I Am Billy The Kid by Michael Blouin is a novel that pools together much of the lore that has surrounded one of America’s favourite outlaws. In it, the man himself recounts the life he lives after allegedly taking a fatal bullet from one Pat Garrett, which is the pivotal event that sends him into hiding to live a sort of pseudo-afterlife. In it, he encounters the headstrong Turner, a young woman of undetermined age who becomes the undercurrent of the story that our protagonist shares. As a whole, the novel is a paean to Turner’s strength and indomitable spirit, existing as an understated tribute to the strength of the feminine in all its manifestations.
The afterlife figures as a strong metaphor throughout the novel, not just as Billy’s new lease on life, but also with soliloquys and anecdotes from the Other Side where souls recently departed will breach the veil to communicate and describe what life after death is like, for better or for worse. It gives the novel a beautiful depth that lasts for the reader.
As a writer, Blouin is all about vernacular, relaying his stories in a conversational style. He even affected a convincing Texas drawl during the launch reading in Ottawa, which shows how immersed in the language he really is. In his books he always tells the story through its characters. If he is a frightened and abused teenage boy, as in Chase & Haven, his narration inhabits that. If he is a booze addled Ottawa Valley hosehead as in Skin House, that’s who tells you the story. If he is a rugged 19th century outlaw of the American Southwest, it is that voice that recalls his life. This is what draws you in. It always makes you feel like you are sitting across a booth from the narrator.
Stemming from that, he is also a master of dialogue, always spicing it with humour and clever turns of wit. His characters are always arguing and confronting each other, cutting each other up at every opportunity and you always feel blessed to witness such hilarious exchanges.
One other great thing Blouin does is he makes his non-linear breakneck transitions so fluid and logical, you really do feel like you are in a carnival ride, with gravity, time and space whipping you in all directions, making it a thrill to experience. In I Am Billy The Kid, you can be at any point in the protagonist’s life, recounting a significant (or not, even) event and it is always relevant and illuminating, never straying from the point. As a writer, I learn so much from him.
All told, I Am Billy The Kid is a novel artfully crafted by an author with much ammunition at his disposal. Blouin knows when to shoot and when to wait to bring about the best outcome possible, giving rich life to the story and leading up to a satisfying ending and a warm afterglow when you finally lay the book down, knowing you have something good to look back upon.
