Incest, infidelity, and artificial insemination play major roles in this backwoods melodrama set in upstate New York—a first novel in the rural gothic tradition by a writer with a weird sense of humor. The trouble with the Cooter family farm lies less in its hilly Devon County location, where the soil has ``the consistency of chicken and dumplings,'' than with the eldest son and acting patriarch, Hooter Cooter—so called in honor of his peculiar laugh- -who rules the roost with utter ruthlessness and fury. The servile objects of Hooter's contempt include Mother Cooter, who adores him; Looter Cooter, Hooter's thieving younger brother; and Mary Jean, a pubescent sister with whom Hooter is carrying on an incestuous affair. Middle brother Scooter has ducked out in favor of a job with Century Semen, Inc., selling bull semen to farmers across the state. This act of betrayal irks Hooter no end, and he retaliates by ridiculing Scooter in front of the family, threatening Scooter's townie wife, Nora Anne, and scaring the daylights out of their kids—Craig, an overweight genius, and Ollie, the half-forgotten younger brother who narrates this tale. Soon, Scooter runs away, and in his father's absence Ollie is forced to confront the family's appalling demons on his own. While Ollie's mother commences an affair with the school psychologist, Hooter climbs into bed with a member of the church choir; Craig fires off scathing letters of protest to the local newspaper; and Ollie and Mary Jean hold voodoo sessions in a deserted farmhouse in an attempt to will Hooter's death. Tampering with the forces of darkness results in more destruction than Ollie bargained for, however—leaving the Cooter family in a shambles and a shell- shocked Ollie stumbling, more bewildered than ever, toward adolescence. Hooter, Scooter, and Looter will remind some readers of Carolyn Chute's The Beans of Egypt, Main—though this backwoods family is of a decidedly darker variety.
Pub Date: Jan. 29, 1992
ISBN: 1-56282-991-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1991
A treat for fans of The Evil Dead or Zombieland, complete with affordable solutions for better living.
A hardy band of big-box retail employees must dig down for their personal courage when ghosts begin stalking them through home furnishings.
You have to give it up for the wave of paranormal novels that have plagued the last decade in literature; at least they’ve made writers up their games when it comes to finding new settings in which to plot their scary moments. That’s the case with this clever little horror story from longtime pop-culture journalist Hendrix (Satan Loves You, 2012, etc.). Set inside a disturbingly familiar Scandinavian furniture superstore in Cleveland called Orsk, the book starts as a Palahniuk-tinged satire about the things we own—the novel is even wrapped in the form of a retail catalog complete with product illustrations. Our main protagonist is Amy, an aimless 24-year-old retail clerk. She and an elderly co-worker, Ruth Anne, are recruited by their anal-retentive boss, Basil (a closet geek), to investigate a series of strange breakages by walking the showroom floor overnight. They quickly uncover two other co-workers, Matt and Trinity, who have stayed in the store to film a reality show called Ghost Bomb in hopes of catching a spirit on tape. It’s cute and quite funny in a Scooby Doo kind of way until they run across Carl, a homeless squatter who's just trying to catch a break. Following an impromptu séance, Carl is possessed by an evil spirit and cuts his own throat. It turns out the Orsk store was built on the remains of a brutal prison called the Cuyahoga Panopticon, and its former warden, Josiah Worth, has returned from the dead to start up operations again. It sounds like an absurd setting for a haunted-house novel, but Hendrix makes it work to the story’s advantage, turning the psychological manipulations and scripted experiences that are inherent to the retail experience into a sinister fight for survival.
Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59474-526-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: July 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A fable about the consolatory and strengthening powers of religion flounders about somewhere inside this unconventional coming-of-age tale, which was shortlisted for Canada’s Governor General’s Award. The story is told in retrospect by Piscine Molitor Patel (named for a swimming pool, thereafter fortuitously nicknamed “Pi”), years after he was shipwrecked when his parents, who owned a zoo in India, were attempting to emigrate, with their menagerie, to Canada. During 227 days at sea spent in a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a 450-pound Bengal tiger (mostly with the latter, which had efficiently slaughtered its fellow beasts), Pi found serenity and courage in his faith: a frequently reiterated amalgam of Muslim, Hindu, and Christian beliefs. The story of his later life, education, and mission rounds out, but does not improve upon, the alternately suspenseful and whimsical account of Pi’s ordeal at sea—which offers the best reason for reading this otherwise preachy and somewhat redundant story of his Life.
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-15-100811-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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