Frederic Kimball

An Indelible Mark Frederic Kimball

In the dark bilge of a small sailboat two almost naked bodies are compressed together in the slimy water, painfully bisected by the ribs of the hull. You couldn't say where one body began and the other left off; they are one flesh. Henry Stillman's father, Joe, is at the tiller above, having banished his crew to the bilge to test a mysterious theory of Marine guidance. Henry is still trying to lick the salt water off Alberta Bang's nipple as Joe Stillman shouts at them to move further into the cramped, dark space. And then, while discussing how to make Joe's death look accidental, the mast beside them rattles in its steps as the boat sails before the wind. Henry could probably get it to fall on the old man. Henry Stillman's father survives all his son's attempts to kill him in this hilarious comedy of growing up in mid-century America. Henry's life is packed with outrage and contradiction; he does not make love with his best friend's mother because he can't find her vagina, he electrocutes Donna Hasenclever in his home made electric chair until she runs out of quarters, and he provokes the school minister to strangle him in the Memorial Chapel. You will remember Henry Stillman long after you stop laughing.