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Title: SHARK-INFESTED CUSTARD, THE by Charles Willeford ISBN: 0-440-21881-0 Publisher: Dell Publishing Pub. Date: 01 April, 1996 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 5 (3 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Ah, to have buddies like these?
Comment: Even the title is intriguing, although it has little to do with the story behind it. After savoring the title, you will find that this is a real "buddies" yarn, consisting largely of first-person versions of the same events seen from different points of view. The four main characters, though differing considerably in personality and profession, have in common their age (mid-30's), residence (Miami apartment complex), and an interest in picking up women. In fact, it is the pickup game that leads to the inconvenient incident of the teenage druggie dying of an overdose in the car. Willeford uses this event to introduce the idea that these men are not just drinking pals but that their relationship pervades their lives in various ways. We see how they complement one another in collaborating to get rid of the body. And this sort of problem occurs a couple more times, since they do have this difficulty with handguns in that whenever a pistol appears, someone ends up embarrassingly dead. But Willeford disposes of the bodies between chapters, without bothering the reader with details. Because he is not writing a crime novel. These violent happenings are introduced to see how the four friends will react as a group. He manages to create plenty of suspense by dealing with how the group collaborates in solving their individual and complicated domestic problems. And he is inventive enough to keep the reader hooked until the end. Willeford's expert writing provides a transparent window into his characters' lives. He is so accomplished that you almost think you could do it yourself. As in other of his novels, he finds opportunity to satirize men's clothing styles (early on, he discovered the vein of humor uncovered by whoever induced men, or their wives, to believe that male clothing styles should change every year or so - remember the Nehru jacket?). I read this book while recuperating from minor abdominal surgery, and the description of the "makout" attire affected by one of the buddies put me in danger of literally splitting my sides. All in all, this book is among the best from an always superior writer.
Rating: 5
Summary: Tarantinoesque
Comment: Quentin Tarantino has admitted to being influenced by the writing of Charles Willeford, and the "The Shark Infested Custard" is the most Tarantinoesque of Willeford's novels. Too hardcore to be published in the 70's, it finally was released after the writer's death. Anybody who has seen "Pulp Fiction" will notice obvious parallels with Willeford's novel: for example, the first chapter (whose surprises, by the way, are given away on the back cover, so I'm not spoiling anything) ends with a drug dealer being killed when a gun "accidentally" goes off. There's lots of raunchy sexual content, scattered outbursts of violence, and a few small dollops of racism. The novel's heroes are four self-absorbed borderline sociopaths, and the story consists of four separate interconnected narratives. Incidentally, Tarantino is writing the introduction to an upcoming Willeford reprint; maybe he could film one of his novels and give Willeford's writing even wider exposure. ("The Woman Chaser" would make a great Tarantino movie...)
Rating: 5
Summary: Charles Willeford's Best Book
Comment: Willeford himself considered this his best book and if you read it you'll see why. Technically a novel, the book is really short storie with the same characters--four sociopathic swingers in Miami. Set in the seventies, the plot may have been too risque for its time, but with movies like Pulp Fiction and In the Company of Men invading our pop culture the bleak story is more timely than ever. A masterpiece of crime fiction.
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Title: Miami Blues by Charles Willeford ISBN: 0345320166 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 12 April, 1985 List Price(USD): $3.95 |
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Title: New Hope for the Dead by Charles Willeford ISBN: 0345338391 Publisher: Ballantine Books Pub. Date: 12 December, 1986 List Price(USD): $4.99 |
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Title: The Machine in Ward Eleven by Charles Ray Willeford ISBN: 1568582102 Publisher: Four Walls Eight Windows Pub. Date: 09 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Burnt Orange Heresy by Charles Willeford ISBN: 0786706686 Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub. Date: January, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Sideswipe by Charles Ray Willeford ISBN: 0312001886 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: February, 1987 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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