Captains Outrageous [Import] [Hardcover]

Joe R. Lansdale (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Orion (February 14, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752846949
• ISBN-13: 978-0752846941
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Joe R. Lansdale is the author of over thirty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in eighteen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others. His novella Bubba Hotep was adapted to film by Don Coscarelli, starring Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. His story "Incident On and Off a Mountain Road" was adapted to film for Showtime's "Masters of Horror." He is currently co-producing several films, among them The Bottoms, based on his Edgar Award-winning novel, with Bill Paxton and Brad Wyman, and The Drive-In, with Greg Nicotero. He is Writer In Residence at Stephen F. Austin State University, and is the founder of the martial arts system Shen Chuan: Martial Science and its affiliate, Shen Chuan Family System. He is a member of both the United States and International Martial Arts Halls of Fame. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What the "R." stand for..., March 18, 2002

By 

C. Fletcher (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Captains Outrageous: A Hap Collins and Leonard Pine Novel (Hardcover)

What does the "R." in Joe R. Lansdale stand for? I've been reading this phenomenal East Texas writer for almost fifteen years now, and I still don't know. I suppose I could click the mouse a few times and get right back to you with the real answer, the right answer. But where's the fun in that? Isn't it better to imagine than it is to know? Back when I was a kid, when only dead flies were on the web, you didn't have any choice but to imagine. So here goes...

After reading Joe R. Lansdale's sixth Hap `n' Leonard novel, "Captains Outrageous," I'd guess the R. might stand for refreshingly-readable (sounds like something made by the Keebler elves). Then again, it could just as easily stand for rip-roarin'ly-raunchy or rhapsodically-R-rated. What I'm getting at is that reading a Joe R. Lansdale novel is like going river-rafting through the rapids or roller-skating on the roof. You're in for a wild ride whenever you pick up a Lansdale book, so you better make sure your seatbelt is good and fastened.

"Captains Outrageous" is maybe the wildest-plotted yet of the six novels comprising Lansdale's East Texas series starring Hap Collins and Leonard Pine. Hap and Leonard are two well-meaning ne'er-do-wells living in the small East Texas town of LaBorde. Hap is white and straight, Leonard black and gay, but they're the fastest of friends-brothers without the burden of family. And yet, for some reason, whenever they get together, trouble is never far behind.

This time out, Hap seems to have some good luck shine on him for once. While leaving his job as a security guard at a chicken plant one night, the martial-arts-savvy Hap successfully interrupts a rape/murder-in-progress. The would-be victim's father is well-to-do and insists on Hap accepting a ... reward for his chivalry.

With some money in the bank, eager for some time away from the chickens, Hap decides to take a vacation. And who better to ask along than his best friend Leonard? Hap's good luck begins to sour somewhere around the time he and Leonard get on the bad side of their budget cruise ship's buffet bouncer. They soon find themselves stranded somewhere in Mexico with no way to get home. Things get considerably more complicated after they're nearly murdered and then rescued by a machete-wielding fisherman and his bad news femme-fatale daughter. Hap `n' Leonard then get themselves embroiled in the dealings of a dangerous Mexican mobster who also happens to be a staunch nudist.

The wildness of plot and fierceness of humor that have become hallmarks of Lansdale's writing are out in full force in Captains Outrageous. Equally prevalent are the attention to character and richness of voice that keep Lansdale's books a few notches up from being merely entertaining (not that that's the worst of crimes).

Lansdale has always reminded me something of Mark Twain. Throw in bits and pieces of an old "Love Boat," some Hemingway à la "Old Man and the Sea," and you have an idea of what to expect from "Captains Outrageous." My only complaint is that the second half of the novel isn't nearly as inventive as the first. There's a restrictive symmetry to the book's revenge plot that makes the story arc more of a parabola than an ascending staircase. Still, "Captains Outrageous" is an immensely entertaining read. It's wildly funny, consistently well written, and deserves to earn Joe R. Lansdale new legions of fans.

You don't have to have read any of Lansdale's earlier Hap `n' Leonard novels to enjoy this one, but you'll definitely want to get caught up afterward. So if you happen to like your books entertaining and well written, you'd be remiss to miss out on this rare and rewarding writer.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lives up to most of the hype, April 26, 2006

By 

Bonner '62 (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Captains Outrageous (Paperback)

I was looking for a mystery with a comic touch and this delivered. It is my first Landsdale book and I plan to try others in the Collins and Pine series. I actually laughed out loud several times. The author keeps the story moving and even though the main characters have some superhero characteristics you can ignore that and sit back and enjoy the fast moving story. A realistic take on Mexico doesn't hurt. All in all a good read.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hap and Leonard settle down?, September 27, 2001

By 

Crime_Dog (NY, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Captains Outrageous: A Hap Collins and Leonard Pine Novel (Hardcover)

Yeah right!

Another fantastic, can't put down tale from the master, Joe R. Lansdale. Brothers to the end, Hap and Leonard go on a vacation and ponder advancing age, life and love. Being Hap and Leonard you know that mayhem will have to follow. All the favorites are back for this one; Charlie, Hanson, Jim Bob Luke, Brett and even Bob the armadillo, and the mix is explosive, hilarious and so uniquely Lansdale.

You gotta read this book!