Nobody who's read The Hereafter Gang has forgotten it. I think I can guarantee that. John Clute called it "one of the great American novels." Who am I to argue? It's a magical tale of life, death, and life after death. It's about the present and the past and adulthood and childhood. It's a road trip and a homecoming. It's hilarious and it's heartbreaking. It has a lot of sex in it, too. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.An aside: Neal Barrett, Jr., has been a publishing writer for 50 years now. Have you read his Aldair series from DAW Books? LOTR with pigs. Really. Wonderful stuff. Stress Pattern, also from DAW, another classic. Through Darkest America. What can I tell you? A classic post-apocalyptic tale, scary and funny. And then there are the crime novels, starting with Pink Vodka Blues. You've never read anything quite like them.
Any one of these books will make your day. Check 'em out.
4 comments:
My husband is doing an article on road books, I'll recommend this one.
Herafter Gang is a classic all right.
I also liked Pink Vodka Blues.
Wasn't there supposed to be a movie with Whoopi Goldberg?
Jeff
Neal was paid for the movie, but it never got made. For which we should probably be thankful.
Been reading this now for two weeks after I found it recommended in a Lansdale book. Anyone know which books it is? I think it had to be one of the Hap / Leonard books, but I'm not sure. This is a brilliant book, and can a book go wrong that's got foreplay line like: "Now let's see if you taste like Fritos on both ends." !!!
- LM
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