Monday, June 29, 2009

Joe Lansdale in the Austin Chronicle

Books: Sometimes Rumble, Sometimes Tumble: Joe Lansdale may be Texas' bloody answer to Mark Twain - The Austin Chronicle: "Joe Lansdale was 4 when his father bought him a puppy. The dog soon started digging in a flower bed across the creek from their home, so an irate neighbor cracked the dog across the head with a steel pipe and tossed the limp critter into the creek to die. His father heard the news and marched to the neighbor's house with young Joe tagging along behind. 'He hit him just as hard as he could and knocked him cold out,' Lansdale remembers. 'Then he threw the guy in the creek. My father found the dog, which was alive, and nursed it back to health. I was nearly 18 when that dog died.' That moment speaks volumes about the man and the writer Lansdale would become while staying ever close to his East Texas roots."

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good article. I've become a big fan of Lansdale's work lately (last thing of his that I've read is Mucho Mojo). Why isn't he a rock star-like celebrity here in the States too?

Unknown said...

Good question. The Italians lead the way.

Gerard Saylor said...

That explains the Italian documentary about Lansdale on YouTube.

Todd Mason said...

Italiani siamo ben noti per il nostri gusto e discrezione.

Todd Mason said...

I got perhaps one word of her every five...I like the voiceover translator for the Italian audience, a voice to be recknoned with, thoug "Kung Fu Fighting" as a walk-on theme was a bit much.

Gerard said...

So, is that Kasey on the novel cover or did she just do those other promos?

Todd Mason said...

The cover model for Knopf wasn't blessed quite the same way that Kasey Lansdale was. Or perhaps I assume too much about the former's musical talents.

Yes, the locution you're groping for is "Dood! Way to get your subtle on!"