Pelikan [Unknown Binding]

David Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 1999

Pelikan is one of the rarities of modern fiction: rousing and well written, a book with humor that never insults intelligence even as it outrages propriety. The journey begins when thirty-three-year-old Charlie Curtis travels to New Orleans on a deathbed assignment from his father to find the father's half-brother -- James Joseph Pelikan, who rules the French Quarter from midnight until dawn in places where tourists seldom venture. Charlie is barely off the train when he witnesses the murder of one of Pelikan's cronies by a woman whose only adornment is a fishhook through her lower lip. There ensues a drama, a caper, a quest.

Although unschooled, James Joseph Pelikan delivers outrageous riffs on such topics as the Mississippi River's being America's alimentary canal...and what that makes New Orleans. A pimp who arranges sex parties, he also serves as a paladin for nuns; he hustles and scams but will also bathe and feed the most wretched of the homeless; cruel and manipulative (he manages to break Charlie's heart and his finger), Pelikan is so obsessed by redemption that he'll use a toothbrush to clean sidewalks outside St. Louis Cathedral. That Charlie would eventually join this seducer in a hurricane-whipped burglary has more to do with loyalty than larceny.

In Pelikan, David Lozell Martin, acclaimed thriller writer and author of a literary classic, The Crying Heart Tattoo, has created something reminiscent of A Confederacy of Dunces with the kind of oddball characters and sense of place found in Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard. Martin combines his skills as a writer of dark suspense (Lie to Me; Tap, Tap) and literary novels (The Beginning of Sorrows) to make Pelikan a carnival ride to enlightenment.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A comic romp through the dark underbelly of New Orleans in Martin's latest (after Tap Tap) begins when protagonist Charlie Curtis is instructed by his dying father to check up on the "Pelikan," the French Quarter's notorious criminal kingpin who is also Charlie's uncle. Charlie's journey quickly turns him into a murder suspect when an "associate" of his uncle is murdered by a naked, tattooed young blonde who disappears from the crime scene, leaving Charlie literally holding the smoking gun. Charlie is quickly picked up and worked over by a strange police detective named Mean Gene Renfrone, who is actually working for one of the Pelikan's rivals, Philippe Gallier, a corrupt Creole, in an ongoing local underworld war. When the police put the squeeze on Charlie in the murder investigation, the Pelikan hires an attorney for him who turns out to be Amanda, the old flame Charlie never forgot, who jilted him 12 years ago to become the Pelikan's lover. As Charlie is bounced back and forth between the Pelikan, Gallier and the police, he learns that a pivotal element in the ongoing battle is a massive heist the Pelikan has planned at a New Orleans repository, a robbery that takes place sooner than expected, rescheduled to coincide with the convenient appearance of a hurricane that will keep police occupied elsewhere. The various story lines are mostly a setup for Lozell's humorous take on a bizarre New Orleans, where women wear fishhooks through their lower lips to discourage blow jobs and a rat eats out of a young punk's mouth. Though startling and fresh at first, the shocks dazzle less as the novel progresses and the plot loses steam, fizzling out entirely during an unsatisfying, anticlimactic final robbery scene. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Martin's many fans, accustomed to the bizarre characters, black humor, and absurd events in his recent novels (e.g., Cul-de-Sac), will find he has outdone himself here. Summoned to New Orleans to help his uncle James Joseph Pelikan, a hapless Charlie Curtis finds himself enmeshed in a plot to burglarize a repository to recover a relic sacred to an order of nuns. At the same time, he must dodge a murder rap, a mysterious doctor, a sociopathic cop, and numerous clowns, hookers, and other low-lifes of the French Quarter. This comic thriller is the ninth book by a gifted writer with an eye, and an ear, for the unusual. Highly recommended.
-ARoland C. Person, Southern Illinois Univ. Lib., Carbondale
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Unknown Binding: 320 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (November 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684853485
• ISBN-13: 978-0684853482
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,482,857 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Breathtaking Love-Hate Novel About New Orleans, September 3, 2000

By 

Patrick Burnett "penngos" (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pelikan

I seem to be in the minority here, not being a relative of David Lozell Martin's. For the record, I am sceptical of writers whose review pages are salted liberally with glowing reviews written by relatives, their publishers and/or a huge number of reviews written by "A Reader" (these are often written by the author himself, in the hope of bolstering sales or acceptance. I don't necessarily think that is the case here (since the positive reviews are so...oddly...written), but I thought I would let you know where I was coming from, since two of the reviews here were written by Martin's sister and niece.

Now, on with the real review.

"Pelikan" is a novel about a man named Charlie Curtis who has been poisoned by his own lack of ambition, which he blames on a betrayal by his uncle. No, wait. "Pelikan" is a novel about James Joseph Pelikan, an evil, violent pimp and junkie who sleeps with his nephew's girlfriend, breaks his nephew's finger and ties birds to a christmas tree and refuses to allow anyone to help them as they flutter madly, trying to escape, breaking wings and legs. Um, wait. "Pelikan" is a novel about James Joseph Pelikan, the self-styled "King of the French Quarter", who takes the wounded under his wing, rights wrongs and settles disputes, undertakes a dangerous mission on behalf of a distant religious order, and physically washes and purifies an old bum as Christ might have done, all without thought of his own reward. Um, no. It's about clowns. I mean, nuns who plan a heist.

Aw, hell. It's about all these things, but really it's about a ragged old gal called the vieux carre who has seen better days, but still paints herself up for the tourists and makes a go of it.

This is the first novel I have read by David Lozell Martin and I confess to being confounded and amazed. His prose seems effortless, oddly beautiful, even when describing horrible realities like death, homelessness, betrayal and cruelty. Perhaps his most amazing feat is his description of Hurricane Emily as almost human, flinging herself across hundreds of miles to die in the arms of the French Quarter, like a tragic lover. I was spellbound through the entire novel, but the last hundred pages kept me rooted to my chair, turning pages automatically.

This is also a novel of comic madness, reminiscent of Carl Hiassen's Floridian cycle, easily as insane as Toole's "Confederacy of Dunces". I laughed at least every other page, and I am not someone who laughs out loud at books.

The city of New Orleans, specifically the French Quarter, makes a grand showing here; Martin describes her in brutally honest terms that may frighten those who have never visited or cause those of us who love her wince. But it is obvious that Martin, too, is in love with her, just not too blind to see her as she truly is.

The "Felony Theft" of the subtitle seems thrown in almost as an afterthought - the book would have been just as good without it.

I wish I could give this book higher marks, but "Five Stars" is all they'll allow. Pity.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another fabulous story!, November 23, 1999

By 

pfloyd24 "pfloyd24" (Chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pelikan

This is such an amazingly original story and collection of characters. This story is not for the politically correct audience. THANK GOD! It's great to have someone tell a story the way they think it should be told, not trying to match the bland writing that is so readily available these days. If you want a story that is different from ANYTHING you've ever read, try David Martin. You won't be disappointed. You can't be!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the best book i have ever read, July 17, 2003

By 

Kimbro (Kentucky United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pelikan (Paperback)

David L. Martin is the best!
After reading 7 out of 9 of his novels, Pelikan turns out to be my fav. Not only my fav, but probably the best book I've ever read. Don't read this if you are offended by clowns, hookers, fish hooks, and hair. HA The book should be made into a movie. It has all the characteristics that you expect out of a book. Drama, suspense, and humor. Oh my gosh, I think I laughed out loud in every chapter. My favorite funny part comes with Gallier in the limo with the pirate and the girl who thinks he is a movie producer. Please join the Lozell club, he is a diverse writer.... horror (Bring Me Children and Cul-de-Sac) and great literary novels (The Beginning of Sorrows, Crying Heart Tattoo) and Pelikan... THE BEST !