The Haunted Hillbilly: A Novel (Soft Skull ShortLit) [Paperback]

Derek McCormack (Author)

Book Description

Series: Soft Skull ShortLit | Publication Date: September 13, 2004

A new title in Soft Skull’s ShortLit series, The Haunted Hillbilly reads like both a vintage 1950s issue of Tales from the Crypt and a 21st-century re-imagining of Michael Ondaatje's The Collected Works of Billy the Kid. This historical first-person narrative is told by Nudie, "The Rodeo Tailor" (perhaps most famous for dressing Elvis Presley), a gay couturier who, in Derek McCormack's world, also happens to be a vampire. As the story evolves with its magical poetic cadence and minimalist style, Nudie makes and then breaks the career of Hank, a country-and-western singer at the Grand Ole Opry. Inspired by the real-life observations of country music promoter Oscar Davis, who saw it all and told it all in a series of tapes suppressed by the Country Music Foundation, The Haunted Hillbilly conjures the seamy queer underbelly beneath country music's sparkling, sequined surface.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Derek McCormack is the author of two short story collections set in his hometown of Peterborough, Ontario: Dark Rides and Wish Book: A Catalogue of Stories. He is co-author of Wild Mouse, which was nominated for the 1999 Toronto Book Award. His short stories have appeared in numerous magazines, newspapers, and anthologies in Canada and the U.S.A. His non-fiction has appeared in the National Post, Saturday Night, Elm Street, and Blood & Aphorisms. In 2001, he received an Honorable Mention at the National Magazine Awards for "Boo! A Halloween ABC," which appeared in Saturday Night. Stargaze, a short movie based on his story of the same name, has appeared at numerous Canadian and international film festivals. Derek McCormack lives in Toronto.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press (September 13, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932360476
• ISBN-13: 978-1932360479
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,641,558 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strong Alcohol, December 6, 2003

By 

David M. Milne (Calgary, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Haunted Hillbilly (Paperback)

An interesting little story about vampires that is remarkable for its style. Something in how McCormack writes creates an overwhelming sense of being on a bad bender - one where you know things are out of control and going wrong, but in which you don't have your wits about you enough to do anything about it. You have no choice but to lurch along for the ride, not seeing enough to completely understand what's happening to you, but knowing that whatever it is, it's bad.

One of the best things I've read in years.

4.0 out of 5 stars Lean, Mean & Outrageously Campy, February 22, 2010

By 

Blake Fraina (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: The Haunted Hillbilly: A Novel (Soft Skull ShortLit) (Paperback)

Derek McCormack's prose is honed to a razor sharp point. It's so precise, the words are so well-chosen, that you scarcely notice how few of them there actually are. This is a lean, mean little novel that packs a thrilling punch. There is not one extraneous word. I am in awe.

And while it's tempting to focus on the technical wizardry alone, which is considerable, truth is, this is no case of style over substance. The story McCormack has concocted is weird, creepy, crude and very funny.

The Haunted Hillbilly is an alternative history of the rise [and premature demise] of country crooner Hank Williams. In McCormack's hands, he is a slightly dimwitted pawn who is taken under the wing of Nudie, a manipulative couturier, who also happens to be a gay vampire. Dressed in Nudie's gaudy, bespangled creations, Hank wins over the crowd at the Grand Ole Opry before the Svengali-like vampire subjects him, and the women who love him, to one Grand Guignol torment after another. It might get downright disturbing if it all wasn't so outrageously camp. I loved it.

McCormack is a real find. I can't wait to sink my teeth into the rest of his work.

5.0 out of 5 stars every sentence is perfect., January 11, 2008

By 

Sam J. Miller (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Haunted Hillbilly: A Novel (Soft Skull ShortLit) (Paperback)

Derek McCormack's writing fills me with a joy that is usually only triggered by sex, sweeping landscapes, Caravaggio, really good coffee.

His style is so terse and tight it takes some getting used to - we don't expect writers to be so economical with their words.

this book made me wish it was ten times longer.