BOOK REVIEW
Lives of odd couple forever intertwined

By Donna Liquori
Associated Press

•	"Niagara Falls All Over Again," by Elizabeth McCracken, Dial Press, $23.95

"Niagara Falls All Over Again," clearly inspired by Abbott and Costello and other comedy greats of their era, is the kind of book you can't put down until you find out how the story ends. One thing that's certain from the moment they meet — the fat man will always be part of the straight man's life.

"Here's what I think: When you're born, you're assigned a brain like you're assigned a desk, a nice desk, with plenty of pigeonholes and drawers and secret compartments. At the start, it's empty, and then you spend your life filling it up. You're the only one who understands the filing system.

"You amass clutter, sure, but somehow it works: You're asked for the capital of Oregon, and you say Salem. ... Then suddenly you're old, and though everything's in your brain, it's crammed so tight. ... Or you try to recall your wedding day, and you remember a fat man. Or the birth of your first kid, and you remember a fat man."

"Niagara Falls" is a bittersweet, funny novel that borrows its title from a skit made famous largely by Abbott and Costello. ("Niagara Falls! Slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch. ...")

Mose Sharp, the straight man, is the central character and narrator.

From his roots in Des Moines, Iowa, as the only son of a Jewish clothier who wants him to take over the business, Sharp is the prodigal son who leaves to seek his fame.

Following the death of Sharp's mother when he was a boy, the neighbors leave provisions on the front porch. Sharp and his sister, Hattie, stomp on the food in a futile but liberating gesture to quell their grief.

These sad details belie the humor that allows Sharp to get on with it.

"In houses around us, north, south, across the back lot, neighbors pulled back curtains and wondered whether this is what Jews did when their mothers died."

Elizabeth McCracken is a whiz at charting the rise of Sharp and the fat man, Rocky Carter, hitting the nuances of backstage just right.

She introduces a chorus of bittersweet characters, each with a special talent: the human monopode, a dancer who'd lost his right leg and arm when he stepped on a mine; a contortionist called the Indian Rubber Maid; and a deaf, juggling dancer.

As Carter and Sharp rise in show business, Sharp becomes the practical one. He invests his money, seeks a family. Carter throws his newfound wealth into drinking and a parade of wives, in a desperate search for happiness.

Along the way, their relationship and their careers endure ups and downs. And while this is a story of a straight man, there always has to be the fat man.