Dan Jenkins' second best-known novel, Baja Oklahoma, features protagonist Juanita Hutchins, who can cuss and politically commentate with the best of Jenkins' male protagonists. Still convincingly female, though in no way dumb and girly, fortyish Juanita serves drinks to the colorful crew patronizing Herb's Cafe in South Fort Worth, worries herself sick over a hot-to-trot daughter proving too fond of drugs and the dealers who sell them, endures a hypochondriac mother whose whinings would justify murder, dates a fellow middle-ager whose connections with the oil industry are limited to dipstick duty at his filling station—and, by the way, she also hopes to become a singer-songwriter in the real country tradition of Bob Wills and Willie Nelson. That Juanita is way too old to remain a kid with a crazy dream doesn't matter much to her. In between handing out longneck beers to customer-acquaintances battling hot flashes and deciding when boyfriend Slick is finally going to get lucky, Juanita keeps jotting down lyrics reflective of hard-won wisdom and setting them to music composed on her beloved Martin guitar. Too many of her early songwriting results are one-dimensional or derivative, but finally she hits on something both original and heartfelt: a tribute to her beloved home state, warts and all.
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Book Description
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About the Author
DAN JENKINS is the author of best-selling novels, non-fiction, and newspaper and magazine pieces. A native of Fort Worth and a TCU graduate, Jenkins was a nationally acclaimed senior writer for Sports Illustrated. He currently writes a column for Golf Digest and is official historian for the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
May be the funniest book ever written!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Baja Oklahoma: Baja Oklahoma (Mass Market Paperback)
This book is so funny that one feels one must read portions aloud to anyone within hering distance. The dialogue is brilliant. Though very broad, it is always true and real. I only wish Eric Partridge were still alive....he would have found countless words - and lines - to incoporate into his "Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English." The fact that it takes place mostly in a Texas bar and is about country-Western music should not obscure the fact that this book is a kind of minor masterpiece. Bravo!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best book I have ever read! Outrageously funny!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Baja Oklahoma: Baja Oklahoma (Mass Market Paperback)
I read this book many years ago and loaned it out. It never came back! I have
searched everywhere for a copy. Dan Jenkin's book inspired me so much and made
me laugh til I cried! I can't remember all 10 of his "The 10 Stages of
Drunkeness" referenced in the book, but my favorite one is number seven. I
can't use all that language here but it's the level you reach at dinner time!!
I must have this book because the book I have been working on is somewhat
similiar to "Baja Oklahoma". I can't wait to read it again
I would like nothing more than to somehow reach him and give him credit
for such great work. Any ideas?
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I can quote much of it from memory. It's that good.,
By lgar@brinet.com (Maggie Valley NC) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Baja Oklahoma (Hardcover)
Marvelous. Magnificent. Fill in your favorite superlative and go for broke.I've read this book so many times I can quote much of it from memory, but it never gets stale. I'm always entertained ... and deeply impressed not only with Jenkins' style and talent, but with his earthy insight into the human condition and the latent goodness in us all. You can live a perfectly fine life without Dan Jenkins, but you're missing important things to think about if you ever finish laughing.
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