Skirt and the Fiddle [Paperback]

Tristan Egolf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2004

Author of the internationally acclaimed Lord of the Barnyard, Tristan Egolf has established himself as one of the most audacious and inventive young writers in America. With Skirt and the Fiddle, Egolf has given us a novel that is equal parts headlong plunge into the joys and absurdity of infatuation and a love song to the maddening folly of friendship. Charlie Evans is a brilliant violinist who, embittered by a truly horrendous gig, has kissed the fiddle and the entire straight world good-bye. He lives in a flophouse among misfits like Armless Rob, Emmylou Mattressback, and Tinsel Greetz, an ersatz anarchist and 200-proof charlatan. Mutually antagonistic and joined at the shot glass, Tinsel and Charlie nevertheless make a great team, and when they get a highly illegal, extremely lucrative gig killing rats in the sewers, they are a deadly, unstoppable force. The morning after dissipating their hard-earned money, the boys wake up in a strange (five-star!) hotel room with the worst hangovers of their lives. And when Charlie meets the bewitching Louise, who's offered them shelter — well, then he's in trouble of a whole new sort.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Charlie Evans finishes his last and most humiliating music gig, he tosses his violin aside and takes up life in a skid row boarding house populated by drifters, a dominatrix, and an unforgettable huckster named Tinsel Greetz. As in his first work, Lord of the Barnyard, Tristan Egolf's novel Skirt and the Fiddle swiftly brings readers into a world that is near--but nothing like--the one we know. Charlie and Greetz strike up a contentious friendship and commit spontaneous pranks around Philth Town, a fallen city populated by cruel bodega owners, dark alleys, and shady bars. They start thinking bigger when they land an illegal but lucrative gig killing sewer rats. But then Charlie falls for Louise Gascoygne and his friendly chemistry with Greetz goes awry. What follows is the duo's most interesting caper of all. As an author, Egolf has been compared to John Kennedy Toole, but his work also summons references to Jonathan Lethem and George Saunders. Beneath its bravado, the novel ultimately forces Charlie to make a choice between his passions: the adrenaline-pumping good times he begrudgingly shares with Greetz or the more profound passions he can experience by making music and love. --Jane Hodges --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

In this follow-up to his widely acclaimed debut, Lord of the Barnyard, Egolf creates a bizarre world peopled with cartoonish freaks, losers, and down-and-outers. Narrator Charlie Evans, a violin virtuoso and orphan of Asian-Afro-American parentage, ends up in a skid-row boarding house in Philth Town, somewhere near New York City. Among the residents is Tinsel Greetz, an anarchist and troublemaker with whom Charlie reluctantly forms a friendship. They take a high-paying job hunting rats in the sewers, but soon Charlie meets Louise Gascoygne, a wealthy beauty who somewhat improbably falls for him. Charlie strives to overcome his streak of bad luck and lack of confidence to attempt a happy ending with the lovely Louise. The novel features extended slapstick scenes of comic destruction and nightmarish wackiness, as Charlie and Tinsel run into waiters carrying full trays of food, kick over buckets of paint, and start a street riot. This energetic and entertaining work seems more like an expanded short story, but the author's vibrant writing and lunatic vision might be especially appealing to a younger (college age and up) audience. Jim Coan, SUNY Coll. at Oneonta
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press (April 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802140424
• ISBN-13: 978-0802140425
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,066,458 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great, June 24, 2004

By 

Psmith (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skirt and the Fiddle (Paperback)

This book is, above all else, very catching. I saw it while I was browsing at my local bookstore and started to read the first page. I had a great deal of trouble checking myself and remembering to buy the book instead of just reading the whole thing standing there. With moments of both insanity and downright strangeness, this book entertains from cover to cover.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stephen Hawking vs. Christopher Reeves, February 19, 2003

By 

bugger "robot monkey" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skirt and the Fiddle (Hardcover)

After the absolutely amazing 'Lord of the Barnyard', i went into this book hoping for the best and, admittedly, expecting the worst. What i got was much closer to the former than the latter, but still this book is as nothing compared to Egolf's first book. I would definitely recommend this if you're not looking for too much meaning in a book. it's one of the most fun reads i've had in a long time, and it only took me one night, so if you're strapped for time, you've got a winner. however, i can't write this review without stating that Tristan Egolf's first book is the finest piece of literature i've ever had the pleasure of reading.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still a breath of fresh air to modern Lit, September 9, 2002

By 

Daniel W. Noonan (Danbury, Connecticut USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Skirt and the Fiddle (Hardcover)

Over all I believe this Novel was one step below Lord of the Barnyard, but the sole reason is the length of the book. If you liked Lord of the Barnyard then you will love this as well, you will also be let down with how short it is.
Fortunately for Egolf fans that is the only flaw I really see in this book, I partially expected a sophomore slump, especially with the long wait for this release. But no, it held all the wit and humor that Barnyard held.
With such mediocrity in lit now a days, I dearly hope egolf continues to write, and is right now hard at work for a third novel... I just hope it doesn't take 4 years for his next one.