Every so often, I read a book that is so well written, I become a little afraid
to review it, afraid that my description will be meager, inadequate... and
ultimately embarrassing. So it is with a feeling of unworthiness and trepidation
that I begin this review.

Red Weather is the debut novel of Pauls Toutonghi, a first-generation American
whose amazing writing makes this read more like a memoir than fiction. The story
begins in 1989 as the narrator, Yuri Balodis, a 15-year-old son of Latvian
immigrants, describes life with his parents in a dingy apartment in downtown
Milwaukee. Yuri’s father works as a night janitor for a car dealership, and his
mother works at the library.

Yuri’s parents try to protect him from their oppressive past, never letting him learn Latvian and always telling him how lucky he is to be living in America. “For an apartment similar to this in Riga,” his father would say, “you would have to turn in at least four neighbors to the KGB.” Yuri likes to read, but at his mother’s insistence, he reads in the family room in front of the TV. “In my mom’s eyes,” Yuri explains, “loneliness bread independence, and independence, in Latvia during the Soviet ‘60s, meant nothing but trouble.”

Even though Yuri has been raised in the shadow of communism, it doesn’t stop him from questioning his parents’ political beliefs after he meets and falls in love
with Hannah Graham, the daughter of a socialist professor at Marquette
University. This sets off an ever-thickening plot too detailed to explain in
this review, but I will tell you that it involves stolen cars, first love, the
fall of the Berlin Wall, the proud nature of the Latvian people, and the extreme
measures a parent will take to protect the child he loves.

Its writing and humor make this book stand out. Toutonghi has an impressive
command of the English language. His complex prose flows so effortlessly, it’s a
joy to read. His description of Yuri’s parents and their Latvian-accented
English are easy to imagine. The humor really seeps in when Yuri describes his
father’s verbal skills. At one point, the Balodis family goes to the airport to
pick up cousins from Latvia. There’s a delay at the gate, so Yuri’s father asks,
“What is happening?” To this, Yuri reflects: “Someday, I told myself, I would
gently convince him that there was nothing wrong with the apostrophe.”

There are so many other points where I found myself chuckling, smirking, or –
believe it or not – flat-out laughing. But this story is much deeper than the
humor, and I often found myself reading with a furrowed brow - cringing,
tearing, or gasping aloud. Red Weather is truly an extraordinary book, and I
hope that you give it a chance despite this reviewer’s ramblings.

Review by Beth Golay, May 18, 2006

Editor's Note: Red Weather will be released on May 23rd and is the reading
selection for the July KMUW Literary Feast. Pauls Toutonghi will be at Watermark
for a 7:00 p.m. reading and signing on Tuesday, June 20, 2006. Reply to this
e-mail to reserve your copy.