The Total View of Taftly: A Novel

When we first meet Taftly Harper he is happily ensconced in the boozy Copiah Harper Tavern, an establishment named after his grandfather, in bucolic Copiah Springs. Though Taftly descends from a storied line of Southerners, his father has long ago vanished and his mother is dead. Left to his own devices, Taftly seeks an adventurous and heroic existence for himself: a life of honor with an occasional splash of splendor. After losing a good bit of weight with a running magazine as his Bible, our newly svelte Taftly foremost wants what any pathetically noble creature deserves: to love and be loved. Instead, he finds and loses love, is deeply disturbed over an assault by the elephantine Clydesdale twins, is pestered by an alien-abducted sidekick, and is tormented by memories of his mother. From the peaks of ingenious hilarity to valleys of soul-searching depth, debut novelist Scott Morris has created a character cynical enough to be genuine and ridiculous enough to the loveable. Taftly's redemptive saga is not soon forgotten. Through him, we are forced to explore our own position in the world where we are left with a rare glimpse of the "Total View," or how to wrench grace and triumph from an otherwise plotless world.