Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

The Watermelon King

3.39 of 5 stars 3.39 · rating details · 421 ratings · 53 reviews

An endearing, often outrageous blend of fable, tall tale, and page-turner, The Watermelon King brings readers to Ashland, Alabama -- the fictional town immortalized in Daniel Wallace's Big Fish -- whose reputation is based on the long-ago abundance of watermelons. Thomas Rider knows almost nothing about his parents, only that his mother died the day he was born in Ashland....more

Paperback, 240 pages

Published November 14th 2003 by Mariner Books (first published February 26th 2003)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Food on the Cover

86th out of 335 books — 218 voters

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells

Quirky Southern Fiction

215th out of 317 books — 512 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 676)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Dec 28, 2012 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

My CurledUp review: While the city of Ashland, Alabama, exists in the real world (it is seat of Clay County with a 2000 census population of 1,965), Daniel Wallace has been fictionalizing it and its people since his first novel, Big Fish. Providing as much a sense of place and background as William Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County, Ashland is a small-town suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, where folks either get out or die trying. In Wallace’s third and most recent novel, The Watermelon King, readers...more My CurledUp review: While the city of Ashland, Alabama, exists in the real world (it is seat of Clay County with a 2000 census population of 1,965), Daniel Wallace has been fictionalizing it and its people since his first novel, Big Fish. Providing as much a sense of place and background as William Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County, Ashland is a small-town suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, where folks either get out or die trying. In Wallace’s third and most recent novel, The Watermelon King, readers are invited back to Ashland for a new adventure of mythological proportion.

Divided into four distinct sections, The Watermelon King begins with our hero, eighteen-year-old Thomas Rider, setting out on the ultimate quest in search of the details of the life and death of his mother, Lucy, in the hopes that he will find out who she was and who he is. While not a terribly original premise, one mustn’t be discouraged. Wallace is becoming a master of modern-day mythology, and while the novel is a journey of discovery, there is plenty of symbolism and diversion to maintain one’s interest.

Thomas’ voice appears at first as an almost omniscient Greek chorus where our only real knowledge of him is as the recorder of each townsperson’s story. From the local innkeeper, realtor, festival committee chair, carpenter, and pharmacist to the town widow, negro, and idiot, the majority of the town’s and Lucy’s past as well as Thomas’ beginning is discovered, and the varied personalities are established.

Part Two brings the reader reminisces of Thomas’ childhood and is most like Big Fish, relying on the father/son (or in this case the grandfather/grandson) bond and on oral storytelling traditions. Some of the interactions between Thomas and his grandfather parallel imagery and symbolism in Wallace’s previous novels including Thomas’ grandfather’s tendency to stretch the truth a bit and a story about Thomas’ ability to communicate with the natural world and an extraordinary comfort level underwater. Wallace also details visits to a neighbor who traditionally gives Thomas a lucky dime as a Christmas gift, which shadows a different grandfather’s lucky penny found in Wallace’s second novel, Ray in Reverse. Both parallels serve as foundations in Wallace’s carefully constructed town of Ashland, where lucky coins symbolize the willingness and innocence of a child’s trust and faith in his loved ones, while stories of people moving easily between the human world and the natural world mirror old Greek stories where mortals are sometimes given the ability to walk among the gods.

As Thomas matures he begins to tire of his grandfather’s elaborate responses to every question Thomas asks about who he is and who his mother was. Thomas realizes, along with the reader, that although his grandfather has defined himself by his stories, it has also been his sole means of avoiding the bare truth. Thomas is forced to watch this tragic flaw become his grandfather’s demise:

“Because he was not made out of flesh and blood: he was made up mostly of stories, a high-wire act of a life balanced on the suspension of disbelief, and as he became deprived of his stories he actually seemed to shrink.”

Part Three thrusts the reader back into present-day Ashland, where the Watermelon Festival is getting under way. The festival, in which a virginal Watermelon King is chosen to sacrifice his virginity to ensure the fertility of the town’s soil and a healthy watermelon crop, bares resemblance to Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”. Followed by a plethora of folklore, mythology, and biblical symbolism, the reader is lead down the path towards surprising, albeit somewhat open-ended, conclusions. Wallace’s use of biblical symbolism as we watch Thomas, the prodigal son, turn into a savior - complete with a last supper - and symbolic crucifixion contrasts with the heavily weighted symbolic comparisons of Lucy as a Greek goddess or an otherworldly siren whose Electra complex causes a swift fall and return the harsh realities of mortality.

Wallace’s multi-layered story unfolds as slowly and seamlessly as the petals of a flower and is immensely pleasurable to read. His foundation for Ashland is solidified in The Watermelon King, and fans of his work are surely looking forward to the next development in a world that is both recognizable and yet fantastic.(less)

like · see review

Oct 16, 2009 Courtney rated it 3 of 5 stars

Written by the same author who did Big Fish. I didn't like that movie, as I found it a tad too surreal for my tastes, and thus would probably never have picked this similarly surreal book up without my book club's invitation. Furthermore, there were several times throughout the reading when I wondered if the book warranted my continued attention due to it containing a smattering of objectionable language and a theme of examining sexuality in small town culture. But after finishing the story and...more

like · see review

Jun 26, 2010 Snotchocheez rated it 3 of 5 stars

Stylistic indulgences and a really strange, rushed ending almost killed this dreamy fable/fairy tale of life in a small town in Alabama for me. But not quite. I am convinced that Mr. Wallace has got the "chops" to tell an amazing story (although at this time I've still yet to read "Big Fish"). "The Watermelon King" packs in a scant 225 pages quite a punch. Wallace transports us to a surreal fictional Ashland, Alabama in the not too distant past, a town with a ritual Watermelon Festival that doub...more

like · see review

Apr 11, 2013 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. My impression of this book is mixed, but I did not like where the story ended. I don't know if I was rushing through it, but the pacing was great at the beginning. Wallace expertly unfolded stories within stories, letting the reader come to understand Lucy Rider, the main figure of this novel. Her son has come to the small town she died in (as a result of giving birth to him), and he's trying to find out about her and about himself. Each townsperson featured tells his or her part of the story, a...more

like · see review

Oct 21, 2012 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Since I love the movie "Big Fish", I decided to read something by this author. "Watermelon King" starts out five big stars. We learn about Lucy Rider 19 years after her death through a series of interviews by her son, now 18 years old. There are several underlying stories of this twisted small town. Relationships are based sometimes on real feelings, sometimes on fantasy. The middle section of the book shows us the son's childhood, growing up with his mother's friend and his grandfather. The gra...more

like · see review

Mar 30, 2009 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: everything

I really enjoyed Big Fish so I was very interested in checking out another Daniel Wallace book. The Watermelon King did not disappoint. It had more than a few similarities to Big Fish (at least in tone and in a couple of the characters) and it blended mythology, tall tales and a search for reality and identity in a very engaging way.

The way the author structured the book, first as a series of short interviews reconstructing the events that lead to Thomas' birth, then with his own story of how a...more

like · see review

Sep 26, 2012 Danielle Raub rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Nothing truly captures the American spirit like a down-home southern helping of watermelon with a side of virgin sacrifice. Daniel Wallace’s The Watermelon King revisits the fictional town of Ashland, Alabama, the setting for his novel Big Fish and seriously the most magical realism-charged town since Márquez's Macondo. If you’ve never read One Hundred Years of Solitude, shame on you. I hope ants carry you away and devour you. You probably don’t get that reference which only further proves the d...more

like · see review

Nov 27, 2010 abo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

Ashland, in Alabama (già citata in "Big fish", romanzo di Wallace da cui è stato tratto il film omonimo), è una cittadina tutto sommato anonima, che può però contare su un primato indiscutibile: essere il paese in cui crescono i cocomeri più grossi del mondo.
Nessuno sa con precisione perché questo accada, ma tutti i cittadini sanno bene come fare perché il prodigio continui. Ogni anno ad Ashland si organizza il tradizionale Festival dei cocomeri, durante il quale si incorona il re dei cocomeri,...more Ashland, in Alabama (già citata in "Big fish", romanzo di Wallace da cui è stato tratto il film omonimo), è una cittadina tutto sommato anonima, che può però contare su un primato indiscutibile: essere il paese in cui crescono i cocomeri più grossi del mondo.
Nessuno sa con precisione perché questo accada, ma tutti i cittadini sanno bene come fare perché il prodigio continui. Ogni anno ad Ashland si organizza il tradizionale Festival dei cocomeri, durante il quale si incorona il re dei cocomeri, scelto dai concittadini tra i giovani del posto. Dopo aver partecipato alla parata con un mezzo cocomero a fargli da corona e un traliccio secco come scettro, il compito del re consiste nel perdere la verginità in pubblico. Il suo seme simboleggia il seme dei cocomeri, il ventre della ragazza con cui si accoppia è l’immagine della terra, prodiga di frutti.
Ogni anno un nuovo re viene incoronato, ogni anno, grazie al rito di fertilità che conclude il Festival, i cocomeri di Ashland sono più grossi e sugosi dell’anno prima. C’è però qualcosa di violento e forzato nell’essere Re, un imbarazzo che segna per tutta la vita. Una volta che si è scelti non c’è modo di tirarsi indietro, e ogni giovane del posto papabile per il ruolo di Re sente su di sé una responsabilità opprimente.
Un giorno ad Ashland giunge Lucy Rider, giovane donna splendida e disinibita. Il suo arrivo colpisce la comunità come una scossa elettrica, e non c’è uomo, giovane o vecchio che sia, a non venire scombussolato da una tempesta ormonale ogni volta che la vede.
Lucy rompe gli schemi, si intrattiene con i braccianti di colore, ed è l’unica a trattare con affetto Iggy, lo scemo del villaggio. Il suo fascino però è malvisto, e le attira invidie e gelosie.
E quando Iggy viene scelto per essere il nuovo re dei cocomeri, Lucy si mette in mezzo, dichiarando di aver fatto sesso con lui e di essere incinta. Iggy non essendo vergine non potrà essere incoronato, e senza un re dei cocomeri il Festival non si potrà organizzare.
Il raccolto inizia così a marcire, i cocomeri nascono piccoli, e Ashland perde per sempre il suo primato.
Diciotto anni dopo gli eventi sin qui narrati, ad Ashland arriva un ragazzo di nome Thomas. È il figlio di Lucy, deciso a scoprire qualcosa sulla madre che non ha mai conosciuto, e ad appurare una volta per tutte l’identità del padre.
Inizia a intervistare gli abitanti, che si dimostrano bendisposti a raccontare quel che ricordano, a tratti anche pentiti del trattamento che riservarono alla madre del ragazzo. In molti millantano frequentazioni intime con Lucy, suggerendo che potrebbero essere loro stessi il padre di Thomas. Nel villaggio, intanto, a qualcuno viene in mente che forse è il momento di riportare il Festival dei cocomeri ai fasti del passato.
Delle tre parti che compongono il romanzo, a lasciare maggiormente il segno è a mio avviso la prima, in cui ogni capitolo è affidato a turno a un abitante di Ashland, che racconta a Thomas qualcosa su sua madre. Senza dialoghi, con uno stile che vorrebbe riprodurre quanto più fedelmente l’oralità, il passato di Ashland prende lentamente forma. Ogni racconto è una pennellata che contribuisce alla creazione di un paesaggio fatto di luci ed ombre. Le voci degli abitanti, pur non sono eccessivamente caratterizzate (con l’eccezione di quella di Iggy), si lasciano leggere volentieri, ed esplorano in maniera interessante le dinamiche, spesso crudeli, della vita di paese.
La seconda e la terza parte, in cui rispettivamente si scopre il passato di Thomas, e quello che gli accadrà dopo l’arrivo ad Ashland, non posseggono lo stesso fascino della prima, risultando a tratti un po’ scontate.
Non ho letto "Big fish", di cui però ho adorato l’adattamento cinematografico. La mia impressione è rispetto ad esso questo "Il re dei cocomeri" sia frutto di minor ispirazione. Lo stile di scrittura è buono ma non esaltante, a testimonianza del fatto Wallace sia un ottimo affabulatore, che preferisce di gran lunga il “cosa” viene raccontato al “come”.
In definitiva, pur senza poter essere definito un capolavoro, "Il re dei cocomeri" è una lettura piacevole.
Niente di più, niente di meno.

http://mondobalordo.wordpress.com (less)

like · see review

Jun 10, 2008 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

If I were to write one of those cheesy quotes for the front of books, my quote for The Watermelon King would be "Storytelling as storytelling should be!"

I picked up this book thanks to a suggestion on Things Mean A Lot, a book blog I've been checking out lately. The blogger there had nothing but good things to say about Daniel Wallace's writing and storytelling ability. And with such a glowing review how could I resist?

One of the actual cheesy quotes on the back of this book compared Wallace to...more If I were to write one of those cheesy quotes for the front of books, my quote for The Watermelon King would be "Storytelling as storytelling should be!"

I picked up this book thanks to a suggestion on Things Mean A Lot, a book blog I've been checking out lately. The blogger there had nothing but good things to say about Daniel Wallace's writing and storytelling ability. And with such a glowing review how could I resist?

One of the actual cheesy quotes on the back of this book compared Wallace to Roald Dahl and I have to say I agree. I grew up reading Roald Dahl and loving the obvious imagination he put into his books. It's obvious Daniel Wallace has the same big imagination.

The Watermelon King plays out in Ashland, Ala., the world's biggest watermelon patch. However, after the arrival of one Lucy Rider and her desire to stop the archaic practice of naming a watermelon king, the watermelons stopped growing in Ashland. See, the problem Lucy had with the town naming a watermelon king was that it was based on a legend that went something like this:

The fertility of our land and the fertility of our people have always been intertwined. Fertility to us is everything. And so it has been our belief that no boy shall reach manhood with his virginity intact. If this were to happen, the land would dry up and we would have no more watermelons. So each year at the watermelon festival the oldest male virgin in town is chosen as the watermelon king. He goes out to a field where he is greeted by three females who take a handful of watermelon seeds from a bag. Whichever girl ends up with the golden seed is the one he sleeps with that night.

But Lucy Rider, new to their town, will have none of that, so when the king is picked that year, she says she's had sex with him and she' pregnant with his child. Within the week all of the watermelon field in town wither up and die.

The ensuing story is told by her son, who comes to the town to learn about his mother and hopefully find out who his real father is, which could be difficult considering every man in town is keen on taking credit for the deed. This book is fairly short and so fun I'd recommend it to just about anyone.(less)

like · see review

Jul 25, 2012 C.E. rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book. Really, I did. Ultimately though, I never connected to what I'm sure Wallace wanted me to see as a bunch of quirky, colorful characters and what I think is intended as some sort of magical realism/modern day fairy tale. In the end, although there are moments, I found it dull--not in the "I can't stand to read this book" so much as the "I just finished this book and I'm already forgetting it existed" sense. Well written and original,just not particularly memorable.

like · see review

Aug 13, 2009 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

This is one effed up little tall tale, right here. It's tricky because it's kind of predictable, except the one thing that is totally not predictable. I gasped out loud when that thing happened, and read the next three pages with my mouth hanging open. (I know, because my sister was sitting beside me and she said, "You gasped out loud and now you're reading with your mouth hanging open.")

I really enjoyed this book. But then, I've always had a soft spot for the village idiot.

like · see review

Apr 01, 2010 Zoidberg rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book started really strong. Having the characters speak to me and tell me little bits of the mystery of the Watermelon King and what happened to the main character's mother made me want to keep reading. The mystery is quite surreal, but The Watermelon King is quite a good story if you enjoy the unexpected, along with rich characters and a good mystery.

like · see review

Nov 12, 2010 Ryan Major rated it 3 of 5 stars

Daniel Wallace is a great writer for the common man but this entry leaves me a bit puzzled as to what to do with the story I've just read. While the characters are engaging, the ritual that the book is based around is almost so puzzling it is hard to accept that this story takes place in Mr. Wallace's usually tangible world.

like · see review

Dec 19, 2012 Lora rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, humor, speculative-fiction

What a strange book! So, there's this town in Alabama that grew the best watermelons in the world, until 19 years ago when the Watermelon Festival was ruined because there was no king.

Now, though, things may be changing back.

The whole thing is sad and weird and funky and bizarre. But good.

like · see review

Oct 20, 2010 Alex rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very different. Liked the movie Big Fish so I bougt this book YEARS ago. Finally got to it and it wasn't what I expected. Good thing I waited because the theme is something I probably wouldnt have been ready for until now. very adult. somewhat funny and somewhat disturbing. overall a quick easy read.

like · see review

Sep 14, 2011 Kathy rated it 2 of 5 stars

I loved the movie Big Fish so I read another one of Daniel Wallace's books. It had the same style as Big Fish but I did not like the end of this book. It is a quick read and it has interesting characters but the end made me give it two stars instead of more.

like · see review

Dec 08, 2009 Emily rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: gen-fiction

Magical realism that didn't seem very magical to me. I read it because I got it free when I worked at Houghton Mifflin, otherwise I don't think I would have bothered given that I read Big Fish first and wasn't really on the lookout for anything else by the author.

like · see review

Feb 11, 2013 Jules rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm not quite sure what to say about this book. It's a bizarre combination of really strong emotions (both good and bad), and really crazy people and situations. I guess that's supposed to be part of its' charm, but it just left me feeling unsettled.

like · see review

Jul 27, 2011 Alexis Vélez rated it 3 of 5 stars

Novela del autor de la película Big Fish. Un libro extraño, fácil de leer y entretenido. Si te gusto la película Big Fish, te va a gustar ésta novela ya que vas a encontrar muchos temas parecidos y fantasiosos.

like · see review

Feb 18, 2009 DT rated it 1 of 5 stars

This would have been way more interesting if there was a single likeable character or if every "surprise" plot twist didn't loudly proclaim "HEY! YOU THERE! I'M A SURPRISE PLOT TWIST COMING IN 20 PAGES!"

like · see review

Feb 07, 2013 Megan Vanwagoner rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own

Not as compelling as his other novels, but not a total wash. His style of storytelling is right up my alley. Different perspectives, odd characters and urban legend.

like · see review

Jan 09, 2008 Tung rated it 1 of 5 stars

The third of Daniel Wallace’s published works, and I only read it out of a sense of completion since I’d read the other two Wallace works. In this book, Wallace’s desire to be creative is overwhelmed by his lack of talent as a writer. The story is about a man returning to his grandfather’s and mother’s backwoods Southern hometown and trying to unravel the mystery of their past. The watermelon festival is a town tradition integral to the story. The plot is ridiculous, the characters unsympathetic...more

like · see review

Jul 12, 2009 Diane added it

From the author of Big Fish. The book was a quick, quirky fun read, but did not like the ending. It sort of leaves the reader hanging or wondering what?

like · see review

Apr 27, 2011 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-stack

weird - good but kind of weird. I did like that the ending was not what was expected but I was surprised that it was so easy...

like · see review

Sep 16, 2012 Marian rated it 2 of 5 stars

The character studies at the beginning really had me hooked, but the ending was too ridiculous. Totally lost me.

like · see review

Mar 13, 2011 Ashley Randall rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: peace-corps-reads

There are a few aspects of this book that are a little weird and off putting, but it was a good read.

like · see review

Jan 10, 2011 Jaime rated it 2 of 5 stars

weird book. It's buy the guy who wrote Big Fish.

like · see review

Dec 19, 2007 Christie rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: myth lovers who like bizarre fiction

this is one of the strangest and most unique tales ever. set in the south - told from multiple points of view, as is typical for Wallace - and a host of eccentric characters. in short, it is a tale of a boy searching for the answers about his mother - this journey takes him south to an odd town looking to rejuvenate their ancient harvest/fertility ritual and sagging economy. the mother plays a significant role in the tale - everyone who met her was in love with her. A definite must-read. Tim Bur...more

like · see review

Nov 25, 2012 Ficie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Immagino il romanzo volesse essere southern gothic (la piccola cittadina con un mistero, i personaggi particolari). Risulta invece banale e pure un po' pretenzioso.

like · see review

Jan 23, 2011 Debbie rated it 1 of 5 stars

Odd, unsettling, and unsatisfying....

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 22 23 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (6)

More editions...

Genres

Fantasy

5 users

Contemporary

4 users

Adult

2 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Daniel Wallace

Daniel Wallace is author of four novels, including Big Fish (1998), Ray in Reverse (2000), The Watermelon King (2003) and most recently Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician (2007).

He has written one book for children, Elynora, and in 2008 it was published in Italy, with illustrations by Daniela Tordi. O Great Rosenfeld!, the only book both written and illustrated by the author, has been released i...more

More about Daniel Wallace...

Books by Daniel Wallace

The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About The Watermelon King

No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Quotes from The Watermelon King

“There are those rare people who function like human magnets, who are individually so attractive – or repellent, depending on the situation – that a considerable amount more seems to happen to them, and likewise, their presence in a certain place makes more seem to happen around them. They’re magical people. They have special power.” — 2 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: The Watermelon King
avg rating	preview: The Watermelon King Goodreads rating: 3.39 (421 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27443.The_Watermelon_King?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347422878l/27443.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27443.The_Watermelon_King?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Watermelon King by Daniel Wallace[/url]

The Watermelon King

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website