The title character in Ray despises the smug, tidy view of life. When a "big innocent-faced frat boy in an Izod shirt" nearly kills a wino for loitering in a park, Ray beats up the boy and then heals both wino and frat boy.

Implicit, of course, is Hannah's sympathy for the wino and disdain for the frat boy.

Hannah's social consciousness is never didactic or dogmatic. Many of his characters are completely candid portraits of Southern types. If one of his characters would use a racial epithet like "nigger" or "gook," Hannah has him use it.

As seen through Ray's eyes, the contemporary South is a world of unpredictable violence, as epitomized by a Baptist minister's murdering Sister Hooch. Ray knows that many people are condemned to what he calls "CM — Constant Misery." These are the people towards whom Ray is most caring and...