Customer Reviews

Skirt and the Fiddle

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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.

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.

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.

This book was my introduction to Egolf who is an interesting writer. At times this was so hip, I really wasn't sure what was going on. Charlie is a half Cambodian, half black, alcoholic violin virtuoso whose gigs fall through and decides to live in a flop house. He works at a deli and moonlights bashing rats in the sewer on a pay per carcass basis. He buddies up with his friend sometimes called Tinsel, sometimes called Greetz, who does not believe in bathing or cleaning, calls himself an anarchist, and dreams of robbing a bank someday. After several spurts of bad behavior, the guys meet up with Louise Gascoyne, a wealthy jetset reporter who circles the globe looking for danger. She lures the guys out to an elegant restaurant, dresses them in Armani, gets Tinsel to take a bath, and then suffers from crabs which she extracts from the anarchist. The boys create havoc for a movie crew filming just outside of the upscale hotel as Charlie falls for Louise. Escaping through the lobby, Tinsel steals Louise's purse and camera. To get back at him, Charlie goes back and robs the deli, steals their truck, and sets up Tinsel to rob a bank as revenge. It's a fast-paced, improbable, but quite fun romp, filled with lunacy. We don't really get a sense of character which is sacrificed for the witty barrage of dialogue and the ambiance of the street. Eglof handles dialogue exceptionally well. Maybe the sequel will allow us to know the characters' motivating force. This one goes down quick and sweet. Enjoy!

I have just finished _Skirt and the Fiddle_, and in doing so I have read all three of the published novels of the late, lamented Tristan Egolf. I have been able to ascertain by my reading two equally valid, yet mutually exclusive conclusions about this work. 1) It is the best book by this particular author 2) It is the worst book by this particular author.

Now, normally I would try to defend both positions here, but I'll let that slide. The evaluation of a text is so subjective anyway; I will leave it up to you to decide. Not much happens in the story, but then a lot of little things happen as Egolf tells his tale again of an interesting low man brought lower yet redeemed (Think _A Confederacy of Dunces_).

However, there were a couple of things that I found interesting. He leaves a little nugget in a reference to the plot of his earlier novel, _The Lord of the Barnyard_. I like this post-modern slip of self-referentiality when it is not overdone when the tales are otherwise unrelated. Also, interestingly, he calls out his future text _Kornwolf_, which is something that would get fuller treatment as a thematic element if this were an academic paper I didn't want to write.

Stylistically, this book is one I called a gonzo collaboration of Hunter Thompson and David Foster Wallace. From my point of view that is a beautiful and dammed praise, as DFW's work is alienating and unpleasing to me. However, this alienation is avoided by Egolf; he is more humane and approachable. I wish he were still working and bringing beauty to this world.

Tristan Egolf's Lord of The Barnyard was what modern lit badly needed someone not obsessed with overly perfect prose and crystal clear simple sentences. I worried the follow up would be a disappointment. Skirt in The Fiddle is a fun swift read with a main character-Charlie who is duped into accepting a gig playing for a band called Volstagg defined by Egolf as "corporate-Satanic Limburger metal" and abandons his violin playing ending up in a flophouse. He also ends up bagging rats through the sewers for money-he is paid by the rat just an example of the way Egolf finds the oddball in the oridinary. Another example of Egolf's prose is a line on page 55 "watching him yak and prattle" this is what I enjoyed about Egolf's writing these fun sentences and clever witty prose not just dry and informative language. This a nice comical romp.

I loved Lord of the Barnyard. This was not good, plain and simple. The chapters didn't connect with each other, therefore a coherent story was never formed. Another problem is that you never really care about the characters. The chapters are such "skits" that they never seem remotely real or compelling. Finally, there is zero follow-through in anything that occurs. Everything is what it is with no resonance or greater importance. I'm guessing his next book will be better.