Baby Cat-Face (Harvest American Writing) [Paperback]

Barry Gifford (Author)

Book Description

Series: Harvest American Writing | Publication Date: May 15, 1997

From the author of Wild at Heart, a “wild, wacky, funny, well-written, and surreal” novel (Kansas City Star) about a woman struggling to make her way in “a New Orleans so feverishly peculiar that Anne Rice would feel at ease there” (Washington Post).

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After watching her dancing partner get his neck fatally slashed by a jealous rival, young New Orleans creole Esquerita Reyna, aka "Baby Cat-Face," heads out of the big city for an aunt's place in Corinth, N.C. Meanwhile, Sailor and Lula (the protagonists of Wild at Heart and five other Gifford novels) are on the way to to Corinth, planning on some fun and games, but instead they wind up rescuing Baby from trouble. Wackiness abounds: back in New Orleans, Baby joins Mother Bizco's Temple of the Few Washed Pure by Her Blood, a religious sect headed by a former prostitute, who, when Baby gets pregnant, jumps to the conclusion that Baby's is an immaculate conception. Indeed, Baby gives birth to an avenging youngster named Angel de la Cruz, who quotes scripture at age one, can float in the air, winds up sharing a jail cell with Sailor and fathers a child of his own. Gifford's universe is unpredictable. His characters turn on a dime, one minute asking why evil exists in the world and the next minute committing heinous acts. And Baby, the usual victim, recovers with the ease of a cartoon figure straightening itself after being flattened by a two-ton anvil. It's often great fun. But as Gifford takes his brand of trash-Americana through three generations of Christian fundamentalism and conspiracy theory, he remains disinterested in anything resembling sustained drama or characterization, content to rely on momentum, funky phrasings and the idiosyncrasies of his hyperthyroid world. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

If you're looking for a fin-de-siecle car chase through the backwaters of fundamentalist Christianity, and rape and violence served up with a New Orleans accent, then you've come to the right place. Messiahs and malcontents share the stage as Esquerita Reyna, better known as Baby Cat-Face, leaves town after witnessing a murder and meets soul singer Sugargirl Crooks, whose influence guides her to Mother Bizco's Temple of the Few Washed Pure by Her Blood. There she becomes unknowingly wrapped up in an elaborate plan to give birth to a female messiah who will lead a feminist revolution in the 21st century (one smells a sequel). In between these episodes, other vectors appear, whose meaning is only barely apparent at the tale's end. Sailor and Lula, whom Gifford readers will recognize from Wild at Heart and Sailor's Holiday, make a brief, and ultimately meaningless, appearance. Fans of Gifford's slapdash style, replete with quick cuts and untied loose ends, may appreciate this latest effort. Others might pass. Recommended where Gifford is popular. (Illustrations not seen.)?Adam Mazmanian, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Mariner Books (May 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0156005255
• ISBN-13: 978-0156005258
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,933,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dirty Barry Strikes Again!, November 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Baby Cat-Face (Harvest American Writing) (Paperback)

After reading novels such as "Night People" and "Baby Cat-Face", I am tempted to paraphrase Norman Mailer and claim that Barry Gifford "is the only living American conceivably possessed by genius". Just read it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Wonderful Read..., September 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Baby Cat-Face (Harvest American Writing) (Paperback)

I have enjoyed all books I have read by Barry Gifford, including Baby Cat Face. He is by far a genius when it comes to character writing, from Sailor and Lula in Wild at Heart to Perdita Durango(My favorite one) to Baby in this novel, every character had a unique and oddball personality all thier own. The story is great, a quick read because you never lose interest. Another great tale of bizarre adventure from Mr. Gifford's colorful imagination.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Gifford's most bizarre N.O. novels, July 7, 1998

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Baby Cat-Face: A Novel (Hardcover)

Bet you didn't know that The Messiah would never have returned to Earth without Sailor and Lula's help! Well neither did they! (Actually I'm not all that sure of it myself!) S. & L. (See Wild At Heart, etc.) appear in the past - in their youth - as minor characters in the this tale of the totally lovable Baby Cat Face, who, like many of Gifford's other N.O. characters, faces an implossibly complex, alien modern world from an inexplicable wellspring of courage of the spirit. Most fun you've had for a long time!