Tall tales

All that were certain is that Big did not have the gift of bridge-building. Of course he has got weaknesses. We are all termited with them.

Pete Beatty, Cuyahoga

Ohio City is a Cleveland neighborhood located just west of the Cuyahoga River. Downtown Cleveland sits on the other side of the river. With that little geography lesson one can better appreciate Cuyahoga, the delightful 2020 novel by former Clevelander Pete Beatty.

Beatty's tall-tale of a novel imagines this area in 1837 when the these two communities are separate towns and bitter rivals. Cleveland is already bigger than Ohio City, the latter's only advantage being that Columbus Road, which brings agricultural goods up from the central part of Ohio, reaches Lake Erie on the west side of the river. But Cleveland plans to build a bridge that will allow wagons to easily get to the Cleveland side. Now things get interesting.

The novel's focus rests on a Paul Bunyan-like Ohio City man named Big Son, who already has built a reputation for his incredible feats. He seems capable of anything — anything, that is, but getting a paying a job and winning the hand of his step-sister, Cloe Inches.

Big's younger brother, Medium Son (called Meed), narrates the story. In many ways more capable than Big — he has a steady job making caskets, for example — he is nevertheless jealous of his brother's exploits. And he is secretly in love with Cloe, too.

Then come a series of attempts to blow up or burn up the Cleveland bridge and a slick, fast-talking new arrival who also has eyes for Cloe. By the end of the story, Big has raced a steamboat up the river and the two towns agree to become one.

Beatty gives Meed a wonderful voice that makes his words fun to read and then reread. Each page in the novel has its own title, and there are several illustrations along the way. It's just a delight from beginning to end.