Truth or Consequences: Improbable Adventures, a Near-Death Experience, and Unexpected Redemption in the New Mexico Desert

Review of a memoir by Daniel Asa Rose, published by High Road Press, an imprint of the University of New Mexico Press, 2023; 296 pages

Truth or Consequences is full of junkyards, ragtag motels, drunk drivers, meth heads, miscreants and malingerers. That was Daniel Asa Rose’s impression when he first arrived in 1970 on a cross-country trip during a college break with his childhood buddy Tony. In fact, they pulled off the Interstate because they thought they might find a U-joint for their old car in one of the many junkyards. But as they neared downtown on Broadway, they were blindsided by a car exiting Austin Street. Daniel, who had just unbuckled his safety belt, was thrown free. Before he blacked out, he recalled a beautiful blue-eyed blonde with a halo like an angel hovering over him, assuring him he would be OK. 

Indeed, Daniel and Tony would recover, return to Connecticut, finish college, pursue careers (Daniel writes memoirs, novels and magazine articles), acquire families and become grown-up baby boomers. Then in 2010, as Daniel’s marriage broke up, Tony convinced him to return to TorC to look for the mysterious woman who had comforted him 40 years earlier. I was intrigued by the account of the search through public records, newspaper files and aging witnesses, encountering dead ends, fading memories and often more new questions than answers. But they eventually broke through. I won’t spoil it for you, but suffice it to say the “angel” was anything but. She had caused the crash — the latest in a string of drunk-driving incidents. Her “halo” was a neck brace from a previous wreck.

The search leads through a series of eccentric and surprisingly wise characters — the transexual ER doctor, the amateur historian and the fallen angel’s son whose forgiveness, humility and love for his own children help Daniel face up to his situation. Before he returns to Connecticut, he returns the favor by getting the son’s wife qualified for disability benefits. Most of the names are fake to avoid hurting feelings and courting lawsuits. But locals will recognize many characters, so this memoir can be read as a roman á clef. I immediately recognized the “tiny and fierce” newspaper editor. But I’m still trying to figure out the model for the magisterial physician called “the King.” Longtime locals also will get a kick out of former landmarks that show up in the narrative — the Pine Knot Saloon and the bait house on the road to Caballo. Daniel does most of his legwork on a bicycle. 

I was reluctant to begin this book because of its subtitle — long-winded, pretentious and heralding something too personal for my taste or the usual fare of UNM Press. But since there had been no mention of the book a year after its publication in the town that is its namesake, despite a laudatory review in the Albuquerque Journal and a brief mention in the Santa Fe New Mexican, I pressed on. I found it generally credible, often funny and usually insightful — along the lines of the Robert Burns poem about seeing ourselves as others do. Daniel Rose manages to weave his personal story with TorC’s history, geography and quirky cultural trivia — like how the town got its name, the turtle atop the mountain and the often well-preserved sidewalks, curbs and gutters stamped with dates from the Roosevelt administration. Not to quibble, but these structures are made of concrete, not asphalt. And Jornada del Muerto translates to Journey of the Dead Man, not Journey of Death.

Rose’s tale runs parallel to what happened to many of us at the end of the 1960s. We left college for nonacademic experiences in places different from our homes. Part of this was the shock of the previous decade and the continuing war in Vietnam. Following the 1969 military-draft lottery, young men with high numbers were not likely to be conscripted, so they no longer needed student deferments and could go on the road. We’ve all got our stories. Somebody should make a movie. “Eddington” (due out in 2025) recently wrapped with a shootout in downtown. Rather than relying on nightmarish cliches, how about using our town to stage Rose’s real-life, non-violent, life-affirming story?

You can get this book through Amazon, Audible and directly from UNM Press ($27.95 hardback, paperback due out in October 2024 for $19.95).