minimal mod cons, no proper bathroom, having to heat water on the stove to wash, living off the produce of their land.
Then we meet Perly Dunsmore. He rocks up into town and charms the locals with his big plans. It starts off with a couple of auctions. If everyone can donate a few things the money raised at auction can go to fund the pretty much non-existent local police force. But before they know it things get out of hand and, as 'accidents' happen, they are unable to say no.
This is an excellently written novel. Bleak and filled with dread and helplessness. It says a lot about American values and the American way. Owning land and having a home with your family is seen as not only a goal but also a right. It deals with themes of small town community and politics, mob mentality, progress versus tradition. The story went to a couple of places that I wasn't expecting and I thought the ending was perfectly fitting.
January 29, 2022
I kinda wanted more??
February 15, 2023
Samson gives us quite a ride here and I can see why this is widely regarded as a classic in the horror genre! The Auctioneer takes place in a small New Hampshire farming town and features the Moore family, who have lived as farmers in town for generations. The Moores have a decent spread, but are basically your salt of the earth type, making ends meet year after year but not much more.
This starts with the sheriff stopping by the Moore farm one day, informing them that there will be an auction held soon in order to hire some deputies. It seems there has been a mini crime wave recently, and a new guy in town, one mister Perly, is something of a famous auctioneer. Perly volunteered to help the town via the auction, and even volunteered to hold it at his place (an old mansion he recently bought in town). At first, things seem pretty copacetic, but Samson quickly leads us down a slippery slope. At first, the Moores are happy to give some old stuff for the auction, which seem to now be held weekly. Each Thursday, the sheriff or someone stops by to collect for the next auction. Soon, there are several deputies, and reports of people having 'accidents' in town, and the only common denominator behind the accidents concerns how those families stopped donating for the auctions...
The Auctioneer unfolds like 10 miles of bad road. Samson is marvelous with her pacing here, going down the aforementioned slippery slope slowly, but steadily, and building tension as it progresses. Like any good horror story, Samson manages to get us to suspend our disbelief for the duration, for the events depicted here seem very real, as do the reactions of the Moores as it unfolds. Not quite as pleased with the denouement, but so it goes. 4.5 'sold' stars!
This starts with the sheriff stopping by the Moore farm one day, informing them that there will be an auction held soon in order to hire some deputies. It seems there has been a mini crime wave recently, and a new guy in town, one mister Perly, is something of a famous auctioneer. Perly volunteered to help the town via the auction, and even volunteered to hold it at his place (an old mansion he recently bought in town). At first, things seem pretty copacetic, but Samson quickly leads us down a slippery slope. At first, the Moores are happy to give some old stuff for the auction, which seem to now be held weekly. Each Thursday, the sheriff or someone stops by to collect for the next auction. Soon, there are several deputies, and reports of people having 'accidents' in town, and the only common denominator behind the accidents concerns how those families stopped donating for the auctions...
The Auctioneer unfolds like 10 miles of bad road. Samson is marvelous with her pacing here, going down the aforementioned slippery slope slowly, but steadily, and building tension as it progresses. Like any good horror story, Samson manages to get us to suspend our disbelief for the duration, for the events depicted here seem very real, as do the reactions of the Moores as it unfolds. Not quite as pleased with the denouement, but so it goes. 4.5 'sold' stars!
July 8, 2015
I stumbled across on online discussion praising this book and when my local library had a copy I decided to give it a try.
An interesting look at the power of persuasion, namely the control one man is able to exert on a small rural New England township. In today's current environment of instant availability of news and information it can be difficult to imagine a time when people were still fairly isolated from the outside world and even their neighbors. Things start innocently enough when a recently arrived auctioneer convinces the sole policeman to visit the residents asking for contributions to raise money for a new deputy.
The auctioneer, Perly Dunsmore has some not so innocent long range plans. Dunsmore is one of these people who has an uncanny ability to use charm, subtle persuasion, innuendo, implied threats and shame to bend the community to his will.
The primary focus of the story is the Moore family. John, his wife Mim, their four year old daughter Hildie and John's elderly mother who all live together on one of the small farms on the outskirts of the township.
As the demands on the family and the community become more costly it is fascinating to watch just how far John and Mim will go to protect their family. How much will they give up? As the pressure mounts the strain on the family and their bonds stretches to the breaking point.
How long do you wait for someone else to step up and speak out.
As I'm reading I keep thinking to myself, there is no way I would let these things happen. I would like to believe this to be true. But as I think about my own family I can't help but wonder just what I would be willing to give up to protect my loved ones.
8/10
An interesting look at the power of persuasion, namely the control one man is able to exert on a small rural New England township. In today's current environment of instant availability of news and information it can be difficult to imagine a time when people were still fairly isolated from the outside world and even their neighbors. Things start innocently enough when a recently arrived auctioneer convinces the sole policeman to visit the residents asking for contributions to raise money for a new deputy.
The auctioneer, Perly Dunsmore has some not so innocent long range plans. Dunsmore is one of these people who has an uncanny ability to use charm, subtle persuasion, innuendo, implied threats and shame to bend the community to his will.
The primary focus of the story is the Moore family. John, his wife Mim, their four year old daughter Hildie and John's elderly mother who all live together on one of the small farms on the outskirts of the township.
As the demands on the family and the community become more costly it is fascinating to watch just how far John and Mim will go to protect their family. How much will they give up? As the pressure mounts the strain on the family and their bonds stretches to the breaking point.
How long do you wait for someone else to step up and speak out.
As I'm reading I keep thinking to myself, there is no way I would let these things happen. I would like to believe this to be true. But as I think about my own family I can't help but wonder just what I would be willing to give up to protect my loved ones.
8/10
December 22, 2014
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 1, 2022
Tothom, qui més, qui menys, té andròmines velles a casa i un munt d'aparells i mobiliari que no fa servir. Els habitants de Harlowe, a New Hampshire, no veuen amb mals ulls que en Perly Dunsmore, un foraster carismàtic, organitzi subhastes benèfiques amb tot allò que no volen, i encara guanyen uns diners extres. Però quan les col·lectes deixen de ser voluntàries i en Dunsmore i els seus esbirros els exigeixen que cedeixin cada cop més propietats, ja no els farà tanta gràcia.
Thriller rural que ens presenta la família Moore com a representació d'una comunitat que no sap com oposar-se a l'espiral d'opressió a la que es veu sotmesa, gairebé sense adonar-se'n. Allò que comença com una proposta amb aparents bones intencions, acaba sent la seva condemna. L'ambició d'un sol home els porta a la desesperació i a la impotència més absolutes.
La trama arrenca a poc a poc, molt descriptiva de la vida rural i les tasques diàries, amb el focus posat sobre la família Moore. Però la tensió va en augment de manera inexorable: accidents sobtats però massa freqüents, amenaces encobertes, agents armats. I la figura d'en Dunsmore que en algun moment ens farà dubtar si és realment humà o és l'encarnació del mateix diable. Això sí, sempre amb un somriure.
Aquesta és una història molt fosca, sinistra, que acaba escalant fins a límits insospitats i que el lector, igual que els veïns de Harlowe, no veu venir. La inquietud i el neguit, però, es mantenen durant tota la lectura, i això és garantia d'èxit en els llibres d'intriga. Bona aposta per aquells a qui agrada tenir els pèls de punta sense elements fantàstics ni paranormals. Queda clar que algunes persones fan més por que els éssers d'altres mons.
(SERGI)
Thriller rural que ens presenta la família Moore com a representació d'una comunitat que no sap com oposar-se a l'espiral d'opressió a la que es veu sotmesa, gairebé sense adonar-se'n. Allò que comença com una proposta amb aparents bones intencions, acaba sent la seva condemna. L'ambició d'un sol home els porta a la desesperació i a la impotència més absolutes.
La trama arrenca a poc a poc, molt descriptiva de la vida rural i les tasques diàries, amb el focus posat sobre la família Moore. Però la tensió va en augment de manera inexorable: accidents sobtats però massa freqüents, amenaces encobertes, agents armats. I la figura d'en Dunsmore que en algun moment ens farà dubtar si és realment humà o és l'encarnació del mateix diable. Això sí, sempre amb un somriure.
Aquesta és una història molt fosca, sinistra, que acaba escalant fins a límits insospitats i que el lector, igual que els veïns de Harlowe, no veu venir. La inquietud i el neguit, però, es mantenen durant tota la lectura, i això és garantia d'èxit en els llibres d'intriga. Bona aposta per aquells a qui agrada tenir els pèls de punta sense elements fantàstics ni paranormals. Queda clar que algunes persones fan més por que els éssers d'altres mons.
(SERGI)
August 31, 2018
I’m not entirely sure this wasn’t Bentley Little writing under a pen name…of course, he would have been a teenager, but you see what I’m sayin’.
“We’re having an auction.”
Now, pony up some stuff.
All of it.
I listened to this on audio and it was great. Matt Godfrey is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators. The dude has serious skills and I have thoroughly enjoyed everything that I have listened to from him. Absolutely perfect for the story.
I also need to give a shout out to Valancourt Books who has been re-releasing some truly excellent rare and out-of-print fiction. Kudos and please keep it up.
“I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this honest review."
“We’re having an auction.”
Now, pony up some stuff.
All of it.
I listened to this on audio and it was great. Matt Godfrey is quickly becoming one of my favorite narrators. The dude has serious skills and I have thoroughly enjoyed everything that I have listened to from him. Absolutely perfect for the story.
I also need to give a shout out to Valancourt Books who has been re-releasing some truly excellent rare and out-of-print fiction. Kudos and please keep it up.
“I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this honest review."
November 9, 2020
4.5 stars. What a find! It is, frankly, embarrassing that I had never heard of this book before I found it on Audible a few days ago. And it's truly tragic that this is Samson's only novel because I would very much like to read a dozen more. (She died young shortly after it was published.) Shame on all of us for leaving this book behind when we should be talking about it constantly. This is the only thing I have ever read that I would compare to Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," and that is quite a thing to say.
I have been reading several other 70's horror novels, and a few of my recent reads have been that subgenre of folk horror where city people go out to the country in search of something purer. THE AUCTIONEER is such an interesting juxtaposition with those stories, with many of the same themes as the others. But instead of looking at a story through the eyes of the city dwellers, bright-eyed and optimistic about going back to the land, here we see the story from the country folk, the farmers whose families have lived on the same land for hundreds of years, who are finding themselves outmatched by the money and technology invading from the city.
I'm sure there are some who would not view this as a horror novel because it is not really supernatural. I think it's absolutely a horror novel, with excellent tension and stakes as high as any supernatural story. If you do not read much horror, this is a great one to get into because you won't have to worry about ghosts or monsters. This is Social Horror, one of my personal favorite subgenres, where we don't have to use a whole lot of monstrous metaphors to stand in for the themes the book explores. It just stares them straight in the face. Here, there is so much about the way people go along and don't speak up, the way systems built to protect people can so easily be used to harm them, the way you can get away with just about anything as long as you talk a good game.
Samson really takes her time in this book in a way I liked very much. Much of our modern horror is fast, making sure there is constantly another tightening of the tension. But Samson lets us sit with it, many scenes are very long and slow. With the simple premise she's working from, where the real question is what the Moore family is going to do as they have fewer and fewer choices, letting us watch as they weigh and worry and argue gives us a stronger connection to them and lets us really feel the stakes more deeply. And yes, you may spend much of the time the way you would in any horror novel, yelling at a man to just do something already. (I certainly did.)
I did this on audio and while I am not enough of a New Englander to vouch for the authenticity of the New Hampshire accents, I did enjoy the reading a lot. Not the usual problems of male readers doing women's voices poorly, although this one sure does give a lot of characters a slight lisp. A very satisfying novel indeed.
I have been reading several other 70's horror novels, and a few of my recent reads have been that subgenre of folk horror where city people go out to the country in search of something purer. THE AUCTIONEER is such an interesting juxtaposition with those stories, with many of the same themes as the others. But instead of looking at a story through the eyes of the city dwellers, bright-eyed and optimistic about going back to the land, here we see the story from the country folk, the farmers whose families have lived on the same land for hundreds of years, who are finding themselves outmatched by the money and technology invading from the city.
I'm sure there are some who would not view this as a horror novel because it is not really supernatural. I think it's absolutely a horror novel, with excellent tension and stakes as high as any supernatural story. If you do not read much horror, this is a great one to get into because you won't have to worry about ghosts or monsters. This is Social Horror, one of my personal favorite subgenres, where we don't have to use a whole lot of monstrous metaphors to stand in for the themes the book explores. It just stares them straight in the face. Here, there is so much about the way people go along and don't speak up, the way systems built to protect people can so easily be used to harm them, the way you can get away with just about anything as long as you talk a good game.
Samson really takes her time in this book in a way I liked very much. Much of our modern horror is fast, making sure there is constantly another tightening of the tension. But Samson lets us sit with it, many scenes are very long and slow. With the simple premise she's working from, where the real question is what the Moore family is going to do as they have fewer and fewer choices, letting us watch as they weigh and worry and argue gives us a stronger connection to them and lets us really feel the stakes more deeply. And yes, you may spend much of the time the way you would in any horror novel, yelling at a man to just do something already. (I certainly did.)
I did this on audio and while I am not enough of a New Englander to vouch for the authenticity of the New Hampshire accents, I did enjoy the reading a lot. Not the usual problems of male readers doing women's voices poorly, although this one sure does give a lot of characters a slight lisp. A very satisfying novel indeed.
October 15, 2023
The Auctioneer is a beautiful character study in coercion and deception. The basic premise is Percy a man with the gift of the gab comes to reside in the small town of Harlowe. He has big ideas and a loveable personality. He soon opens up auctions where the local residents can donate unwanted goods to be sold for the benefit of the local police and fire departments.
What starts out as a small idea soon morphs into something sinister which takes over the entire town. It pits long time friends and neighbours against each other. The reality of the auctioneers motives soon becomes known and the auctions are just the start of his rampage he will inflict on the town and everyone in it.
This is really a beautiful work of art. Its slowly builds the tension piece by piece. Its not until you realise you are holding your breath or holding the book too tight that you notice how much stress the situation of the Moores the main family we follow in the story are under. This has so many themes throughout the book which could be discussed at length. The plot description sounds basic enough but it's the slow build up, the beautiful character work and the resounding dread and tension which hit you like a ton of bricks which make this such a fantastic read. 4.5 stars upped to 5.
What starts out as a small idea soon morphs into something sinister which takes over the entire town. It pits long time friends and neighbours against each other. The reality of the auctioneers motives soon becomes known and the auctions are just the start of his rampage he will inflict on the town and everyone in it.
This is really a beautiful work of art. Its slowly builds the tension piece by piece. Its not until you realise you are holding your breath or holding the book too tight that you notice how much stress the situation of the Moores the main family we follow in the story are under. This has so many themes throughout the book which could be discussed at length. The plot description sounds basic enough but it's the slow build up, the beautiful character work and the resounding dread and tension which hit you like a ton of bricks which make this such a fantastic read. 4.5 stars upped to 5.
May 10, 2020
I had so many problems with this book and had it not only been 223 pages, I think I would have given up on it very early on. Had half stars been allowed, this book would have been a 1.5 stars. I rounded up only because I reserve 1 star ratings for books I DNF'ed or was forced to read in school growing up (like The Giver or Heart of Darkness).
My biggest complaint with this novel is that it is classified as a horror classic, one that has a cult following since it was out of print for so many years, and for the life of me I cannot understand how any of that is possible. First off, there's nothing terrifying in this book at all. The scariest thing this novel holds is that Moore and his mother are so jaded that they refuse to leave when their family is in danger and they only ended up with their lives being threatened because they didn't have enough of a backbone to tell the sheriff and this auctioneer that they can't come into their house every week and steal their stuff. Furthermore, how this book has a cult following is just beyond me. This was one of the most boring books I have ever read. It just kept repeating itself over and over until we got to the clumsy conclusion. I felt like I was in seventh grade all over again being forced to read All Quiet on the Western Front, except things actually happen in that book.
The family dynamic in this novel is so fucked. I'm pretty sure it implies that the father raped his wife when they were 15 and then continued to do so throughout their marriage, and that the grandmother knew and was okay with this fact. What makes this extra eerie is that these are supposed to be the good guys in the book! Except, really, it just comes down to the wife, Mim, telling her arrogant husband over and over that they need to leave Harlowe in order to protect their 4-year-old daughter from harm and from basically falling into poverty. Mim is 100% correct, and yet every time she says something reasonable, she is forcibly shut down by her asshole husband and his overbearing mother. This goes on for like 150 pages. "They've come to take the cows!" "But we need the cows!" "There's nothing we can do now. They've taken the cows!" and then they take the tractor, the guns, the bedroom furniture, the onions, EVERYTHING! And all of the characters just let this happen over and over!
***Spoilers***
So then we get to this crazy conclusion where we learn that everyone is just allowing the police and the auctioneer to just steal their stuff, and their CHILDREN, and only when everyone realizes that this is happening to everyone (even though they all have known that this is happening to everyone since like the fifth page of the book) they decide to kill the auctioneer (who, side note, impregnated a 14-year-old girl and stole her child for some weird reason). Lo and behold, the auctioneer is able to get away and they accidentally burn one of their friends in a house fire and BOOM! Book is over. Not sure if this saved the town, not sure what happened to the auctioneer, not sure how the marriage of our protagonists is going to evolve after we spent 223 pages to hear that everything worked out for the abusive, rapist husband. Also, what is this? 1880? I know the book is set in the early '70s, so why does no one have any electricity or phones or heating?!?! This book was so infuriating. Moral of the story: don't ever give up your cows and skip this book.
My biggest complaint with this novel is that it is classified as a horror classic, one that has a cult following since it was out of print for so many years, and for the life of me I cannot understand how any of that is possible. First off, there's nothing terrifying in this book at all. The scariest thing this novel holds is that Moore and his mother are so jaded that they refuse to leave when their family is in danger and they only ended up with their lives being threatened because they didn't have enough of a backbone to tell the sheriff and this auctioneer that they can't come into their house every week and steal their stuff. Furthermore, how this book has a cult following is just beyond me. This was one of the most boring books I have ever read. It just kept repeating itself over and over until we got to the clumsy conclusion. I felt like I was in seventh grade all over again being forced to read All Quiet on the Western Front, except things actually happen in that book.
The family dynamic in this novel is so fucked. I'm pretty sure it implies that the father raped his wife when they were 15 and then continued to do so throughout their marriage, and that the grandmother knew and was okay with this fact. What makes this extra eerie is that these are supposed to be the good guys in the book! Except, really, it just comes down to the wife, Mim, telling her arrogant husband over and over that they need to leave Harlowe in order to protect their 4-year-old daughter from harm and from basically falling into poverty. Mim is 100% correct, and yet every time she says something reasonable, she is forcibly shut down by her asshole husband and his overbearing mother. This goes on for like 150 pages. "They've come to take the cows!" "But we need the cows!" "There's nothing we can do now. They've taken the cows!" and then they take the tractor, the guns, the bedroom furniture, the onions, EVERYTHING! And all of the characters just let this happen over and over!
***Spoilers***
So then we get to this crazy conclusion where we learn that everyone is just allowing the police and the auctioneer to just steal their stuff, and their CHILDREN, and only when everyone realizes that this is happening to everyone (even though they all have known that this is happening to everyone since like the fifth page of the book) they decide to kill the auctioneer (who, side note, impregnated a 14-year-old girl and stole her child for some weird reason). Lo and behold, the auctioneer is able to get away and they accidentally burn one of their friends in a house fire and BOOM! Book is over. Not sure if this saved the town, not sure what happened to the auctioneer, not sure how the marriage of our protagonists is going to evolve after we spent 223 pages to hear that everything worked out for the abusive, rapist husband. Also, what is this? 1880? I know the book is set in the early '70s, so why does no one have any electricity or phones or heating?!?! This book was so infuriating. Moral of the story: don't ever give up your cows and skip this book.
August 4, 2018
Valancourt Books recently brought this 70's horror classic back from obscurity, and I immediately picked it up. I had been hearing some buzz around the rerelease, and I was excited to read something that a number of people really enjoyed.
Grady Hendrix, who single handedly started the vintage horror paperback revival with his excellent book Paperbacks From Hell, wrote the introduction for this edition, and I was excited for that as well. Hendrix knows and loves these classic horror stories, and it's always interesting to hear what his opinion is on a particular title. Essentially this book remained an underground classic for the long duration of time that it remained out of print. Collectors would search for copies wherever there could find one, and readers would pass around paperbacks to share the experience with fellow horror lovers. The book continued to be sought after and shared for 30 years after it had gone out of print, and then finally Valancourt release this edition in the wake of the 70s and 80s horror fiction revival.
John and Mim Moore live in the isolated farming community of Harlowe, New Hampshire with John's mother "Ma" and their young daughter Hildie. They live on a farm that has been in John's family for generations, and they adore the simple and quiet life they have created for themselves. Then one day Perly Dunsmore, the titular Auctioneer arrives in town, and before they know it, everyone in Harlowe has their lives turned upside down. Perly starts by helping the citizens get rid of the junk that has collected in their barns and attics, but he doesn't stop there. Perly has big plans for the town of Harlowe, and none of those plans have any of the current citizens in mind.
I found myself truly hating Perly, and feeling an intense frustration with John for not doing anything to stop him or help his family. Perly is an antagonist that is meant to be hated, but John is far more complex. He's a man who is truly torn. He doesn't want to admit defeat and leave the only home he has ever known, and so he puts his family in increasingly tension filled and dangerous situations that truly had me on the edge of my seat. I had no idea how this one was going to end, and I'm happy to say I think Samson wrote a very strong ending. I didn't expect it, and it was refreshing to not be able to predict where a story is heading.
I've heard nothing but praise for this novel, and all the buzz is true. I highly recommend The Auctioneer. It's a tense and unnerving novel that will definitely get under your skin.
Grady Hendrix, who single handedly started the vintage horror paperback revival with his excellent book Paperbacks From Hell, wrote the introduction for this edition, and I was excited for that as well. Hendrix knows and loves these classic horror stories, and it's always interesting to hear what his opinion is on a particular title. Essentially this book remained an underground classic for the long duration of time that it remained out of print. Collectors would search for copies wherever there could find one, and readers would pass around paperbacks to share the experience with fellow horror lovers. The book continued to be sought after and shared for 30 years after it had gone out of print, and then finally Valancourt release this edition in the wake of the 70s and 80s horror fiction revival.
John and Mim Moore live in the isolated farming community of Harlowe, New Hampshire with John's mother "Ma" and their young daughter Hildie. They live on a farm that has been in John's family for generations, and they adore the simple and quiet life they have created for themselves. Then one day Perly Dunsmore, the titular Auctioneer arrives in town, and before they know it, everyone in Harlowe has their lives turned upside down. Perly starts by helping the citizens get rid of the junk that has collected in their barns and attics, but he doesn't stop there. Perly has big plans for the town of Harlowe, and none of those plans have any of the current citizens in mind.
I found myself truly hating Perly, and feeling an intense frustration with John for not doing anything to stop him or help his family. Perly is an antagonist that is meant to be hated, but John is far more complex. He's a man who is truly torn. He doesn't want to admit defeat and leave the only home he has ever known, and so he puts his family in increasingly tension filled and dangerous situations that truly had me on the edge of my seat. I had no idea how this one was going to end, and I'm happy to say I think Samson wrote a very strong ending. I didn't expect it, and it was refreshing to not be able to predict where a story is heading.
I've heard nothing but praise for this novel, and all the buzz is true. I highly recommend The Auctioneer. It's a tense and unnerving novel that will definitely get under your skin.
March 14, 2019
Picture me confused - why is this classified as horror? This is literary Fiction at its finest. It slowly quietly snuck into my veins. Then the ending blew me away.
This is the very real story of how one single individual can change a whole town for the worse but only because they let him do it. So why did they let him do it you may ask? I see one of my GR friends starts with the quote ”Just remember this,” he said in a deep voice that cut neatly through the confusion. “Whatever I’ve done, you’ve let me do.” To which I answer in the main protagonist ’s words “Ma’am,” he said, ‘for all your schoolin’, ain’t much you do understand”. Let’s just say it sort of all creeps up on them in a perfectly understandable manner.
Centered at the heart of this novel are the love of family and the deep, deep ties to the land and what we will and will not do to keep them safe. The pace is slow and countrified. The dialogue genuine (or at least sounds so to me). The ending is satisfactory but Ma Moore’s last line will haunt me forever I think.
As this was a library book - I am going to have to find my own copy of this one!
This is the very real story of how one single individual can change a whole town for the worse but only because they let him do it. So why did they let him do it you may ask? I see one of my GR friends starts with the quote ”Just remember this,” he said in a deep voice that cut neatly through the confusion. “Whatever I’ve done, you’ve let me do.” To which I answer in the main protagonist ’s words “Ma’am,” he said, ‘for all your schoolin’, ain’t much you do understand”. Let’s just say it sort of all creeps up on them in a perfectly understandable manner.
Centered at the heart of this novel are the love of family and the deep, deep ties to the land and what we will and will not do to keep them safe. The pace is slow and countrified. The dialogue genuine (or at least sounds so to me). The ending is satisfactory but Ma Moore’s last line will haunt me forever I think.
As this was a library book - I am going to have to find my own copy of this one!
August 1, 2020
The cool thing about this cult classic is it’s been reintroduced back into the mainstream by Valancourt Books. Originally written in 1975, it’s now in a snazzy paperback with an introduction by one of my favorite authors, Grady Hendrix. Set in Harlowe, New Hampshire in a farm community, we meet an intriguing kind of evil. Perly Dunsmore is the town’s auctioneer and recently inquired an old mansion to set up shop. The auctions are funded by the residents’ donations and are meant to benefit the community, but instead he bleeds them dry. Things really take a turn in this atmospheric, dreadful, suspenseful tale.
April 6, 2022
«Perly Dunsmore, eccola la novità, signora Moore», disse Gore, piazzandosi comodamente nella sedia a dondolo con tutta la sua stazza. «È la più grande novità che si sia vista a Harlowe in anni e anni.» Era raggiante, come se il banditore
fosse una nuova e sfavillante proprietà, una scoperta speciale, un affare che avrebbe attirato l'invidia di tutti i vicini in grado di riconoscere le cose di valore.
La tranquilla ed isolata comunità agricola di Harlowe, nel New Hampshire, viene scossa con l’arrivo del carismatico e mellifluo Perly Dunsmore, il quale inizia innocentemente a sollecitare donazioni per le sue aste, ma finisce con il far sprofondare la cittadina nell’oscurità che porta con sé, privando lentamente e gradualmente gli abitanti dei loro beni e della loro libertà, con l’aiuto di un avido sceriffo e del suo esercito di vice.
Raggiunsero il muretto che cingeva il pascolo e lo osservarono con attenzione per individuare i pezzi che avevano bisogno di una sistemata. Ma le pietre erano quasi tutte al loro posto, trattenute da un fitto reticolato di tralci d'uva.
«Tutto considerato», disse Mim, «non mi dispiace affatto.»
«Di che parli?» chiese John.
«Di essere come siamo», replicò lei.
La premessa de Il banditore, primo ed unico libro di Joan Samson (1937-1976) pubblicato negli Stati Uniti agli inizi del 1976, poco prima della sua morte prematura a causa del cancro, ed ispirato da un suo incubo notturno, è decisamente ottima: Perly Dunsmore arriva ad Harlowe quasi come un novello e diabolico Daryl Van Horne, facendosi apprezzare in principio per poi portare lo scompiglio nella cittadina, cingendo la famiglia Moore ed il resto degli abitanti in una diabolica morsa che si stringe inesorabilmente come un cappio, lasciandoli inermi ed isolati ad attendere con sempre maggiore angoscia le visite del giovedì da parte del banditore e dei suoi scagnozzi, una crescente forza di polizia finanziata con i soldi delle aste, ma avente tutt'altro che a cuore il benessere dei propri concittadini.
«Hai sentito di Caleb Tuttle? Ha avuto un attacco di cuore mentre andava nella stalla a mungere le vacche. Qualcosa deve averlo spaventato. Il medico legale di Powlton dice che è inciampato».
«L'ho saputo», disse John, ma non era vero.
Cogswell si asciugò la fronte con la manica della camicia.
«Uno fa quello che deve fare», disse, rivolto più che altro a Mim, ma lei lo fissava come se fosse uno sconosciuto.
Oltre alla premessa su cui si basa il libro, mi sono piaciute molto le descrizioni di vita quotidiana della famiglia Moore, contadini di sani valori che si sono presi cura della loro fattoria e della loro terra da generazioni, in una campagna idealizzata che alla fine viene insidiata, minacciata e contaminata, da un diabolico individuo arrivato dalla città, quasi come un flagello urbano, per spogliare gli abitanti di Harlowe di tutto ciò che hanno creato e conquistato nel corso degli anni con fatica e sudore della fronte.
A quel punto, da settimane, accettavano senza scomporsi anche le visite del giovedì. Al principio, Ma' andava su tutte le furie. La volta che Mim aveva dato una mano a Cogswell e Mudgett con il pianoforte, per esempio, si era messa a urlare.
Invece, quando portarono via il tappeto e il servizio buono di piatti che Mim gli aveva fatto trovare pronto in una scatola, non disse quasi nulla.
Lo stesso dicasi per l’atmosfera di tensione che cresce pagina dopo pagina, portando il lettore a temere per la sorte della sventurata famiglia, e quasi a disperarsi con loro, il tutto reso con una prosa leggera ed avvincente, una sorta di Cose Preziose di Stephen King, ma senza l’elemento soprannaturale e quasi come se fosse stato scritto da Cormac McCarthy.
«I miei fucili?»
Perly si chinò a raccogliere un ramoscello di menta, cresceva vicino alla porta. Lo infilò in bocca e lo masticò. «La stagione della caccia si avvicina, e abbiamo pensato che un'asta dedicata alle armi da fuoco sarebbe un’idea brillante.»
«Quindi adesso ci disarmate», disse John restando fermo davanti all'ingresso.
Perly, ridendo, gettò indietro la testa bruna.
Purtroppo, con tutto il rispetto per l’autrice, trovo semplicemente priva di fondamento, per non dire quasi ridicola, l’idea che una intera cittadina di contadini americani, che hanno posseduto e coltivato la loro terra per intere generazioni, si lasci privare senza colpo ferire o quasi di ogni loro avere, incluse le loro armi e, addirittura, i loro figli.
Appoggiato al pick-up, Gore osservava. «Siamo qui per le vacche», disse.
«Le vacche?»
«Ne prendiamo solo un paio», precisò Perly strizzando l'occhio a Mim, che era rimasta dietro il vetro della porta.
«Ne avrete due in meno da mungere, mettiamola così. E se ne avete un paio che ora come ora non danno latte, ci faremo
andar bene quelle.»
Diciamo che qui in Italia, in una qualsiasi campagna del belpaese, il damerino venuto dalla città, lo sceriffo ed i suoi aiutanti, sarebbero stati accolti a schioppettate già alla seconda o terza visita del giovedì; figuriamoci in una comunità rurale americana dove ogni famiglia possiede almeno un paio di fucili.
Malgrado i rovi e il peso della tanica, erano mesi
che non si sentiva altrettanto libero. Il punto non era tanto portare a buon fine un'impresa, quanto l'esigenza impellente di fare qualcosa, una qualsiasi. Non avrebbe abbandonato tutto quello che possedeva senza prima lasciare un segno.
E quando alla fine l’intera Harlowe insorge contro il banditore all’ennesimo, orribile, sopruso, il tutto avviene davvero in maniera troppo affrettata, raffazzonata e deludente per i miei gusti.
In conclusione, un bel romanzo che si lascia leggere, ed un classico minore giustamente recuperato dall’oblio in cui era stato dimenticato, ma dal capolavoro del brivido osannato da Stephen King in quarta di copertina, o da Grady Hendrix nel suo esaustivo Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ‘70s and ‘80s Horror Fiction, splendido saggio illustrato che dovrò assolutamente procurarmi e leggere prima o poi, mi dispiace ma almeno io mi aspettavo decisamente qualcosa in più.
Perly restò al suo posto pietrificato, a guardare il trambusto che si diffondeva a macchia d’olio davanti a lui. «Ricordatevi solo una cosa», disse con voce grave, tagliando il caos come una lama. «Qualsiasi cosa io abbia fatto, siete voi che me l’avete permesso.»
Tre stelle e mezzo stiracchiate.
March 11, 2022
L’inizio incuriosisce, anche per come ci viene dipinto un contesto in stile “American Gothic” leggermente più moderno. Le incalzanti visite del giovedì aumentano progressivamente l’angoscia… fino ad un certo punto però. La ridondanza apparentemente interminabile di questo loop in cui ci si va ad infilare rende la situazione grottesca, fiaccando lo spirito della lettura. Anche andando ad accettare la surreale quanto inspiegabile remissività collettiva la trama pare forzata, senza che si senta mai in dovere di dare troppe spiegazioni… un po’ come fa il nostro banditore. Poi, di punto in bianco, si riprende il contatto con la realtà, e tutto ciò rimasto fino ad allora (chissà poi perché???) sopito, viene a galla per chiudere la questione.
Considerando come è stato pubblicizzato questo libro posso dire di essere rimasto deluso, in quanto mi aspettavo ben altro. Tranquillamente aggiunto alla lista di quelli che “Mi son fatto fregare dalla bella copertina” … che ha evocato false speranze :P
Considerando come è stato pubblicizzato questo libro posso dire di essere rimasto deluso, in quanto mi aspettavo ben altro. Tranquillamente aggiunto alla lista di quelli che “Mi son fatto fregare dalla bella copertina” … che ha evocato false speranze :P
January 4, 2014
The creepiest thing about this book is that my copy has a child's scribbling throughout it. A very unexpected (but appreciated) element to a story about a community losing its identity through lose of physical and emotional and familial possessions. Who was the Auctioneer? More troubling perhaps is: Are we not all the Auctioneer at times?
I wish there were more books of this caliber written in this genre. Any suggestions?
I wish there were more books of this caliber written in this genre. Any suggestions?
April 3, 2024
Slow burn story involving manipulation and devil's bargaining in a small town in New Hampshire. An older book that resonates today when I think of how a smooth-talker with money and power can influence thousands.
February 1, 2013
After all the glowing reviews I read about this book and seeing a critic's comparison of this story with Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," I was somewhat disappointed because my expectations were so high.
The Auctioneer starts off with a slow menace, but I thought the events in the story happened in an unbelievable time frame. And when Perly began auctioning off children, that's when it reached a ridiculous point for me. And it didn't seem plausible that the townsfolk couldn't come together sooner and fight the power when they do so easily at the last meeting. This made the ending seem rushed and not well though out.
Joan Samson is a deft writer who creates a little slice of New England in the seventies, filled with tough, stubborn, proud characters who know the importance of roots and land. And she expertly illustrates how even these kinds of no-nonsense characters can become cowed when authority overreaches with laws and regulations that turn them impotent. But I think I stopped feeling the menace of the story when Perly turned into the Grinch and took everything these people had, down to the last screwdriver. It was a little over-the-top for me and that's why I gave it three stars.
The Auctioneer starts off with a slow menace, but I thought the events in the story happened in an unbelievable time frame. And when Perly began auctioning off children, that's when it reached a ridiculous point for me. And it didn't seem plausible that the townsfolk couldn't come together sooner and fight the power when they do so easily at the last meeting. This made the ending seem rushed and not well though out.
Joan Samson is a deft writer who creates a little slice of New England in the seventies, filled with tough, stubborn, proud characters who know the importance of roots and land. And she expertly illustrates how even these kinds of no-nonsense characters can become cowed when authority overreaches with laws and regulations that turn them impotent. But I think I stopped feeling the menace of the story when Perly turned into the Grinch and took everything these people had, down to the last screwdriver. It was a little over-the-top for me and that's why I gave it three stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 12, 2012
I don't remember where/how I heard about this book about two years ago. When I looked up Ms. Samson, and found out it was her only novel (she was writing her second, when she passed away from that frikkin cancer), I thought I'd look at my local used bookstore, and she had a copy.
Her debut is a claustrophobic, slow boiling terror that's taking over a small town in New Hampshire. The effects of a charismatic stranger, with big plans for their quiet town...could happen anywhere. Great atmosphere and the characters of John and Mim Moore, trying to save their farm....and only child.
Would have been wonderful to read what Ms. Samson was working on next.
Her debut is a claustrophobic, slow boiling terror that's taking over a small town in New Hampshire. The effects of a charismatic stranger, with big plans for their quiet town...could happen anywhere. Great atmosphere and the characters of John and Mim Moore, trying to save their farm....and only child.
Would have been wonderful to read what Ms. Samson was working on next.
September 14, 2022
A very slow burn, one of the slowest I’ve probably ever read, but it did a have a feeling of underlying menace and it picked up at the very (very) end. I’m still unsure of what all happened though honestly.
Just a heads up, this was published in 1976, and has some dated/offensive language.
Just a heads up, this was published in 1976, and has some dated/offensive language.
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