Captain Saturday
By Robert Inman
Little, Brown - January 2001
ISBN: 0-316-41502-2 - Hardcover
Fiction / Literary
for mature content

Reviewed by: Vickie Adkins, MyShelf.Com
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Captain Saturday is a very down-to-earth story about a weatherman named Will Baggett, who is possibly the most popular citizen in Raleigh, North Carolina. Seen two times each evening on Channel Seven, Will is used to his notoriety to the point of taking it for granted.

His wife Clarice, after years of playing second fiddle, is well on her way to a successful career as a real estate agent when the TV station where Will has worked his entire adult life is sold. Will is fired without notice and finds out first hand what it feels like to be an ordinary citizen. Especially when he is charged with running a red light and injures his knee trying to beat the deadline to collect his severance package.

Bad publicity follows, embarrassing both Will and his wife, and bringing his already estranged son Palmer calling with halfhearted condolences.

Enter Wingfoot Baggett, Will's cousin that he hasn't seen forever, but spent many of his pubescent years with. Wingfoot takes "Wilbur" back home to "Brunswick County, on the peaceful banks of the Cape Fear River" for a little rest and relaxation. Here Will recalls many unsettling memories from his childhood, forcing him to deal with his past, present, and future.

Time with Wingfoot Baggett and his sister Min, allows Will the time to think about past mistakes, and future choices. He works hard to reestablish a relationship with his son, and realizes his faltering marriage needs more than a little help.

Inman goes to great lengths to encourage the reader on to the next page. The characters are very believable, and the landscape feels like home. Reading Will's recollections from his youth will find you missing yours, and quite possibly even missing the cousins, aunts and uncles you haven't seen for years.

Robert Inman is a former TV anchorman, having spent twenty-five at the number-one station in Charlotte. I'm convinced his own life experiences helped make Will Baggett's character come to life!

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Vickie Adkins is the author of Tattered Pages, The Light Blue Ribbon.