Customer Reviews

Kill Two Birds & Get Stoned: A Novel

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

WOW!,what a read.
Kinky has put together his best book yet.There are a great bunch of lines in this story.Typical of Kinky,you'll find several on one page and then he'll go several pages before laying on a few more.At times, it seems like he writes while riding a rollercoaster.Not all rollercoasters have to have wheels,you know-I wonder what kind Kinky rides?

Here's some of Kinky,s wisdom to chew on:

"Man cannot live on bagles alone."

"How you wear what you wear is everything."

"There was a bathroom big enough for a midget without any
dreams."

"Don't you know that when you capture something in words,you
make it disappear?"

"The only things you ever really keep in this life,are the
things you let slip through your fingers."

"This woman was a ticket for the train to Hell."

"It's always easier to get into a mental hospital,than it is
to get out of one."

"It's seldom a good sign when the bartender's drunker than
the patrons."

"That's also why,if you like the book,you should never meet
the author."

Just in case you've spent the last year in some faraway land ,
you might be unaware that the Kingster is running for
Governor of the State of Texas.Check out on the Web under
Kinky Friedman for Governor.At least with Kinky as Governor
you'll know where he stands,and he'll tell it to you like it
is.Maybe he'll put his friend Willie in charge of ATF and
bring back his new friend Clyde from Moro de Sao Paulo ,off
the coast of Brazil ,and put her in charge of States
Initatives.That ought to wake up the Establishment.
Kinky was a guest on Larry King a couple of weeks ago and
served notice that things are going to change when he gets
elected.

I am a huge fan of Kinky Friedman's books, but was very disappointed with this one. It's the first book he's written that I actually didn't finish, it's just too introspective and frankly not Kinky's usual style. I expected to be entertained but was just bored. I hope Kinky's next book will be back to his normal craziness.

Author Walter Snow has writer's block until he is initiated into the outrageous escapades of Clyde Potts & Fox Harris, who are always in search of bigger & better pranks, including sabotaging a huge corporate monster.

With his off beat characters and zany situations the Kinkster provides his readers with a welcome relief from the mundane.
Though this is an average Kinky novel, It's still outrageous and genuine Kinky, so the fans should love it. A fun quick read.

Recommended.

Being a long time Kinky fan and reader, I foung this latest book very disappointing. It lacks both humor ( what we naturally expect from Kinky) as well as excitement. Kinky has strayed from his winning formula .A very boring read.

I checked this out of the library in hopes of seeing Kinky expanding his literary horizons. Unfortuneately, I have to agree with the reviewer who called it "Kinky Lite." I really wanted to like it, since his mysteries are so addicting, but I closed the book disappointed. I like the pranks and I like the characters, but there was just somethign missing. Don't read this if you're new to Kinky Friedman. Start with Roadkill or A Case of Lone Star. Three stars for my Kinky bias.

The last 2 novels from Kinky Friedman have been a bit of a disappointment for me. The characters, while all deliciously amusing and well portrayed, were wearing a little thin like a housepest who's over stayed their welcome. We just needed a break. This book certainly supplies it.

Walter Snow is a novelist who hasn't written anything in 10 years. One day while at a bank he meets this beautiful woman who asks to use his safe deposit box. For some reason not understood to him, Snow lets her use it. Soon after, the police visit and the story begins.

Snow encounters Clyde and Fox. Clyde is the beautiful woman from the bank. Fox is her closest friend. Snow wants to be Clyde's closest friend and ends up becoming Fox's friend as well. Clyde and Fox take Walter Snow on the ride of a lifetime playing pranks and evoking revenge on all those that in their minds are immoral or unethical in this world. During their encounters, Walter Snow is reminded of how to live and soon he begins to remind himself of how to write.

This last bit is the most interesting portion of the novel. Kinky Friedman supplies it with all of his trademark wit and charm. The pace is brisk and the humor is hysterical and outrageous. Occassionally a character mentions a line that, while you could hear the Kinky Friedman character of the past novels state it, you couldn't imagine these characters state it, but those are few.

What really makes this novel terrific, however, is following Walter Snow's thoughts as he ruminates on what it means to be a writer and what the art entails. He discusses writer's block and how it has affected him. He ponders how a writer puts together his words, his art and what he does to the friends and family that becomes part of the novel; how he characters on the page that he controls are almost more real than the ones he is writing about. That's where the novel takes on an almost postmodern feel to it.

Don't be worried by this last statement. This isn't the great modern novel (or the great Armenian novel, for that matter). It still has Kinky's humor, Kinky's pacing, and the story is right up your alley if you're a fan. But it's those moments when Walter Snow is sitting alone in front of his typewriter trying to draw the words from his pores that provide this novel with the depth and poignancy that the last couple of Friedman novels have been missing. A grand return to form! Thanks, Kinky.

Interesting how this celebrated writer mixes the hilarious, bizarre, inane, contemplative, and even the beautiful in one masterly contemporary novel. Two very odd people meet our frustrated 1st person writer- narrator, sending him on three rollicking, anarchic adventures in the Village. The trio battle a mental hospital, a big time real estate developer, and the world's #1 Coffee Chain. Along the way, some terrific dialogue, discussions of the art of the novel, the real vs the fantastic,and a general critique of modern urban society shine through. A fine page turner written by a terrific pen man, with more than enough laughs for all. My only complaint: a bit too harsh on the three corporate adversaries, and our three Robin-Hood style protaganists may be interesting. but they are definitely not all that nice! A very tragic ending, but the last paragraph is a winner. maybe even a beautiful finale.

My advice to Kinky Friedman about trying to write a semi-serious novel...FORGET ABOUT IT!!
Fans of Kinky or readers wanting to get acquainted would be better advised to try "Spanking Watson" if they haven't already read it. It may have little redeeming social value but tons of laughs.

Kinky Friedman's mysteries are light on plot but their redemption lies in the one line laughs that dot his books.
Kill Two Birds and Get Stoned is also plot light but without any redeeming factors. It tries to be fun, hip and deep but comes off tedious. It is a book full of maudlin ruminations and redundant foreshadowing which are understandably necessary, because without the annoying repetitions the book, short at 221 pages, would be significantly shorter.
A book within a book, Friedman portrays his protagonist (a blocked writer who is seemingly Friedman's dark alter ego) as a tormented, pseudo-intellectual alcoholic who comes alive and unblocked when he meets two free spirits. Unfortunately, Friedman does not give us any reason to care about any of these undeveloped, superficial characters.
The plot is a string of dastardly deeds justified by Friedman's definition of mental hospital logic which he continually drums into the reader's head throughout the book. There are no twists or turns and nothing to keep interest. The author's thinking appears to be that many outlandish criminal incidents make a plot. They don't.
The only laugh in this book is Friedman's calculated attempt to show that he has compassion for the underdog and downtrodden.
Reading Kinky Friedman mysteries is like eating air. There's nothing substantial but you do get some laughs. This book just gave me a headache. It was so boring that I put it down several times, and then had to struggle to force myself again and again to pick it up to finish it. When I finally did I was sorry I wasted my time and money.
A well-established hack mystery writer, Friedman deserves kudos for trying something new, but he's better off sticking to the trite but entertaining formula he's perfected in his mystery books.

Note to Kinky:

1) Whether I love them or hate them, make me care about your characters.

2) Some writers have found that a compelling plot is helpful.

3) You have some great lines. Unfortunately, some great lines do not add up to a complete book.

4) Try to engage your reader from the first page. I stuck with you for 84 before giving up.