The Mile High Club [Hardcover]

Kinky Friedman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2000

A beautiful woman on an aeroplane, hot-pink imitation leather suitcase, a trail of Arab terrorists, one corpse, a lot of cat shit, a pickled finger, several shots of Jamesons and countless cigars all bound up in another Kinky Friedman mystery.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What do you call someone who refers to any given objet as a "dingus," takes calls on a "blower," takes a "Nixon" rather than moving his bowels, and uses "ankles" as a verb? Try Kinky "Big Dick" Friedman, the fictional star of The Mile High Club, 1999's Spanking Watson, and 11 earlier amateur detective novels by the real-life musician-turned-novelist Kinky Friedman. As The Mile High Club opens, the Kinkster is holding forth with his gorgeous Middle Eastern seatmate, Khadija, on a flight from Dallas to New York City. As the plane begins its landing approach, Khadija rises to visit the loo, neither returning to her seat nor deplaning with the rest of the passengers. And Kinky's left holding her bag.

Unable to reach her and intrigued by several callers claiming that they, in fact, had Khadija's bag, Kinky and his real private-eye friend, Rambam, (Rambam, writer Mike McGovern and the Watson-like Ratso are the series's "Village Irregulars") jimmy open the bag to find, among other things, a vibrator.

"It has three gears apparently."

"Does it have four-wheel drive?"

"We have some slinky black lace panties, stockings, and lingerie."

"Many terrorists shop at Victoria's Secret."

"We have men's socks, undershirts, underwear."

"Boxers or briefs?"

"Extremely brief briefs. Khadija may be a little kinky. Pardon the expression."

"If that's all that's in there, what's the big fuss about? That's pretty much standard contents for most carryon luggage when the final destination is the Village."

"Yes, but they don't all include this," said Rambam, holding up a large plastic Baggie full of enough passports to make a customs agent put in for overtime.

And so it jauntily goes until its nifty surprise ending. Here, as in earlier cases, the plot is marginal and intentionally laughable. It's the straight man, really, enabling Kinky's well-done paeans to Sherlock Holmes, Dashiell Hammett, and Raymond Chandler, his three-page dissertations on outdoor urination, ruminations on Talmudic proscriptions against indoor nail-clipping, and, most appreciably, his obvious facility and fascination with the language. --Michael Hudson --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Aficionados of the Kinkster and his gang of Village Irregulars are in for another round of hilarious hijinks. On a plane from Texas to New York, the intrepid detective/humorist/musician agrees to keep an eye on the little pink suitcase of his seatmate, the exotic Khadija Kejela, when she excuses herself to go to the bathroom. She never returns. After the plane lands in New York, Kinky gets a call from Khadija about the suitcase, which he's taken with him, but she doesn't show up to claim it. Curious about the contents, Kinky and his PI pal, Rambam, force open the suitcase and find a plastic bag full of fake passports for possible Middle Eastern terrorists. Realizing that both he and Rambam may be in danger, Kinky rounds up his old friends Ratso and McGovern to help figure out what's going on. Mayhem ensues. This is guy territory, albeit Greenwich Village '60s style. When necessary, Kinky takes cover with his bottle of Jameson's, a couple of Monte Cristos (preferably No. 2), his espresso machine and his long-suffering cat, whose litter box becomes the hiding place for the passports. Sometime girlfriend Stephanie DuPont adds to the chaos. As usual, the mystery at hand counts for less than the time spent in Kinky's company. The fun is in the ba-da-boom dialogue and the throwaway references. Occasional lyrical passages amidst the raunch surprise and please. The resolution may not convince entirely, but Friedman fans will be too busy laughing to notice. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 6, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743201671
• ISBN-13: 978-0743201674
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars kinky out does kinky this time! fantastic!, August 22, 2000

By 

"loofrin" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mile High Club (Kinky Friedman Novels) (Hardcover)

I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an advanced reading copy of MILE HIGH CLUB. Man, this was one of the best, if not the best book kinky has given his fans (I've read all of them at least two or three times). This book ROCKED!!! It was funny, introspective, and had a little bit of kinky's charm (crudeness) just for fun. All the Village Iregulars are here: Ratso, McGovern, Stephanie, and even Winnie. And of course Kinky's muse, the infamous Cat is all up in there, too.

If you like good looking terrorists, interesting, side splitting dialogue, and most of all just love kinky for all he is worth then this book is a must! I haven't lauged so hard while reading a book since SPANKING WATSON. This book blew me away! Read it, dig it!

This book is a great way to come into kinky's world and join us die hard Kink-o-philes!

So, in short, yeah, I'd recommend the book. Can't wait for the next installment! So light a cigar, pet a cat, drink some Jamesons, and have a great time!

Thanks kinstah!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Why I read Kinky this Summer!, August 23, 2000

By 

John A. Gregorio (Castalian Springs, TN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Mile High Club (Kinky Friedman Novels) (Hardcover)

My theory is that few read mystery stories for the plots, at least after reading 50 or so, but for the characters or type of mystery, i.e. Cooking, Animal or Historical theme. This explains the popularity of Mike Hammer, Sherlock Holmes and thousands of Cat mystery stories. Kinky's newest novel gives you all the things Kinkyphiles love. The comments on life in general and specific, the cat, the dolls head on the refrigerator, and the cast of characters we have come to know and love ( or at least like alot). If you have liked Kinky in the past, you will love him in the present. If you haven't discovered the wit of Kinky you may want to start with an earlier work. And if you haven't heard his bands...click on the music section now!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deep look into a strange mind, October 22, 2000

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Mile High Club (Kinky Friedman Novels) (Hardcover)

As mysteries go, THE MILE HIGH CLUB was so-so. Fortunately, this wasn't about being a mystery. Instead, it was a look into the mind of a man who confesses that he doesn't have much luck with women yet doesn't seem surprised when the beautiful woman seated next to him on a plane visits him for some wild times. He is as concerned with getting a new kitty litter tray as he was with being visited by the State Department, the hacked off finger delivered to him, or the dead body on his toilet.

It's all tongue in cheek and a good time. While Friedman (the character) may not think much of women, remember--they don't think much of him either.