Ed Lynskey wrote: Speaking of the other "Charles the Great,"
BURNT ORANGE HERESY was IMO a ripe satire of the artsy-fartsy
set. And there's one scene early in a Hoke Moseley novel had
me laughing so hard I thought I'd need stitches. Maybe it was
SHARK INFESTED CUSTARD. His humor reminds me of Harry Crews.
I'll look for WILD WIVES.
******** It was hilarious and outrageous and absurd and
totally believable. The idea of a framemaker who becomes a
famous painter by hanging an empty frame over a crack in the
wall is delightful. And the artists from the two schools of
painting arguing about its interpretation was wickedly funny.
Remember the discussion about whether it would have the same
meaning if it hung somewhere else? BWAHAHA!
The book uses humor to launch a serious attack on the over-
inflated self-importance of professional critics. The
criticism is just as valid in the literary field. Ever read
Harold Bloom?
I ordered the SHARK INFESTED CUSTARD but it got cancelled for
some reason. But I'm not out of Willeford yet. I've got WOMAN
CHASER, MIAMI BLUES (thanks, Bill Denton) and THE MACHINE IN
WARD ELEVEN on the shelf. Of course I probably won't enjoy
THE MACHINE since it's short stories. ;-)
I'm going to work on the TBR pile for about a month and then
get the WRITING AND OTHER BLOOD SPORTS that Bill Denton
mentioned, along with the Willeford biography. If Willeford
was alive today I'd shake an angry index finger at him for
not writing about all those exciting times that came after
his first two autobiographies.
miker
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