Fred Willard
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By: Longstreet Press
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Subjects -> Entertainment -> Humor -> Lawyers & Criminals
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> World Literature -> United States -> General AAS
Subjects -> Literature & Fiction -> Contemporary
Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18
Average rating: 4.0 of 5
Great book for Michael Moore fans 1 out of 5 stars.
4 of 11 people found this review helpful.
In the first few chapters, a rich Republican asks the hero to kill his wife, a Republican politician induces a solitary orgasm while watching anti-abortion wackos throw fetuses at a 15-year-old girl, and (presumably) Republican businessmen refuse to tip their waitresses. I stopped reading after the narrator has a dream in which everyone in America turns into cockroaches the day after Ronald Reagan is elected. I've read and enjoyed many books where conservatives are cast as the villains, but this isn't a novel - it's a dehumanizing and contempt-filled screed. But that's just my reaction. If you enjoy books by Michael Moore or Al Franken (and many people do), you'll probably love this.
Superb wordsmithing - content disappointing 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.
I made it all the way to chapter 13 of Down on Ponce. But there was only so much romanticification of cynism and picking and gouging at the scabs of a society woefully in need of positive recuperation for me to continue another page. I couldn't relate to any of the characters at all. Their lives spinning in underpowered autistic inertial spins was nauseating. The "grit" seemed contrived to draw me in, but reminded me of the faux cynic hardcase ambiance used as a dimly glowing subterranean lure found in so much of Hollywood fare lately (which is typically what I'm trying to avoid in my reading). The societal us/them split embossed throughout the story seems contrived, too black and white given the spewing relativism of the characters. The "enemy" is too conveniently defined and pidgeonholed while the closest things to protagonists believe in nothing at all. I imagine Willard might have screenplay material here, but more in the Pulp Fiction vein than the Shawshank Redemption vein.
On the other hand, the word-smithing was superb, and the descriptiveness was vivid while being very concise. Willard is clearly a very skilled writer and Down on Ponce is a very respectable display of talent. But I am not his audience.
Editorial Review:
This cracker-noir crime novel follows a crew of eccentric career criminals as they take down a powerful group of money launderers in Atlanta.
