Strange Peaches [Paperback]

Edwin Shrake (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Harper's Magazine Press (1972)
• ASIN: B000OEP4VC
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Texas Mad Dog Fiction at Its Best, April 1, 2010

By 

OlingerStories - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Strange Peaches (Texas Monthly Press Contemporary Fiction) (Paperback)

Bud Shrake, the elite SI bonus writer of the 60s and 70s, dipped his toe into fiction with STRANGE PEACHES and the result is indeed a strange, but very good read. Set in Dallas in November 1963,the book chronicles the party days and nights of John Lee Wallace, local Texas boy made good in Hollywood, but distraught about the hypocrisy of life. Like the drinks his characters are always carrying, Shrake attempts to combine 2/3s comedy with 1/3 tragedy.
John Lee and his buddie Buster seemingly interact with the whole of Dallas, from famous to imfamous. They know Jack Ruby as a loud mouth owner of a strip bar, accidently film the Kennedy assassination,and then have the proof eaten by a goat.

The strength of the book is capturing the selfishness of the era.Rarely have more self-absorbed characters been put on print. The one of the great pleasures of the book is identifying the real life parallels. John Lee is Shrake himself. Buster is Gary Cartwright. Jingo, the star stripper, is the Jago,Ruby's star attraction. Big Earl and Little Earl are H.L. Hunt and Hassie Hunt. Clint Murchison, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Cowboys' QB Don Meredith,Shrake's literary twin Dan Jenkins, and North Dallas Forty author Peter Gent all show up in various incarnations.

The major weakness of the book is an absurd ending, one that suggests Shrake himself was getting tired of writing and had to figure out some way to end the mess. Or it might have been that he was high at the time and thought that it worked. But either way, the ending keeps the book from being a true classic.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars strange Peaches, June 9, 2008

By 

Kyle B. Burgy "Montie Burgy" (Rockwall, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Strange Peaches (Texas Literary Classics) (Perfect Paperback)

This is an excellent novel, well written, historically correct and extremely interesting. I love Bud Shrake's writing from an English Lit course I took in college. I recommend this novel.


MJSUNBEAM

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Less than the legend suggests, September 12, 2009

By 

Still Rockin (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Strange Peaches (Texas Literary Classics) (Perfect Paperback)

I was eager to read Strange Peaches after seeing quotes about how it hits the mark with its portrayal of Dallas at the time of President Kennedy's assassination. The first two-thirds of the book detail hard partying by a group of dysfunctional Texans. I suppose this was considered daring at the time, but it quickly turned mundane. The final portion was plagued by a rush to reach a conclusion. But the ending made no sense in the context of offering a snapshot of Dallas. In fact, it just seemed silly. I was disappointed and will approach any further investigation of the famous 1960s Texas literary scene with skepticism.