Night People [Hardcover]

Barry Gifford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1992

Four linked stories follow two lesbian ex-cons determined to reeducate men, brother and sister preachers battling abortion rights, and a teenaged correspondent with Jesus. By the author of Wild at Heart. 10,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gifford (Wild at Heart) never shies away from confrontational fiction even when it strains credulity. Yet these four well-wrought, linked novellas, all dealing with struggle and violence--particularly violence toward women--and all set in dark corners of the South, all have the stamp of truth. Big Betty Stalcup and Miss Cutie Early, two lesbian ex-convicts, preach the gospel of Miss Jesus our Holy Mother as they search for one redeemable man--and leave in their wake the severed heads of the irredeemable. Beatifica Brown, a devout abortionist, is visited by the spirit of abolitionist John Brown, who counsels her to adopt his methods in fighting the anti-abortion zealots of Louisiana. Dallas and Dilys Salt, brother and sister rival evangelists and the parents of a 14-year-old with Down's syndrome, preach their respectively pro-life and pro-choice messages from the pulpits of the Church on the One Hand and the Church on the Other Hand. Fourteen-year-old Marble Lesson, who survives a bus wreck and an attempted rape, defines her philosophy in letters to Jesus. Gifford delights in improbable names: this volume is filled with characters known as the brothers Mano and Boca Demente, and places dubbed Egypt City, Fla., and Checkerboard Chucky's Change of Heart Bar. He writes with clarity and great economy, imbuing these weird and unsavory vignettes with an engaging lyricism. And the ever-present black humor buoys the narrative without trivializing either the characters or their plights.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Big Betty Stalcup and Cutie Early, lesbian cons on the lam, unleash a bloody reeducation campaign for "Miss Jesus." Twin pastors Dallas and Dilys Salt engage in guerrilla warfare over choice and homophobia. John Brown's body returns to inspire abortionist Beatifica Brown. Alcoholic Wes Lesson tries to turn his life around but gets a job with dope smugglers. His daughter Marble survives a lightning strike and attempted rape to become Jesus' special pen pal. Gifford again employs the formula of quirky characters, desperate situations, hilarious black humor, steamy Gulf Coast settings, simmering sexuality, neo-gothic horror, and interweaving plotlines that worked so well in earlier books like Wild at Heart ( LJ 3/1/91) and Sailor's Holiday (Grove Weidenfeld, 1990). The results are anything but formulaic. Night People will enrage pious partisans of both the religious right and the politically correct left but will utterly delight lovers of good satire and thrill-a-minute road stories. Very highly recommended, but if you decide to motor on down to the Nabakov Juvenile Depository for Females in Thanatossa, don't pick up no strangers or fill up at the Red Devil, hear?-- Jim Dwyer, California State Univ. at Chico
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Grove Pr; 1st edition (October 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802115381
• ISBN-13: 978-0802115386
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #324,544 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Night People is probably the best book I have ever read., January 25, 2000

By 

Eric Schiller - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night People (Gifford, Barry) (Paperback)

This book is a brilliant web of intertwining stories that left me wishing I could meet it's characters for coffee. Barry Gifford must be the best author in the world right now. His style is unmatched, and his subject matter is great. Gifford makes the strange commonplace while his characters try to tether themselves to reality. A beautiful book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gifford's finest, September 30, 2010

By 

Thomas Moyer - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night People (Gifford, Barry) (Paperback)

More than any other writer I can think of, Barry Gifford understand the impact of the written word. He is able to create several memorable characters in just over two hundred pages, with chapters lasting no more than a few pages each. Ten years have passed since I first read this book, but its characters are still etched in my mind. In a perfect world Barry Gifford would be as famous as Elmore Leonard, instead Gifford is criminally underrated.

David Lynch was supposed to make a film adaptation of this book. Too bad he didn't. The book's twisty narrative would have revolutionized cinema as much as Pulp Fiction did.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, March 5, 2005

By 

'Eden Philipson' - See all my reviews

This review is from: Night People (Gifford, Barry) (Paperback)

If there is one thing I love about Barry,it's his talent for creating original offbeat characters.This book is fun.It isn't meant to be taken too seriously.Therefore the sensible thing to do is not take it seriously.Just read it and have a good time.That's what I did.