Customer Reviews

The Second Half of the Double Feature

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

 

 

As a huge Charles Willeford fan, I try to read everything by the master I can get my hands on. Taken as a whole, this collection of 25 short works does not come up to his usual high standards. Six or 7 of the included works do qualify as compelling reading. An unfinished novel entitled "The First Five in Line..." is vintage Willeford. It has wonderful character sketches and insightfully predicts the current phenomenon of reality TV. Too bad it was never completed. Also among my favorites is "The Man who Loved Ann Landers", a short story consisting of a series of letters by a delusional lumberyard owner to the well known syndicated columnist. It is hilarious and very well crafted. Unfortunately, too many of the other stories miss the mark by lacking sufficient substance to make for a satisfying reading experience. The Kafka inspired "Everybody's Metamorphosis", which is apparently intended to be a satire of literary criticism, comes off as just plain tedious. Exactly the opposite of what one expects from Charles Willeford. The paperback edition contains several typographical errors that are a minor distraction.

All or at least almost all of Willeford's previously published poetry is contained in the hardback version of THE SECOND HALF OF THE DOUBLE FEATURE, along with several previously unpublished poems. But none of his poetry is in the paperback version. I'd go with the hardback version.

It is really nice that his poetry has been republished--it would've cost hundreds or possibly thousands of dollars to collect it all just prior to this book's publication.

This also contains most of the short stories and sketches that were previously published in a limited edition volume called EVERYBODY'S METAMORPHOSIS. Plus it contains some previously unpublished short works.

I would not recommend reading this until you are familiar with some of Willeford's great works, for example, COCKFIGHTER, THE BLACK MASS OF BROTHER SPRINGER, THE BURNT ORANGE HERESY, all of which are now fairly easy to acquire now that they have all recently been republished due to a recent surge in people discovering the brilliance of Willeford.

And I probably wouldn't read this until I'd read this incredibly interesting man's two brilliant autobiographies SOMETHING ABOUT A SOLDIER and I WAS LOOKING FOR A STREET.

By then, you will have become a Willeford fan, and after you have become a Willeford fan, or if you already are one, then you will understand why you must read the rest of his work, including THE SECOND HALF OF THE DOUBLE FEATURE.

I got an advance copy of this and it is absolutely brilliant. I've read most of his novels and yet this manages to catch me off guard. It's not strictly a crime collection, even though it is very recognizably the work of this offbeat master. What's most surprising about it is some of the unpublished stuff: it's just as good as the stories that have been printed before (and none of this is easily available). If you like Willeford, this is essential reading. If you're scratching your head wondering who this guy is... Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarantino seem to love his stuff, and this is a great introduction to his body of work. It's funny, raunchy, eccentric, but it's above all insightful into the motivations and actions of the characters, and his dialogue is brilliant. Definitely worth checking out.

I received an advance copy of this collection and if you like Willeford, you're absolutely going to love this selection. It has 25 stories, almost none of which I had read before, and the variety in these stories is -- to put it mildly -- surprising. I wasn't expecting Willeford to write about a male "Tupperware Party", but it makes perfect sense when I read it.

It's laugh-out-loud funny in spots and Willeford's characters are brilliant as always. He has rich dialogue, and the situations are either well plotted or perfectly observed. There's more insightful and wry commentary on male-female relationships here than there is violent crime (though yes, there's that too), and the stuff that was unpublished before is just as good as the rest of it. I can see why Elmore Leonard and Quentin Tarantino love his work -- let's just hope Curtis Hanson makes those Hoke Moseley movies someday soon. Essential reading.

I bought this book because I read a glowing review of it in our weekly rag. This same weekly often extols the virtues of local bands that I've never heard of and usually never hear of again. It would seem that the reviewer of this book had as much on-track knowledge of good literature as the music reviewers in his shared rag have of what makes a good band. This book is a painful example of an author who apparently was a monument unto himself. The stories in it are boring and, in many cases, written with a pompous air. The ones that aren't, are mostly depressing. I doubt that I will give this author a second chance.