July 2021 - The Shark-Infested Custard

[Melki, Femme fatale]

"Nobody writes a better crime novel," Elmore Leonard, speaking of Willeford.

Charles Willeford was a highly decorated (Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Luxembourg Croix de Guerre) tank commander with the Third Army in World War II. He was also a professional horse trainer, boxer, radio announcer, and painter. Willeford, the author of twenty novels, created the Miami detective series featuring Hoke Moseley, which includes Miami Blues, Sideswipe, The Way We Die Now, and New Hope for the Dead. He died in 1988.

Here are some good articles written about the man if you're interested in reading more:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...

https://crimereads.com/the-life-and-t...

[Christopher]

Oh, hey. I haven't been the most reliable group read participant since.. (checks watch).. Jan 2020 or so..., but this is definitely on my TBR, so count me in.

[Jay]

The first story, “Larry Fuzz-O Dolman,” is similar to one by Carver. Four men discover a woman’s body, but do not report it. Larry, who has police training, is responsible for the cover up. She had OD’ed, for which they are not responsible. But the lifestyle that includes guns, self-protection, and erotic fantasies is Willeford’s real subject.

[Melki, Femme fatale]

I've just started Part III. It's a fairly interesting book, though seems to bear little resemblance to the other Willeford book I read - Pick-Up.

I'm pretty appalled by the way these guys talk about women (though maybe it's very realistic - I don't know. I don't know if I want to know.) "Check underarm stubble" to determine her real hair color. I'm sorry, but grow up and get a life, Hank.

Willeford's writing style with this book reminds me a lot of Philip Roth. Was it Portnoy who was thrilled that a girl he was "entertaining" liked to sit around naked, but disgusted when he found pubic hairs on his precious white couch? (Yet another way that women ruin everything, I guess.)

These complaints aside, I'm having trouble putting the book down . . .

[Jay]

There's a big difference between the writer recording his fiction and the characters he writes about, as I'm sure you know. . Whether or not W. felt the way the "sharks" do really does not matter, any more that Shakespeare really hated Blacks and Jews. The fact is that he delivers accurately the personal and social identity of the people and the time he writes about. And he is very good at getting the reader angry, contemptuous, etc. And he's also good at making the reader think about the consequences, which are mixed, sometimes appalling.
Portnoy is telling his story to a psychologist, b/c as he says his career is on the rise, but his personal life is unbearable to him.

[Robin]

This book makes me really happy to have been not yet fully grown during this time. Otherwise my brains might have been squished into a similarly way-too-tight box. Surely being a grown up is more fun than this for almost everybody?

[Melki, Femme fatale]

Robin wrote: "Surely being a grown up is more fun than this for almost everybody?"

Yeah, I can't really claim to understand the joys of bragging to your pals about who you nailed last night, but it sure seemed to be important to these guys.

And, I gotta admit - the ending was satisfying, AND appropriate.

[Brian]

Sorry for the late post - it took a while for the library to get this one in for me from elsewhere.
I'll give Willeford credit for imagination, realism and the all-important gift of any artist - lack of a social filter. That's why I would never be a good writer - I can never get the filter shut down - too repressed.
Very enjoyable, but I have to make the obvious comparison to Elmore Leonard. And I am a huge fan of Leonard.