Flim-Flam Man Yarns and Other Cape Fear Stories

by Guy Owen

203 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1980

Reviews

[Haritha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this wonderful collection of short stories all based around Cape Fear and North Carolina. The book contains four sets of short stories including Cape Fear country yarns, the adventures of Mordecai Jones, the "Flim-Flam Man" and his sidekick Curley, melancholy tales from the tobacco fields of North Carolina in depression era and concluding with a poignant fantasy tales which were truly a lagniappe indeed. It was a lot of fun when local names kept popping up in the stories- even Hillsborough Street and North Carolina State University (NCSU) are mentioned.

I highly recommend Guy Owen's work, especially to NCSU students and everyone from North Carolina. Fun fact- Guy Owen studied at UNC Chapel Hill and worked at NCSU. I will definitely be on the lookout for his full length novels and more short story collections.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its the odd collection where the "Other Stories" are more entertaining than the titular material, but that is certainly the case here. None of the Flim-Flam material is remarkable, most of it having been either recycled from or cannibalized in the Flim-Flam novel (without individual publication dates handy I can't say for sure which); the other short stories are fantastic, particularly the unexpected final few that were forays into supernatural horror.