Customer Reviews

The Adventures of Slim & Howdy: A Novel

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4 star:		(3)
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I enjoyed reading the Adventures if Slim & Howdy, Having been a long time fan of Brooks & Dunn . I have always enjoyed the escapades of their alter egos Slim & Howdy in their liner notes. So to have a complete novel of these two cowboys was great. A lot of the dialog between Slim & Howdy I could hear in my head as I read. I think all Brooks & Dunn fans will enjoy this tail and treasure it. I know I do. Even of your not a fan of the duo. This is a fun read.

This is a delightful book filled with laugh-out-loud fun and some adventures that leave us holding our breath. These two good-ole boys who came to life for us in the liner notes of Brooks & Dunn's CDs take us on a wild ride and introduce us to some unforgettable characters along the way.

The book is a blast, a must read for any Brooks & Dunn fan, and if you're not, you will by the time you finish. This book shows how truly creative Brooks & Dunn are. For those of us who have anxiously awaited each new CD for another snippet of the Slim & Howdy saga, this book really is a wonderful ride. I only hope there is another one in the works since we never do find out if Slim's father is still alive, or whether Howdy finds the perfect margarita. Just a few things to ponder.

This western comedy mystery gallops across the cultural landscape and dry gullies of Texas, carrying the reader on an hilarious, insightful, rollicking tale about the school of hard knocks that is the world in which our courageous and clever singing cowboy heroes thrive. The plot line concludes with a smokin', car jumpin', gun blazin' shoot out, where we are reminded of the importance of family and great friendships, and the sun-dried heart strings of an aging cowboy are strummed by prospects of love. This is a entertaining novel whose endearing characters cry out for more adventures in a sequel (hint-hint).

The Everyman heroes of this ballad of a book, Slim and Howdy (who are the alter-egos for real-life country music heroes, Dunn and Brooks, as developed in the album jackets of their music), meet when they are down on their luck and in search of a new ride. From the time Slim and Howdy bump into each other at Red's used car lot in Beaumont, TX, a classy used car joint where "Red was always quick to throw in a clean cardboard box to catch the oil drips," a firm bond and partnership was forged. Slim and Howdy - who were both trying to work a deal with Red, sized each other up like this: "Slim took as a good sign...that Howdy had a guitar and nice saddle....he reminded Slim of Frank Zappa with a cowboy hat." For Howdy's part, Slim had an "easy-going confidence." "So they decided to share a ride for a while, "partner up, as it were." Slim and Howdy discover that both have worked many a hard job, but as Howdy says for them both (which sure sounds like Dunn and
Brooks talking to us about their career philosophy), " I know I'd rather earn a living with my music. I'd rather call a honky-tonk my office and have my workday start at night...You gotta get out there and do your thing. Put your stuff on the front porch where folks can see it. Get up on a stage and somewhere and sing, show 'em what you can do. Tell 'em what's in your heart. Then you at least got a chance." Of course, entertaining and drinking ain't always easy on our boys. After one hard night, Slim "sat on the edge of the bed rubbing his eyes and working his moldy sock of a tongue like a cow chewing its cud. After a second, he blinked a few times and croaked..."


Speaking of real life careers, Fitzhugh describes the life of a rodeo cowboy as, "...wrestling with rampaging bovines in sawdust soaked with horse piss." Shoot, while he's talking rodeo, Fitzhugh gives even the bucking bulls memorable monikers, like "Butt Pucker."


If Fitzhugh is involved in a project, you can be assured of hilariously witty dialog and memorable one-liners, as well as plenty of comedic action - the kind that makes you break out laughing involuntarily, and people around you kind of slide away (to give you a little more room, in case you get violent). This book excels in the humour,action, and intrigue departments. But one thing I especially like about this book is that Fitzhugh reveals a previously hidden talent for the more serious and profound elements of real life. Slim and Howdy are not cartoon characters involved in slapstick humour - they are real characters that are dealing with some real life issues (such as flashbacks to parental interaction and past relationships). But, as heroes must, they rise above their humble backgrounds and life's set backs, and use pluck, courage and wits to out duel the bad guys. Having read all of Fitzhugh's works, I rank this one as one of his best. He has
shown a remarkable ability to collaborate with Brooks and Dunn, and, like the chameleon he is, Fitzhugh has adapted his sharp and insightful pencil well to the western landscape. Fitzhugh's evocative pen captures the sad state of "old east Texas sawmill towns and mining communities whose promises were broken long ago, settlements that were killed when railroads or highways bypassed them..."

Fitzhugh is almost unparalleled in the character description department. Here's one bad guy introduced: "A quick look told Howdy this guy was bad luck and trouble. Third-degree burn scars all around his mouth gave him a painful, waxy sneer. His nose, bent and humped, looked like it had been broken more times than a politician's promises. He was a mad dog disciple of violence and retribution with one droopy eye and the countenance of a man who drank to get the crawl off of his skin." And here's a lady met in bar: "Tammy..upon closer examination looked slightly harder than a federal tax form." Before deciding whether to be receptive to Tammy's advances, " Slim ...was thinking that he ought to examine her under a brighter light..." She did, however, feature a sexy little tattoo on her back, that Howdy describes,wistfully, "like a welcome mat"....that says "Visitors Welcome." Another talented bar patron is described as being shapely to the point of
"straining the pearl snaps on a snazzy western shirt..." and also wearing "a willing smile."

Once our heroes meet Jody, the owner of a bar with a name appropriate for our heroes' life mission, the "Lost and Found," the plot thickens. Employed as assistant managers and entertainers, Slim and Howdy are beginning to get comfortable, when they become the unwitting targets of a bad dude named Boone Tate. Boone's not too smart. He likes to hit the highway after happy hour with "a good buzz and a pocket full of chicken wings." Boone's the kind of feller you would find at "a bar of last resort, a stinking joint swarming with tattooed miscreants and feral-eyed thugs."

And then there's Jody's brother, who has a "barracuda smile" and is self-employed as "a morally flexible attorney." And we can't forget the Big Goon, who "blinked slow and dim, like a spade-foot frog trying to reason."

This book is chock full of snappy one-liners and comedic action. It all comes to a surprising crescendo of events at the conclusion, which will surprise even the insightful reader. I highly recommend this book for fans of Fitzhugh, as well as for fans of Dunn and Brooks. I bought this book because I am a fan of Fitzhugh's work. But I am now a fan of Brooks and Dunn, as well !

Bill Fitzhugh is one of the top surreal eccentric character tale adventures. The Adventures of Slim and Howdy combined his normal style with a very heavy American Country lingo and spin, provided by co-authors on this one American Country superstars Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn. The result is certainly no Pest Control, in fact unless you're a American country music fan you'll be guessing from time to time what the characters or narrator is talking about (Honkeytonk for example no idea what this means). As with the small town Texas geography. Likewise as with Fitzhugh's Radio Activity and its sequel Highway 61 Resurfaced where unless you were a blues fan you had no idea what the blues music cultural references were, characters Slim and Howdy will both perform a number of hits if you're not into American country music you won't have heard of. However you don't need to understand all this terminology and music for this novel to work, and work well it does.

At a Beaumont used car lot Slim and Howdy work out they are both being ripped off by the pitiful amounts of cash on offer for their cars so decide to keep one, travel together and divide the cash for the other. Slim and Howdy are pretty similar characters (which can get confusing at times knowing which one is which). Both are good natured country boys, you'd be happy to hang out with, both are into music as a dream career and are very good behind the mike and with their guitars although neither knows that about the other. Narrated in an Uncle Jesse, Dukes of Hazard style, their adventure will begin with a pair of gardening shears in a bid to retrieve a stolen guitar and will eventually take them down to a south Texas bar where they will have to come to rely on one another to get save a good friend. Along the way they will outwit many a drunken redneck and con artist as well as impress a number of women. Throw in the usual Fitzhugh eccentric characters and you've got another great read!

Can't wait for the sequel!

Enjoyed it, funny, witty, good story line, great charactars but the reason it didn't get a 5 is because some places were a bit wordy. I do hope they continue writing about Slim and Howdy.

I loved this book! I couldn't put it down. It was a very fast read. I hope they write another!

If you like Brooks and Dunn and know a little about them then you need to read this book. You will have A LOT of good laughs! Very hard to put down once you start reading.

Very funny. Could be real. Brought back memories similar to living in Arkansas.

I bought this book because I am a fan of Brooks and Dunn music, but it is just so addictive. Once I started it was very hard to stop. It is written in a plain and simple language about two blokes and their exploites. Very funny and very very entertaining.