Customer Reviews

The Natural Man

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is one of those memorable books that will have you constantly laughing. And what makes it so memorable is that it's a veritable encyclopedia of "off-color" popular culture of the '50's. You will find hundreds of ancient raunchy jokes imbedded in the text as well as side-splitting acounts of the prissy mores of that time. What's striking is how innocent it all seems--what was considered offensive back then is virtually G-rated next to something like Eminem. A wonderful read.

More than just being one of the funniest books I've ever read, the book is a masterpiece of economy of language. I've re-read it many times and always wish that other writers took such care to craft every sentence so perfectly. Rumor has it that the Kinky Friedman of Kentucky has a sequel in the works. Stay tuned for the Return of the Son of Needmore!

McClanahan creates a delicate and engaging balance of innocent nostalgia and R-rated humor, chronicling the adventures of bored (but never boring) high school students in a tiny, rural Kentucky town in the late 1940's. Charming, light-hearted, and well-written.

As the other reviews attest, this is a very funny novel. And my only question, after reading it a dozen times since it's publishing date, is: how come some smarty-pants hasn't seen fit to make it into a movie?

If he upped his output, Ed McClanahan could be the Faulkner of the Midwest. He can certainly run-on a sentence like the Laureate of Yoknapatawpha could, only using it more sparingly.

This book is a lot funnier ... probably owing to the geography as much as the subject matter -- growing up male, insecure, and horny in small-town southern north central Kentucky, on the cusp of television and Masters and Johnson. I split a gut every time I read my copy from the first paperback printing.

On a scale of 1 to 10 this book rates a 21! I swear I almost peed my pants from laughing so hard. Ed McClannahan is truly a gifted writer and he seems like the kind of guy you'd like to sit down and drink a beer with. By the way: if you like McClannahan (and you will!) you will also enjoy "The Luckiest Man In The World" by Randall Silvis, another of my favorite authors. - Thomas