(no subject)

Gone Fishin' is kind of a bizarre book. Technically the sixth in the Easy Rawlins mystery series, it's actually a prequel, and not in any way a mystery - Easy's amoral friend Mouse is like, "I'm going to go take some money from my stepfather and possibly kill him!" And then he does. There is no mystery here, is what I'm saying.

Instead, it's sort of a gothic (the Southern variety, not the kind with ghosts and abandoned mansions) and sort of a coming-of-age/loss-of-innocence story, set in the isolated Texas town where Mouse grew up. The cast includes a solitary old lady, a hunchback, and a witch; the plot has murder and revenge and haunting backstory, and Easy spends most of it sick and traumatized in bed while Mouse is out setting up murder plans, going "SMALL TOWNS ARE CRAZY, I WOULD LIKE TO GO BACK TO THE CITY NOW WHERE PEOPLE ARE SANE." (And one can't really blame him.) It's a strange and dreamlike read, and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. (agonistes, I think you should read it, but largely that's because I'm selfish and would really like to see your thoughts.)