Night of the Jabberwock -- Fredric Brown

Several things made me decide to re-read Night of the Jabberwock, and I'm glad I did. I liked it even better this time than when I read it long ago.

It's the story of Doc Stoeger, a fan of the Alice books, and what happens to him on one very busy night. (Contrary to the cover, there are no women involved. Well, hardly any. And where as the cover says that "it was a hot murderous night," Doc tells us at one point that it was "moderately cool." But never mind that.)

Doc is the editor of his small local paper, and he gets any number of good stories for his latest edition, only to have to pull all of them for one reason or another. Then a man comes to his house, and Doc believes the guy's an escaped lunatic. But lunatic or not, he has an interesting proposition for Doc, who in short order finds himself kidnapped by gangsters and framed for murder. And during the course of the book Doc consumes what must be about fifteen gallons of whiskey. Maybe a beer or two as well. Some gin, too.

I don't think I need to tell you any more because that would spoil the fun and the surprises. It's odd, the things I remembered about the book as I read it. I'd forgotten many of the major points while recalling some of the really minor ones.

Brown's a fine storyteller with a fine, straightforward style that seems a lot more simple than it really is. Night of the Jabberwock is good reading all the way. Check it out.