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Joyleg
Berkley Medallion, 1973. Mass market paperback. Originally serialized in "Fantastic Stories of Imagination," March and April 1962. Amusing novel of a man living deep in Appalachia, made immortal by a special brew he concocts.
191 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
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About the author
Avram Davidson
431 books94 followersAvram Davidson was an American Jewish writer of fantasy fiction, science fiction, and crime fiction, as well as the author of many stories that do not fit into a genre niche. He won a Hugo Award and three World Fantasy Awards in the science fiction and fantasy genre, a World Fantasy Life Achievement award, and a Queen's Award and an Edgar Award in the mystery genre. Davidson edited The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction from 1962 to 1964. His last novel The Boss in the Wall: A Treatise on the House Devil was completed by Grania Davis and was a Nebula Award finalist in 1998. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says "he is perhaps sf's most explicitly literary author".
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 7, 2024
Joyleg is a collaborative novel by Avram Davidson and Ward Moore that was serialized in Fantastic magazine in 1962 and published in paperback by Pyramid later that year. It's an interesting study of history that examines the State of Franklin, as well as being a current (1962, remember) bit of political and social satire, and it offers some very amusing bits of humor as well. Davidson was a well-known editor (of F&SF magazine) and writer in the field for a long time, and Moore is best now remembered for two novels, Greener Than You Think and Bring the Jubilee. This Pyramid edition features a delightful pair of covers by Ed Emshwiller.
April 2, 2018
Though not ranked among the giants of the “golden age” of science fiction, Ward Moore produced some of the more memorable novels and short stories of the period. Perhaps best known for his seminal alternate history/time travel novella Bring the Jubilee, his tales emphasized humor and character development over scientific detail, and have endured longer than many of those of his contemporaries as a consequence.
Moore’s reputation was hampered by his limited output, with his last two novels written jointly with other authors. This, his second to last novel, was co-authored by Avram Davidson, who was then transitioning from short stories to longer-form work. Though both were excellent writers, the novel they produced reflects upon them both poorly. It’s premise is intriguing enough: provoked by the discovery that an $11 veterans’ pension was being paid out as far back as records allowed, two members of the Tennessee congressional delegation travel to their state’s backwoods to unravel the mystery. Their journey beings them to the cabin of Isachar Joyleg, a veteran of the American Revolution who has lived for over two centuries thanks to daily baths in moonshine. This remarkable discovery ignites a firestorm of curiosity, one that in the end changes the course of history itself.
Such a premise offers no end of interesting possibilities for a storyteller, and while Moore and Davidson do score some of satirical points off of it, their work ultimately suffers from poor plotting and unimaginative twists that squander its promise. After an intriguing buildup, the story follows a by-the-numbers development to its resolution, while the arc of the two main characters is predictable from the moment of their introduction. As a result, the novel fails to live up to the promise created by them names on its cover, with readers better off picking up instead one of the other, far better work, that these authors produced over their respective careers. It may make for enjoyable reading over a lazy afternoon, but in the end it serves as a pale reflection of what these authors were capable.
Moore’s reputation was hampered by his limited output, with his last two novels written jointly with other authors. This, his second to last novel, was co-authored by Avram Davidson, who was then transitioning from short stories to longer-form work. Though both were excellent writers, the novel they produced reflects upon them both poorly. It’s premise is intriguing enough: provoked by the discovery that an $11 veterans’ pension was being paid out as far back as records allowed, two members of the Tennessee congressional delegation travel to their state’s backwoods to unravel the mystery. Their journey beings them to the cabin of Isachar Joyleg, a veteran of the American Revolution who has lived for over two centuries thanks to daily baths in moonshine. This remarkable discovery ignites a firestorm of curiosity, one that in the end changes the course of history itself.
Such a premise offers no end of interesting possibilities for a storyteller, and while Moore and Davidson do score some of satirical points off of it, their work ultimately suffers from poor plotting and unimaginative twists that squander its promise. After an intriguing buildup, the story follows a by-the-numbers development to its resolution, while the arc of the two main characters is predictable from the moment of their introduction. As a result, the novel fails to live up to the promise created by them names on its cover, with readers better off picking up instead one of the other, far better work, that these authors produced over their respective careers. It may make for enjoyable reading over a lazy afternoon, but in the end it serves as a pale reflection of what these authors were capable.
June 15, 2016
Avram Davidson and Ward Moore were highly successful writers of 'pulp' fiction who collaborated to produce Joyleg. It is hard to categorise; is it Science-Fiction? Fantasy? Or something in between? Whatever it is, it is very well written and hugely entertaining. I wont give away the plot as that may spoil your enjoyment, but if you like classic Science-Fiction or Fantasy of the Golden Age you should enjoy this book - recommended!
June 16, 2024
The unearthing of a paltry pension for a war veteran sends two rival congresspeople on a quest either to rescue a forgotten and neglected hero from penury or to expose a ruthless criminal enterprise defrauding the US government. What they find is Joyleg, a veteran of an altogether older war than expected. Joyleg's archaic speech and historical references fill the pages with delightful puncturing of cherished myths, but arguably his accidentally resolving the nuclear standoff between the US and the USSR has aged out in a way the 18th century stuff hasn't, and it's a pity they didn't go all-in on Joyleg's story a la Little Big Man or some other weighty literary tome, rather than focusing on the clash with (then modern) modernity.
October 16, 2022
Ward Moore (1903-1978) is now on my radar. His novel "Joyleg", co-authored with Avram Davidson, is just as educating as it is entertaining. In it I learned about the State of Franklin and enough vocabulary from the 1700s to become a history teacher. There's a lot of text where the lower case "s" is replaced with an "f", to add an aura of authenticity.
Joyleg was published in 1962 and while it focuses on a veteran of the Revolutionary War that survived more than 200 years, it very strongly becomes a novel about the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia. I didn't see it coming, but when it happened, I just had to remind myself that this book was written in the 1960s.
Ward Moore didn't write very much, and according to his Wikipedia entry: "he contributed only infrequently to the field, [but] each of his books became something of a classic."
Joyleg was published in 1962 and while it focuses on a veteran of the Revolutionary War that survived more than 200 years, it very strongly becomes a novel about the Cold War between the U.S. and Russia. I didn't see it coming, but when it happened, I just had to remind myself that this book was written in the 1960s.
Ward Moore didn't write very much, and according to his Wikipedia entry: "he contributed only infrequently to the field, [but] each of his books became something of a classic."
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews