Jim Dodge (1) (1945–)

I wasn't quite sure what to make of this book until I got the section that describes Fup. Oh my goodness. What beautiful language. I could picture the duck, and more than that, I fell in love with the duck.

Her walk was foolishly graceful, a hunched, toppling waddle that barely managed to sustain itself, a wobble continuously and precariously balanced by her outstretched neck, head swaying like a charmed cobra: a movement somewhere between a clumsy sneak and a hypnotic search. She was show more ungainly, yet effortlessly so; she proceeded at a steady lurch.

The jacket flap compares Dodge to Twain and Tom Robbins (what an odd, but intriquing pairing) and the above quote is very much Tom Robbins.

This book is classified as children's but I don't think so. It has some rough language, and some fairly violent scenes. But maybe I am just a prude in these matters. show less

Thomas Pynchon calls Stone Junction "a celebration of everything that matters." Forgetting for a moment that a blurb from Pynchon is akin to the Pope's personal blessing for many people, it's a fine summation of Stone Junction's many, many endearing qualities. Jim Dodge has penned a rollicking joyride of a story down the backroads and dark alleys of a mythical American landscape that cannot possibly exist, yet should. I'm not a conspiracy nut by any means, but the idea of a semi-legendary show more affiliation of outlaws and magicians that subtly weaves itself through history is so tempting, it's no wonder one edition begins with a warning: "This book is a work of fiction. FICTION. Believe otherwise at your own peril."

Read the rest of the review here. show less

A brief amusing read. Gary Snyder’s blurb states it best as a “nutty novel.” The blurbers who stated “beautiful”, “stupendous”, or “transcendent charm, wisdom” are just blathering nonsense, afraid to say “the emperor has no clothes” about a book presuming to be a philosophical fable. If a fable is a tale about animals with an explicitly stated moral, then, yes, this is a fable. And the oft-repeated moral is “It just ain’t possible to explain some things.”
Having show more read this just before Beryl Markham’s memoir, I was struck by the similarity of the conclusion “I was immortal until I died” with her musing that “Life goes on until Death stops it (p. 107)
2011 review show less

My first encounter with Jim Dodge. I read this about 30 years ago and in effort to clear some bookshelf space I recently decided to read it again before chucking it. But I can't chuck it, because it's wonderful. Very sort book about life and death with its titular Fup Duck not making an appearance until halfway through. "It just ain't possible to explain some things. It's interesting to wonder on them and do some speculation, but the main thing is you have to accept it - take it for what it show more is, and get on with your getting." Another good piece of southern gothic - although it teeters on baroque at times. show less