Killer Diller (Paperback)

by Clyde Edgerton (Author) "Vernon Jacksons sits on the side of his bed in his white Jockey undershorts-which have mostly separated from their waistband..." (more)
Key Phrases: shallow voice, killer diller, retarded boy, Project Promise, Ballard University, Nutrition House (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Good-natured North Carolina delinquent Wesley Benfield forms a controversial gospel band with his fellow halfway house inmates and falls in love in this whimsical sequel to Walking Across Egypt .
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal
YA-- Through a federal grant, Ballard University, a Baptist school in North Carolina sponsors a halfway house with the optimistic name "Back on Track Again." Its residents teach skills such as masonry, sewing, and plumbing to the public school's special-education classes. Former car thief Wesley Benfield, first introduced in Edgerton's Walking Across Egypt (Algonquin, 1987), lives there and teaches the art of bricklaying to 16-year-old Vernon Jackson. Vernon, although mentally handicapped, has a vivid imagination and a talent for hard-headed arguments. He also has an incredible musical talent. YAs will delight in Edgerton's finely drawn and wonderfully human characters. In addition to Wesley and Vernon, they will meet Wesley's girlfriend, a resident of the the university's Christian diet center; Mattie Rigsby, the grandmotherly instrument of Wesley's reformation; and Ned and Ted Sears, the gladhanding president and provost who seem more interested in Universtiy expansion than the word of God. The book abounds with lighthearted situations and with subtle satirical undercurrents. Edgerton humorously chides the Christian college establishment for its judgmental attitudes and opportunistic behavior. Killer Diller will surely provide side-splitting comic relief in this day of social, economic, and political crises.
- Carol Clark, R. E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (September 29, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345410300
• ISBN-13: 978-0345410306
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #872,738 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sequel Outshines the Original, January 4, 2004

By	"naceywright" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Killer Diller (Hardcover)

Eight years after the events of Walking Across Egypt, Edgerton resumes the story of now twenty-four-year-old Wesley Benfield, ex-con resident of a Baptist halfway house called BOTA (Back On Track Again). This sequel does what few sequels can: it outshines the original. I frequently laughed out loud and near the end, I was moved almost to tears. Edgerton is a Christian who can respectfully mine the foibles and humor of organized religion, specifically of his fellow Baptists, and more specifically of the men running Baptist colleges. The pompous Sears twins, Ted and Ned, are brilliantly drawn in their endless fund-raising and insensitivity to the genuinely disadvantaged. I was so pleased to find out that Mattie Rigsby was still alive at age 86, and that Wesley had promise despite his rocky start. As in Walking Across Egypt, though, Edgerton leaves us with a less than satisfying conclusion. Will Mattie be able to resume taking care of herself? Will Wesley end up back in jail? This time, there's no sequel, at least not yet.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty near as good as Mattie's home cookin', June 26, 2003

By	Peggy Vincent "author and reader" (Oakland, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Personally, I liked Raney and Walking Across Egypt better than this one, but it's still pretty damn good. Wesley , the delinquent sort of adopted by Mrs. Mattie Rigsbee in Walking Across Egypt, is now 24, and still a bit of a handful. He's a resident in a Christian halfway house in rural North Carolina. There's a love interest, a band, and there's Vernon, who 'bout steals the show when he appears on the page. And of course Mattie herself, who is older still but still cooking up a storm.
Good story, great author; sequel to follow, surely.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you went to Campbell University..., July 27, 2007

By	M. MCCRACKEN (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

you will enjoy this book. Edgerton taught there and the similarities between the fictional Baptist university and CU are difficult to miss.