Customer Reviews

Whistlejacket (American Literature (Dalkey Archive))

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Man he's good. A friend of mine, or rather an acquaintence at this point, had Hawkes for a lecturer in school. And he was described to me as this geeky college prof and nothing out of the ordinary. I read a few of his earlier books (The 'Blood Oranges', 'Second Skin', and 'The Lime Twig') and it amazed me that this dude could make my skin crawl like that. I picked up 'Whistlejacket' and thought 'well this guys aged some I bet he's mellowed a little bit'. At first I thought I was right but it's more like Nolan Ryan's later years on the mound. Hawkes still delivers. He's just learned all the tricks and lures the the reader into an unwarranted sense of security. Later that old sick stomach comes back to haunt you.

I love Hawkes' writing. His An Irish Eye and the Blood Oranges are very good as well. Somehow he infuses a vbrant life into even his darker, stranger stories so that everything seems alive and full of light even while twisting in agony. Describing his writing is difficult as his style is unique. He was one of the top American writers of all time.

Whistlejacket is a fun read just for some of the short descriptive scenes and the subtelty with which Hawkes laces the interactions between his characters.

Oh, if you dislike horses, this book is not for you.