This is the fifth novel from Richard Yates I’ve read, and although I still have two more to go, I am wondering if Yates is merely a “Two Hit Novel Novelist,” with his greatest homeruns being Revolutionary Road and The Easter Parade. Granted, anyone will tell you that two hits is better than one (or like many fiction writers today: none), but Yates, along with Kazuo Ishiguro and Milan Kundera, seems to have so far achieved two great novels, while the rest of the books by those writers remain near misses.
Having said that, it must be considered that Yates doesn’t have any poorly written novels. They all are, if not great, then at least good. I would rank Disturbing the Peace as his weakest work I’ve read thus far, mainly because the lead character, John Wilder, and the interactions he shares among those close to him not as fleshed out nor are the characters themselves as memorable as those in Yates’ better novels. John Wilder is basically an alcoholic who is suffering from mental problems, and much of the book takes place within an asylum setting. The last book I read that touched upon this subject was Susanna Kaysen’s Girl, Interrupted, and although that is a work of non-fiction and Disturbing the Peace is fiction, this book does not have as memorable a group of characters as those in Kaysen’s book, and there are times the Yates' novel dips into a bit of melodrama.
Yet that is not to say that this book is void of the many Yatesian qualities that define his books as the worthy works they are, containing, as it does, moments of realistic dialogue, bits of insight and subtle exchanges among the characters, and well-structured scenes. These positive qualities in Disturbing the Peace, though, are heavily diluted by the many moments of so-called “insanity” befalling the lead character, as well by his inability to control his alcoholism, coupled with his lack of ambition. In other words, the very things that should have taken a backseat to the narrative are instead thrust upon us. The topics that Yates deals so well with are in fact human failures — lack of drive and ambition, among character weaknesses — all of which are generally accomplished while creating a sympathetic portrait of these individuals. Readers may not like them, but Yates is able to craft them as such that at least readers will come to understand them, and perhaps even empathize with them a bit.
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