Customer Reviews

Off Magazine Street

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

 

 

This genre-bending author enthusiastically attacks reality in a unique blend of anti-heroes, misfits and innocents, equally at home knocking back shots with Tennessee Williams or Ernest Hemingway.

Byron Burns is one of the fair-haired boys of his home town, Eames, Alabama. Unfortunately, he becomes the proverbial black sheep of his family. Along with Bobby Long, another favorite son, the friends take the low road once they hit college: an indiscriminate feast of wine, women and song, inseparable on their long slide into oblivion.

Now in late middle age, Byron and Bobby have spent so many years besotted that they have begun to act like the stumbling derelicts that litter the streets of every city, blacking out from one drink to another. Moving to New Orleans, the men are joined in their cheap hotel room by Lorraine, a grossly obese mental patient Bobby has known for years, years before she submitted to the comfort of food to fill an emotional vacuum. Lorraine's 16-year old daughter is not much better off, already pushed to the edge of an indifferent society.

No one is particularly surprised when Lorraine dies, her larger-than-life heart strained beyond capacity. It is through Lorraine's death that Bobby and Byron's lives are transformed, in a subtle twist of fate, when her daughter, Hannah, appears on their doorstep, such as it is, with questions about her mother and not much hope to squander.

Hannah's arrival sparks long-buried ideals that Byron and Bobby have so far successfully obliterated with an excess of alcohol and philandering. Content in their careless waste of days, the men are entertained by the literary fragments of their younger years as teachers, reciting poetry and reading long passages from beloved novels. Hannah is a source of intense curiosity, wrapped in her nubile innocence, especially for the outspoken Bobby.

The ultimate transformation of these two men, the awakening of their abandoned finer selves, is something neither is prepared to acknowledge. Neither is Hannah thrilled by these middle-aged reprobates, although, given her lack of choices, they seem to be the only game in town.

Hannah stays in New Orleans with Byron and Bobby, gradually drawn in by their ineptitude and seduced by the treasure of knowledge they men so generously share. Add in the neighborhood derelicts from "the outdoor living room" and the scene is set for an excess of debauchery, really just a bunch of lonely, misspent men who drift together, attracted like Bobby and Byron to the glow of Hannah's youth and potential.

Like Eliza with her two Dr. Doolittles, the story unfolds in a series of drunken antics, but within the framework of family, albeit a highly unusual one. Not just a humorous tale of redemption, Off Magazine Street is a lesson in compassion. Judgment too easily rendered permits us to throw away those who have slipped from acceptable social mores. Ronald Everett Capps reminds us to look deeper, past the obvious, into that vast reservoir of humanity, where there is a home for all. Luan Gaines/2004.

Meaning that he almost perfectly portrays the characters he writes about. He captures the setting, the southern element, the drunken states, the misery, the intellect, and the love that the main characters have to offer. This book is depressing but at the same time eye opening and somehow inspriring. This book offers a great, accurate picture of what New Orleans can be to folks outside the tourist realm. I've met the author and can honestly say this guy has some stories to tell...and has done quite well telling this one.

Admittedly this review is being written from a predjudicial perspective as I live in the New Orleans area and the author's son is a friend. This being said, I found this book to be refreshing in the candid ways in which the pivotal characters interact. The two main characters are drunks, but above all, they are amusing and sad intellectuals who find themselves isolated from the conventional world. They come across as lecherous old coots, but they are loveable for their unabashed sililoquies. The setting is perfect! It's a quick read, but with a poignancy that left this reader wanting more!

I struggled with this book at first, but time spent with the characters ends up being well spent.
Yes, it is an unusual book.
Yes, it blurs the boundries on what is considered "decent".
Just one thing to remember... the author puts a few clues in front of us at the beginning...the Tao is what it's all about. If you have any interest in taoist "philosophy" then you will easily understand.
No the book is not like the movie "A Love Song For Bobby Long". In its own way its far more moving.

I bought this book because I really loved the movie "Love Song For Bobby Long." I, too, was an English major and I totally identify with Bobby and Byron, both in their high-falutin dreams and in their failure to move forward in their fields (writing, teaching, etc.). And I have a deep love for and knowledge of the city of New Orleans, which I felt the movie did a fair job of depicting. So, for me, the book had large shoes to fill.

The first part of the book disappointed me because [SPOILERS TO FOLLOW:::] it differed SO MUCH from the movie. Lorraine in the book is the polar opposite of the person described in the movie; not only did she not own a house or leave anything to her daughter in her will (including a dress that her daughter could wear), but she was far more pathetic than the the boys she left behind: Bobby and Byron.

But once the book introduced Lorraine's daughter into Byron and Bobby's lives, it started to loosely resemble the movie and, as I'd originally hoped, provided more insight into and a different perspective on the main characters. That's when I fell in love with the book, and I swear, from that point on, I literally could not put it down until I'd reached the end, and even then I didn't want it to stop.

I guess that's how I know I've read something really special -- the end of the book feels to me like the loss of a dear friend, and I mourn for it.

I can honestly say that I love this book every bit as as much as I love the movie based on the book, and I can't recommend one over the other. I DEFINITELY recommend that everyone read Capps' book AND rent the DVD. This story is a Love Song for Everyone, not just Bobby Long.

First, let me say that this is the rare case of a movie being better than the novel from which it was adapted. After watching "A Love Song for Bobby Long" on NetFlix, I walked, no, ran to my computer to order "Off Magazine Street" from Amazon. I had fallen in love with the quirky makeshift family portrayed in the movie, starring Scarlett Johansson and John Travolta, and reasoned that if I loved these people in the movie, I would adore them in the novel. Oops.

The thorn in my side regarding this book isn't the story, the plot or character development. This is an extremely well written novel, one that kept me reading. I admire Ronald Everett Capps' talent. The man knows how to write. What I have a problem with is the consistent, unwavering leachery of alcoholic buddies Bobby Long and Byron Burns. I mean, okay, I get it--these men are horney. I also get that booze-soaked men who more than likely can't achieve a full erection must at least validate their waning manhood by leering at every woman who comes along. In fact, Capps portrayal of alcholism is all too real--randy and replulsive.

In the movie, the redeeming quality of the Burns and Long characters is that when eighteen-year-old Hanna (Johannson) finally turns to the pair and says, in response to yet another ugly verbal pass at her, "Ya'll. I'm just a girl," they hear her plea for decency and change their ways. Not so in the novel. In the novel, her plea goes unheeded. They call her "bitch" and "pussy" and hope to have sex with her until the very end. It's disturbing. Really disgusting.

I'd like to believe that the male gender is better than that. If all men actually quest for the sex act in any form, without consideration of who the girl or woman is, well, what kind of a world do we live in? I've read lots of dark novel with pervsions of many types. This is the first time I can say I was repusled. These men are supposed to be protecting Hanna, not trying to get into her teenage pants.

That said, I cannot fault the author's art. His craft is flawlessly executed. It's an interesting read, just disappointing after seeing the movie.

I enjoyed this book and got through it quickly. It's dark and sometimes depressing, but the writing is excellent. I felt I knew the characters and fell in love with them all.

I found out about this book after I rented the movie A Love Story For Bobby Long. I had walked past this movie in the store soo many times not thinking much of it. The movie ended up as one of the best movies I had ever seen. I found out it was based off the book Off Magazine Street. So I wanted to read the book to see which which had made the story so wonderful. All that's wonderful and draws you in the movie was already created and developed in this book. The only thing better about the movie I have to say was the ending. However anything essential that made the movie so wonderful was already captured and released in the same emotionally skilled strength in the book.

The author tells a story about the kinds of people never written about in length or detail, and the type readers don't usually pick up a book for. That some overlook and make assumptions about when they do see them, but most of the time don't see them at all. This book will make you laugh, question whether we are all a lil grey- in the black & white way we can judge whether people are good, bad or worthy of love, trust, and time. Its like putting on pair of glasses and seeing thru the authors eyes the good, bad and ugly but with a new appreciation. You ant help but have a fondness even for the characters flaws because they are honest and so intriguing. You will see for the first time or appreciate how lucky you have been to see in this way while others just walk along side what they are missing out on and never even know. Don't walk along and miss out on this book.

Advisory: not for those who cant stand a lil xxx language, its worth trying to.

The basis for the film "A Love Song for Bobby Long," this novel by Ronald Everett Capps is a languid, halting look at the depths to which a man's soul can plummet from such great heights. While by no means a hero, but not quite a scoundrel deserving of such heartbreak, Capps' view of Bobby Long is a rich tapestry of wordplay, images -- surreal, carnal and otherwise -- that evoke episodes of longing, lamentation and, ultimately, just desserts. By no means a plodding read, but not a fast one, either, this is a work to be savored and enjoyed. If you've a front porch and a comfy chair, by all means, use them. If not, just be sure to take your time with this piece of contemporary southern literature.

I saw the movie "A Love Song For Bobby Long" & as it was based on this novel bought the book, thinking that like most movies made the book would be much better. I was wrong on this one. The movie was actually a better story in my opinion.