Crown Oklahoma [Mass Market Paperback]

Jim Lehrer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 13, 1991

When Jim Lehrer turned his hand to writing fiction, the results were praised by reviewers from coast to coast. Now available in paperback, this series has "the most endearing cast of characters since the days of Damon Runyon" (The Denver Post). The hero is "One-Eyed Mack, " the lieutenant governor of Oklahoma, a likeable and surprisingly insightful politico. Lehrer deftly mixes fact and fiction to create stories so bizarre, readers swear it must be fact.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

TV anchorman Lehrer of The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour takes a dyspeptic view of the mass media in this slim picaresque fable. Its hero is One-Eyed Mack, swashbuckling if harried lieutenant-governor of Oklahoma who starred in Lehrer's last novel, Kick the Can. He learns from a CBS broadcast that the Okies, a highly secret organized-crime group based in his very own state, is making inroads on the Mafia and terrorizing the Southwest. But this news item turns out to be a hoax concocted by disaffected CBS reporter Archibald Tyler. As FBI agents, newsmen and real Mafiosi swarm all over the state, Mack's goal is to out-fake this faker--to fool Tyler into supposing that his tall tale has more than a grain of truth. Aiding him in this scheme is Brother Walt, oddball preacher of the Hoy Road church, and "Cool" Harry Hayes, Oklahoma's law enforcement chief, who drives a black Lincoln Continental with a submachine gun strapped to the front seat. This wacky saga is more entertaining for its funky local color and grassroots humor than as a satire on the media's tendency toward sensation-mongering. Paperback rights to Ballantine.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this engaging sequel to Kick the Can (LJ 4/15/88), One-Eyed Mack, the son of a Kansas state trooper, is now the lieutenant governor of Oklahoma. The time is the Watergate era, and corruption is afoot. A network TV news reporter reveals to a stunned citizenry that the Sooner State is the birthplace of a new Mafia. At the behest of Governor Buffalo Joe, Mack and C. Harry Hayes, the state's equivalent of J. Edgar Hoover, set out to redeem Oklahoma's besmirched honor. Likeable major and supporting characters, a strong setting, plus Mack's narrative wit all contribute to this highly readable, down-home, picaresque tale. Mack's ponderings on ethics in journalism, or the lack thereof, add texture to this otherwise comic tale. By the co-anchor of PBS TV's MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour , this is recommended for most public libraries.
- James B. Hemesath, Adams State Coll. Lib., Alamosa, Col.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (February 13, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345361245
• ISBN-13: 978-0345361240
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,316,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One Eyed Mack is Back, August 2, 2005

By 

Matthew Clina (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crown Oklahoma (Hardcover)

I read this book because I loved The One Eyed Mack in "Kick the Can". I did enjoy "Crown Oklahoma" very much, but I must say that it is no "Kick the Can".

I was particularly intrigued by the story line, and how timely it is today in light of the Jayson Blair and Dan Rather scandals. It is almost as if Mr. Lehrer predicted such events.

It was great to be reunited with Mack, Jackie, and "Leutenant Dad", and it was a very enjoyable book. I highly recommend that you do not read this until you have read "Kick the Can" first.

4.0 out of 5 stars Inadequately sourced, July 19, 2003

By 

Mary E. Sibley (Carneys Point, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Crown Oklahoma (Hardcover)

Crown Oklahoma is shorthand for putting a dome on the capitol. The narrator is the one-eyed lieutenant governor of the Sooner State. The lieutenant governor is also referred to a the second man. His son Tommy Walt plays semi-professional baseball. He is a pitcher. His wife is the founder and the owner of a chain of drive-through markets. Tommy Walt seems to collapse at his job handling baggage for the bus company. He does a riff on lost and mislaid luggage when his father locates him. There is a concern, raised by a national television news story, that a Mafia-type organization exists in Oklahoma. The narrator runs down one suspect, Boomer Sooner, who is in the transportation business as the driver and owner of a single bus. This is not a good prospect for the role of master criminal. Then a bomb blows the guy to bits. Investigators surmise that since the news reports indicated Boomer was part of a new group impinging on mob activity, the mob had him killed. The fallout from climbing the golden ladder to anchordom is described and elaborated in the book. The tales get taller as things proceed. Son Tommy Walt continues to experience difficulty and the excuse given is that he is a pitcher. The crown Oklahoma project is laughable, particularly when planners wonder if it could be made to pay for itself. Oklahoma Indian Territoy was opened up on first-come basis for land claims. Sooners were cheaters, they snuck in ahead of time.

4 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful mirror of the mindset and humor of the Okie!, March 21, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (a Sooner in Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crown Oklahoma (One-eyed Mack Mystery) (Paperback)

Wonderful expression of the Oklahoma spirit, mindset and humor! A terrific place and a delightful book.