This is a little bit better
for Woodrell. Not great, but Give Us A Kiss near the level that The Death of
Sweet Mister was at, which may be in my Top 5 list by the end of the year. It
may be that the moment climbed by that book was so great and so tough to
follow, that everything else I have read of his just stumbles mercilessly on
the steps of mediocrity. It is a silly thing to fall victim to as an
experienced reader, but it was bound to happen. I can imagine myself reading
Tomato Red or Winter’s Bone before The Death of Sweet Mister, and liking it
more than I actually did, but having said that, this novel is not bad by any
means. It is actually more suspenseful than any book I have read of his so far
(including Sweet Mister), and it is also his funniest book for me, filled with
witty. Offbeat characters and Woodrell’s undeniable gift of phrase being put to
really good use here. The main character, Doyle Redmond, is on the road to
being a failed writer when he leaves his wife and cozy academic life to go back
West Table, Missouri (in his wife’s stolen Volvo) to reconnect with his outlaw
brother Smoke who, along with two female friends (one being an aspiring actress
with terrible delusions) develop quite a profitable business of growing
marijuana. Soon, as in most of Woodrell’s books, someone is dead, and that
person’s equally crazy family comes gunning for the Redmond clan. A noir tale
that really shows the depths of family bonds, it may not be the best thing
Woodrell has done, but it is still a really fun and, unless you factor in the
many scenes of violence, harmless book to read.
Rating: 4/5
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