Customer Reviews

The Off Season

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

 

 

In the above review Jack Cady is quoted saying that he wanted to write a novel that Mark Twain would enjoy reading. Well, I've got news for you Jack. You've written a novel that RIVALS anything that came from that great American master.

Indeed, "The Off Season" is the true American novel. Only a nation as eccentric and interracial as the U.S. could claim true ownership of a town with such confusing and rule-breaking exploits as Point Vestal. A town which claims everything outside its jurisdiction is either a suburb of Seattle or Seattle itself.

This novel filled me with tears of laughter half of the time, tears of joy a quarter of the time, and tears of shame the rest. It is a hilarious and whimsical tale, and yet Cady's point is never lost throughout his excellent use of exagerration. (Let's just say his use of symbolism and metaphore is layed so thick that you can't help but notice and see truth in its illogic.)

My only complaint is that I can't get enough of him. Cady is the author of several books, and has won several awards, yet I can find scarcily anything written by him still in print. This is only the second novel by him I have read. (The first is Street, another novel definetely worth checking out if you can find it). I am left begging for more and if I can't find any soon I'll have to go to the Pacific Northwest and ask if I can read HIS copies!!!

Jack Cady taught at my Alma Mater, and even though I never had the opportunity to take a class from him I did meet him several times. I've since read most of his books and have enjoyed them all thoroughly. This may be the best of the bunch: funny, witty, satirical and very, very intelligent (much like the author himself). The writing is pure Cady: beautiful and lyrical without one wasted word or unnecessary phrase (Jack was infamous on campus for his red pen). Read this book, then read any other Cady books you can find. You won't be disappointed.

In the tradition of Tom Robbins and Richard Brautigan (with a dollop of magic realism), Jack Cady has written a book filled with word play, non-sequiturs, buildings that move themselves at will, a cat that speaks nearly all world languages and none of that can disguise the fact that this is an overstuffed God vs. the Devil, with mankind as a faithless witness, story as old and overworked as the hills. As usual in such stories, the most interesting character is the Devil and he's the least developed. Not worth your time.

A book that deserves a wider audience. Quirky, literate, ghostly, full of atmosphere and wonderfully offbeat humor, with scenes that have remained vividly alive in my memory since the first of several readings.

I really wanted to like this book. Really. I read some reviews, and it seemed to be just perfect. A horror story with humor, written in Mark Twain's style. Well, the writing is O'K. I have no clue if Twain would have liked the book, perhaps... I know I did not. Although written in lively language, and with sparks of humor now and then, it just tries too hard to be off-beat. Most of the ideas are simply uninteresting (cat purring in different languages). It somehow feels like recycled material sprinkled with a few jokes here and there. But the worst part was that I just did not care at all about the plot. Even if the book was mildly amusing, I could not force myself to keep on reading - I really did not care what happens next, and the book was not good enough to read on just for the pleasure of reading.