The Rooster Trapped in the Reptile Room: A Barry Gifford Reader

by Barry Gifford, Andrei Codrescu (Foreword), Thomas A. McCarthy (Editor)

"Everything I have to say about race and religion and politics is in the novels," declares Barry Gifford. The Rooster Trapped in the Reptile Room gathers generous portions of all thirteen novels and novellas, as well as first-person essays, generous helpings of poetry, journalism, and a new interview with the author. The broad contours of an episodic output emerge—a full-length view of the freaks and freakish incidents that populate Gifford’s unique human comedy. A world, as Lula, the author’s favorite of all his characters, reflects, "wild at heart and weird on top."
The Rooster Trapped in the Reptile Room provides essential reading for anyone after the soul of American writing.

480 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

Barry Gifford is an American author, poet, and screenwriter known for his distinctive mix of American landscapes and film noir- and Beat Generation-influenced literary madness.

He is described by Patrick Beach as being "like if John Updike had an evil twin that grew up on the wrong side of the tracks and wrote funny..."He is best known for his series of novels about Sailor and Lula, two sex-driven, star-crossed protagonists on the road. The first of the series, Wild at Heart, was adapted by director David Lynch for the 1990 film of the same title. Gifford went on to write the screenplay for Lost Highway with Lynch. Much of Gifford's work is nonfiction.

Reviews

[Elliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

He did write "Wild At Heart" for David Lynch so definitely deserves credit for that.

[Joe Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a big fan of Gifford's poetry. But the rest of his writing in here is great.