Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
Fup
by
Jim Dodge
In the coastal hills of northern California live three larger-than-life characters: two humans and one duck. There's Grandaddy Jake Santee, 99 years old, an unreformed gambler, cranky reprobate and fierce opponent of the work ethic. And Tiny, adopted at the age of four by Grandaddy Jake, he's a giant young man as gentle as Jake is belligerent. And then there's Fup, an unco...more
Published
(first published 1983)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
This book is not yet featured on Listopia.
Add this book to your favorite list »
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
1,373)
Contrived and overly mannered little fable. I must be missing something, as the Amazon & Goodreads reviews are uniformly raves, and it came highly recommended. But I thought the level of cleverness never rose above naming the main character Fup Duck.
Num primeiro momento achei o comentário absurdo, afinal, como pode um livro (infantil?) ser uma leitura interessante para quem acaba de tirar da cabeceira da cama um Dostoiévski, e que resolveu entrar na leitura do “O Sentimento de Culpa”?
O problema de Fup, essa pequena maravilha de Jim Dodge, é que é realmente embaraçoso lê-lo na frente de alguém. Primeiro porque tem um grande pato verde na capa do livro que eu tenho (edição de 1984, Nova Fronteira), o que lhe dá uma enorme semelhança com capas...more
O problema de Fup, essa pequena maravilha de Jim Dodge, é que é realmente embaraçoso lê-lo na frente de alguém. Primeiro porque tem um grande pato verde na capa do livro que eu tenho (edição de 1984, Nova Fronteira), o que lhe dá uma enorme semelhança com capas...more
Fup is the magical tale about the 6' 2" "Tiny", his 99 year old Grandpa, and their duck - Fup. It is a story about love, loss, and whiskey - ol' Death Whisper, which Grandpa believes is the key to literal immortality. Fup is a fun read and a funny read. There are several parts where I continue to laugh out loud. But it is also a touching tale about the bond between a father (or grandfather) and son.
Dodge has created a somewhat modern fairy tale. Set in my own home of rural Northern California i...more
Dodge has created a somewhat modern fairy tale. Set in my own home of rural Northern California i...more
(This review was first published at www.booksthailand.com)
I can recommend this book for a couple of reasons. Firstly it is short and to the point so even were you to read it and hate it it has only taken up an hour or two of your appointed time on earth.
Secondly it is a crackling good read and quite unique. I'd never heard of Jim Dodge before and all I know know is what the blurb tells me; he lives on an isolated ranch in western Sonoma County. And he can write.
Fup is the story of two men and a...more
I can recommend this book for a couple of reasons. Firstly it is short and to the point so even were you to read it and hate it it has only taken up an hour or two of your appointed time on earth.
Secondly it is a crackling good read and quite unique. I'd never heard of Jim Dodge before and all I know know is what the blurb tells me; he lives on an isolated ranch in western Sonoma County. And he can write.
Fup is the story of two men and a...more
Quando você estiver preparado,
Fup virá até você.
Esse é um livro realmente difícil de encontrar,
imagino que, deixando de lado as brincadeiras,
é mesmo o acaso o único possível responsável pela posse de um desses raros exemplares.
O único volume que já vi pertencia a uma editora desaparecida,
e foi comprado há muito tempo num sebo de Fortaleza.
Entretanto,
isso pouco importa,
os meios, os nomes, os fetiches.
Pois esse é, antes de tudo,
um livro honesto.
Cheio de inteligência, humor, simplicidade e
embora se...more
Fup virá até você.
Esse é um livro realmente difícil de encontrar,
imagino que, deixando de lado as brincadeiras,
é mesmo o acaso o único possível responsável pela posse de um desses raros exemplares.
O único volume que já vi pertencia a uma editora desaparecida,
e foi comprado há muito tempo num sebo de Fortaleza.
Entretanto,
isso pouco importa,
os meios, os nomes, os fetiches.
Pois esse é, antes de tudo,
um livro honesto.
Cheio de inteligência, humor, simplicidade e
embora se...more
2nd from dodge for me...the other his Stone Junction and that recent...there's at least one appearance of a duck in that one and reading through i noted it...but that's all it was...an appearance, maybe some sort of cameo, remember?...like alfred hitchcock used to do? or at least, that was the story i believed.
1983...illustrations copyright 1984 norman green @94 pages w/illustrations...
dedicated: for my father in memoriam
a quote: the temple bell stops.
but the sounds keep coming
out of the flowers...more
1983...illustrations copyright 1984 norman green @94 pages w/illustrations...
dedicated: for my father in memoriam
a quote: the temple bell stops.
but the sounds keep coming
out of the flowers...more
A hilarious little fairytale that is constantly surprising. Lots of practical wisdom is hidden between these lines. Characters: Granddad Jake, who is 99 and convinced he's immortal Grandson Tiny, who is obsessed with building fences Fup, a giant hen mallard, who turns up one day and becomes a mistress of the house. This book will make you laugh, it will make you cry and in the end it will leave you wondering... A delightful read!
Feb 13, 2011
Riikka
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
read-in-2010,
whose-bookcrossing,
a-book,
fiction,
f-novellas,
language-finnish,
rating-4-stars
Pohjois-Kalifornialaisella farmilla asustaa kaksi eriksummallista miestä: 99-vuotias Jake-vaari sekä tämän tyttärenpoika, jättikokoinen Kirppu. Jake-vaari on ikuinen uhkapeluri, joka uskoo elävänsä ikuisesti salaisella intiaanireseptillä tehtyä viskiä juoden. Kirppu puolestaan on ärhäkän isoisänsä vastakohta, hiljainen nuorimies, jonka suurin intohimo on rakentaa loputtomasti aitoja framin ympärille, vaikkei heillä olekaan karjaa. Samalla hän käy sotaa aitoja hajottavaa villisikaa Lukkoleukaa va...more
Easily in my top 3 favorite books I've ever read and likely contender for top spot. Not sure what exactly is required to be in the top 3, but I have read Fup an uncountable amount of times. Also, one of the only books I will ever give the rare rating of 5 stars, 5 stars being reserved for a truly exceptional personal experience.
At 59 pages I'm not sure it counts as a novel and can be read in one sitting. Fup is great for reading when you're down or a little lost. Read it while floating in a pon...more
At 59 pages I'm not sure it counts as a novel and can be read in one sitting. Fup is great for reading when you're down or a little lost. Read it while floating in a pon...more
Fup A Modern Fable by Jim Dodge (www.canongate.net)
For anyone already familiar with Jim Dodges other books Stone Junction or Not Fade Away Fup is a bit of a departure but not much, as this is every bit as readable and in places just as weird as you'd expect.
At just 117 pages is also a very quick and easy book to get through, it is the tale of Fup Duck a bird who was found in a fence post hole where he was being attacked by an Oversized wild Boar known as Lockjaw.
His saviours were Grandpa Jake a...more
For anyone already familiar with Jim Dodges other books Stone Junction or Not Fade Away Fup is a bit of a departure but not much, as this is every bit as readable and in places just as weird as you'd expect.
At just 117 pages is also a very quick and easy book to get through, it is the tale of Fup Duck a bird who was found in a fence post hole where he was being attacked by an Oversized wild Boar known as Lockjaw.
His saviours were Grandpa Jake a...more
I'm so glad I picked this up in the local library. Its such a fascinating little fable, with a fantastical ending. It follows the life of Jake and his grandson Tiny as they live life on their farm, with the aid of their notoriously brewed liquor. With the introduction of their surprising pet Fud the Duck I found myself falling in love with cutesy relationship of the three. Particularly when they sit together at the drive in. I think it has a fairy-tale ending, worthy of children imagination if i...more
Essentially a piece of Southern fiction, Fup mainly takes place during the 99th year of Kentuckian Jake Santee's life--a man who came out to California during the gold rush and stayed. Now he lives with Tiny--his beefy, 22-year-old, fence-building-zealot, mountain-man grandson--and a 20-pound duck named Fup. Yes, Fup Duck. Decades ago Jake was given, by a stabbed-and-left-for-dead Indian, the recipe for Ol' Death Whisper, the whiskey of immortals. And everybody under his roof drinks it daily: Ja...more
I knew I would give this four stars, but had to let it settle with Me a minute before finally deciding on five. A very well written, poignant story of an old man's love for his grandson, and a mallard duck who becomes a part of their family. I'd heard from others that they were moved to tears by the story, and I can see why some might be. It didn't get Me quite to that point, but the fact that I'm still thinking on the story a day after completing it suggests that it had a definite impact. There...more
A fantastic little gem of a book about two men and a duck in the American west. Jim Dodge is the king of modern-day rock and roll tall tales.
Adam Cook brought me this brilliant little book as a gift to read in hospital. I would have loved it anyway, but as a gift it was the most thoughtful idea. I'd not come across the book before even though it was published in the 80s. It is beautifully written - such delightful language and spare, wry humour. Fup is a duck and he lives with his rescuer, Tiny (6'5"), and Tiny's 99-year-old moonshiner grand daddy on acres in the Pacific NorthWest. And that tells you nothing at all because the deligh...more
A short fable, immaculately designed and packaged, with illustrations from legend Harry Horse. It's not particularly compelling until the oversized duck Fup turns up, and at 100 short pages, it reads like a whimsical McSweeney's story.
However, in the interest of full disclosure I should explain I am a heartless swine, and magical ducks and grandpas do not break my heart, no matter who dies at the end. And "Jim Dodge" is what I called bunking off Physical Ed lessons in school. Fact.
However, in the interest of full disclosure I should explain I am a heartless swine, and magical ducks and grandpas do not break my heart, no matter who dies at the end. And "Jim Dodge" is what I called bunking off Physical Ed lessons in school. Fact.
Sep 22, 2007
Reger "Muddy" Dipling
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
absolute-personal-favorite
Marvellous, short, unmissable.
2 likes · like · see review
It had that manic humor of the era, sort of Cowgirls-get-the-bluesy brashness and a willingness to be ridiculous, that made me nostalgic for that time, and made me wonder about how dated some books feel compared with others. Somehow some books manage to be both rooted in their times and to also feel contemporary in their approach to language. This isn't one of them. Maybe humor is something that dates a book sooner? But, "Candide" had me laughing out loud.
So now I end this review, in a blather...more
So now I end this review, in a blather...more
The only reason I gave "Fup" four stars instead of five is because I wanted the story to continue; to keep me captivated and in a state of refined glee. Ha. I loved it. Loved it enough that I now have a resentment toward Mr. Dodge for not making this great novella into a full length novel. But to be completely honest also, I'm not sure the story would have been up to it. Sometimes the characters are so well developed that there is no room for a solid plot in its traditional form. This may e one...more
I am going to re-read this book. I read it over a decade ago for a class on pre-Columbian Anthropology. It was great in the context of the class, which doesn't mean it had anything to do with Southern or Central American pre-history. Instead it was the symbolism of the book that created the relevance. I may not have gotten into the book except for the fact that the professor had a great story of exploring the meaning of the ending. If they ever publish another edition it should be added as an af...more
El subtítulo de “JOP” no es otro que “Una Fábula Moderna“, tal y como se encarga de puntualizar Antonio Jimenez Morato en el acertadísimo prólogo de la obra. Y si por “fábula” entendemos ese típico relato protagonizado por animales personificados que se ha cultivado desde Esopo hasta Richard Adams (¿es “La Colina de Watership” la última gran fábula de la historia de la literatura?), está claro que el adjetivo “moderna” (en el buen sentido de la palabra) es necesario para entender un libro como e...more
The blurb at the back of Fup, a novella by Jim Dodge, says: "Fup is a contemporary fable that inspires an almost evangelical fervour in all those who read it." I've read it – it was one of my Xmas presents – and I'm still waiting for that "evangelical fervour" to hit me. I guess I've missed the boat. It's not that I didn't like the book because I did like the book but I'm not a fervid individual at the best of times so maybe it's simply me.
The problem with the book is its ending. The first 106½...more
The problem with the book is its ending. The first 106½...more
I bought and read Fup after the book's title caught my eye at a used bookstore.
This is a funny, meander-y, and occasionally bawdy short novel about four unlikely characters:
1) FUP, an obese (thus flightless) female duck who communicates in quacks, hisses, and pecks. She loves to eat, eat, eat! Her name is a play on words: Fup duck / fucked up.
2) JAKE SANTEE, a wily and lucky old gambler (and sex fiend) who spends his retirement decades fine-tuning a "whiskey of immortality" recipe that was given...more
This is a funny, meander-y, and occasionally bawdy short novel about four unlikely characters:
1) FUP, an obese (thus flightless) female duck who communicates in quacks, hisses, and pecks. She loves to eat, eat, eat! Her name is a play on words: Fup duck / fucked up.
2) JAKE SANTEE, a wily and lucky old gambler (and sex fiend) who spends his retirement decades fine-tuning a "whiskey of immortality" recipe that was given...more
Lord love a duck!! This book is so cute, so funny, so brash, and so lovely. I cried and I dare you not to cry at SOME point throughout this book.
This is also an example of why I can't wait to get to 50 books in my goodreads collection so I can start adding cover art and additional editions. The artwork in the copy I borrowed from my super nice friend is much more appropriate, in my mind. Anyway, read it! It will inspire fondness in the coldest of hearts.
This is also an example of why I can't wait to get to 50 books in my goodreads collection so I can start adding cover art and additional editions. The artwork in the copy I borrowed from my super nice friend is much more appropriate, in my mind. Anyway, read it! It will inspire fondness in the coldest of hearts.
I'm a little startled by the rave reviews this book received both here and on Amazon. I knew from the very frist page that this was not my kind of book. I did not connect with the characters and found the narrative a little hard to swallow. No idea what was going on, aside from a grandfather who liked whiskey, far too much of a a family history, a grandson who likes to build fences and a fat duck.
Though I will give it this - between the drivel, there were a few lovely little lines about life.
Though I will give it this - between the drivel, there were a few lovely little lines about life.
Thank you Theo for reviewing this book and thus recommending it to me!
It is a very short book, but exquisitly written. The story is about a rough old granddaddy hick and his grandson and what happens when they adopt a very assertive duckling called Fup Duck.
That really does not tell you what the book is like though. The book is evocative, emotional, humerous and ... fupped-uck.
The ending is a bit odd. But I'll forgive it that.
It is a very short book, but exquisitly written. The story is about a rough old granddaddy hick and his grandson and what happens when they adopt a very assertive duckling called Fup Duck.
That really does not tell you what the book is like though. The book is evocative, emotional, humerous and ... fupped-uck.
The ending is a bit odd. But I'll forgive it that.
I really enjoyed Jim Dodge's style of writing in this short little book. The opening few paragraphs had me hooked, and there were plenty of lines that I highlighted so I could go back and read them again. I was a little disappointed with then ending of the story, it felt a little unsatisfying and like needless deus ex machina, but I guess the ambiguity of this (and other parts of the book) is what allows people to read into this fable what they will.
You've gotta love Jim Dodge. He writes larger-than-life yarns full of hard liquor, gambling, promiscuity, folklore, and untamed spirit. He also writes about loss, but loss as a part of life, as another mile on the road to getting somewhere. And whether you buy into that yourself or not, and I don't, I challenge anyone not to enjoy the journey. The way he writes is the way it ought to be...
Jul 19, 2012
Sarah Sammis
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
pc,
read-in-2006
What an odd book. The north bay aspect of the story was interesting. Given the themes and language of this book, I wouldn't consider it a children's book--maybe a young adult book but certainly not a children's book. I'm glad the book was not much more than a novella because I'm not sure Dodge would have had enough to stretch this story into something longer.
Quirky modern fairy tale/fable. Great escapism for the long monthly session at the hairdressers!! Loved the characters with all their faults and foibles - we can just accept them as they are and enjoy their focus on life - well, maybe not too much focus after too much Ol' Death! The animals just completed the unorthadox family. Had me chortling under my foils ! Not sure I get the ending though - will let you know after my Book Group meeting!
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The ending!?! (spoilers!) | 1 | 3 | Jun 01, 2013 05:18pm |
Jim Dodge is an American novelist and poet whose works combine themes of folklore and fantasy, set in a timeless present. He has published three novels, Fup, Not Fade Away and Stone Junction and a collection of poetry and prose, Rain on the River. Dodge was born in 1945 and grew up as an Air Force brat. As an adult he spent many years living on an almost self-sufficient commune in West Sonoma Coun...more
More about Jim Dodge...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
“...I don't rightly know. It just ain't possible to explain some things, maybe even most 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 is, and get on with your getting." (91)”
—
9 people liked it
“He wasn't the least bit disturbed that his intuition was wrong: intuition often missed, sometimes spectacularly, but when it connected it saved so much time that the spirit leaped forward ... and, of course, there was no use denying the basic human delight in being right the first time.”
—
5 people liked it
More quotes…
Feb 03, 2010 02:45pm