Kick the Can [Mass Market Paperback]

Jim Lehrer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 14, 1989

Now available in paperback for the first time is Jim Lehrer's beloved coming-of-age novel, eagerly praised by reviewers from coast to coast. After introducing The One-Eyed Mack in Kick the Can, Lehrer follows his hero's later career as Oklahoma's lieutenant governor through a series of comic novels -- Crown Oklahoma and Sooner Spy, both available in paperback from Council Oak Books -- that have him solving mysteries in his spare time.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One should not look for deep implications in this diverting tale by TV anchor Lehrer. We are back in 1949, in Kansas, with "One-Eyed Mack," son of the best highway patrolman in the whole state and an incurable romantic in the vein of Tom Sawyer. After he loses an eye in the child's game of the book's title, Mack has to give up his "trooper dreams" of derring-do in his father's footsteps and his baseball fantasies as well. Once graduated from junior college, he forms a Sawyer-like ambition to become a "pirate" and sets out for the territoriesin this case, Galveston, Tex. What follows is a series of picaresque adventures involving a number of other upper- and lower-case characters, such as Marshall M. Mooney, the Map Man; Lillian, "The Come Lady"; and Tom Bell Pepper Bowen; not to mention Roy Rogers, the King of the Cowboys and his entourage. The narrative is a paean to an age of alleged American innocence, an exercise in nostalgia for a time when Stan "the Man" Musial and the Cowboy King claimed heroic stature. Lehrer makes Mack's wide-eyed credulity quite funny, and the other characters, all larger than life, have the bizarre appeal of figures in a circus side show. And with tongue in cheek, Lehrer has Mack discover that fame can come in unsought, unexpected ways. Perhaps this larky slice-of-Americana will take readers' minds off the ominous items on network news. Literary Guild alternate.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Set in early 1950s Kansas, Texas, and thereabouts, this is the picaresque tale of the vagabond teenaged son of a Kansas state trooper. Blinded in one eye in a game of kick the can, One-Eyed Mack, no longer able to become a highway patrolman, becomes a pirate instead. Sporting a black eye-patch, Mack and his newfound criminal friend, Tom Bell Pepper Bowen, careen through rural Texas in a hijacked bus. One-Eyed Mack's subsequent adventures involve Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, the governor of Texas, and Tom's father, locked up in Leavenworth. By the co-anchor of The MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour , this easygoing, entertaining yarn should appeal to faithful readers of "down home" humor. Literary Guild alternate. James B. Hemesath, Adams State Coll. Lib., Alamosa, Col.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (October 14, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345360249
• ISBN-13: 978-0345360243
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,425,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This brings back memories, December 13, 2002

By 

"hex303" (Denver, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kick the Can (One-eyed Jack Mystery) (Paperback)

My brother gave me a beat up copy of this book when I was about 12 years old. I haven't seen a copy in years! I read this book countless times and found it to be a very interesting and humerous read. I'd recommend this book to anyone that comes across it anywhere. I don't know what compelled me to like this book so much. Maybe it was the reasoning the the lead character "The One Eyed Mack" exhibited throughout the book. I can tell you that I am definately going to get another copy to add to my collection

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't miss this one!, August 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Kick the Can (One-eyed Jack Mystery) (Paperback)

Who would ever suspect that veteran newsman, Jim Lehrer, would be one of the most delightful comic writers ever. Kick the Can is one of those rare laugh aloud books that keep the reader chuckling from beginning to end. In addition to the "One Eyed Mack" the hero of the story, he introduces us to other such unforgettable characters as "Pepper" Bowen and Brother Walt. This book is just as funny the second or third time you read it - a real treat. Read it! You'll like it!

5.0 out of 5 stars Please read this book., June 16, 2011

By 

ellen - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kick the Can (One-eyed Jack Mystery) (Paperback)

This is one of the funniest books I've ever read. The humor is so self-reflective- it's a personal commentary on this young boy's own adventure after losing an eye in a silly game.