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Fup
First published in 1983, this story is set in the coastal hills of Northern California between 1880 and the present. The tale revolves around three characters: two humans and one duck. Jim Dodge is the author of "Not Fade Away" and "Stone Junction".
59 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1983
46 people are currently reading
2,289 people want to read
About the author
Jim Dodge
22books195followersJim Dodge is an American novelist and poet whose works combine themes of folklore and fantasy, set in a timeless present. He has published three novels, Fup, Not Fade Away and Stone Junction and a collection of poetry and prose, Rain on the River. Dodge was born in 1945 and grew up as an Air Force brat. As an adult he spent many years living on an almost self-sufficient commune in West Sonoma County, California. He has had many jobs including apple picker, a carpet layer, a teacher, a professional gambler, a shepherd, a woodcutter and an environmental restorer. He received his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing/Poetry from the University of Iowa Writers Workshop in 1969. He has been the director of the Creative Writing program in the English Department at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California since 1995. He lives in Manila, California with his wife and son. (from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 454 reviews
August 20, 2024
This is me applauding.
A wacky tall tale from the Americas. Felt like I was listening to Granddaddy Jake telling this yarn in his deadpan style, whilst taking very delicate sips of his hooch.
The story felt deep and full of meaning. Okay I cannot quite grasp the full meaning, only slight glimpses at the moment. Maybe more sips of hooch are called for. Seriously though, I want to take away with me for sure:
Be still, see, just look and ponder and take in the view, beautiful or not, just be still.
Not all things in life are meant to be understood. Some are there for us to touch them with wonder and applaud.
This is me applauding.
I read this on Christmas afternoon whilst lounging on the sofa on my rooftop garden covered with a luxurious llama poncho.
This book is part of what I'm calling .
A wacky tall tale from the Americas. Felt like I was listening to Granddaddy Jake telling this yarn in his deadpan style, whilst taking very delicate sips of his hooch.
The story felt deep and full of meaning. Okay I cannot quite grasp the full meaning, only slight glimpses at the moment. Maybe more sips of hooch are called for. Seriously though, I want to take away with me for sure:
Be still, see, just look and ponder and take in the view, beautiful or not, just be still.
Not all things in life are meant to be understood. Some are there for us to touch them with wonder and applaud.
This is me applauding.
I read this on Christmas afternoon whilst lounging on the sofa on my rooftop garden covered with a luxurious llama poncho.
This book is part of what I'm calling .
November 23, 2021
What a wonderful, charming story about a duck and life and death. An American folktale. Magical and deep. Only 52 pages but I spread it over a few days. The writing is beautiful. Just what I needed.
June 28, 2016
Jake Santee has discovered the secret to immortality: a home-made whiskey called Ol� Death Whisper. Sup this and you’ll live forever! When his daughter unexpectedly dies, 99 year-old Jake takes in his grandson Tiny, who of course grows up to be a giant! The two live happily on the farm until they make an enemy: the wild pig Lockjaw. While hunting Lockjaw one day, Tiny finds an abandoned baby duck and takes her in. Her name? Fup.
Jim Dodge’s novella is an absolutely delightful read and I’m pleased to say it holds up nearly 15 years after I first read it. Dodge’s writing is hard to describe but it’s unique and genius - this guy is a master and reading his sentences sets my brain on fire in ways few writers have ever done. This is someone who could describe next to nothing happening and hold you entranced the entire time! I’ve never read a writer like him.
The characters are charming and sharply realised from Grandpaw Jake to quiet Tiny and the irascible Fup. It’s a very short read but Dodge firmly entrenches his characters into your mind. Jake in particular is a charismatic old coot - like the characters in Dodge’s best novel, Stone Junction, he’s a gambler and a storyteller with a potty mouth (the best kind of storyteller). Fup’s name for example - Fup, Duck = Fucked Up. Silly but kinda funny and perfectly in keeping with the character.
If there’s a criticism it’s that the narrative doesn’t go anywhere once Fup is introduced. It’s basically Tiny, Fup and Jake hunting Lockjaw but they don’t do it the whole time and meander around doing cutesy things with Fup like take her to the drive-in or try to teach her to fly.
The fable part of the story is one of the last things to happen. Without spoiling it, I’m not entirely sure what the message is besides something weak like learning to forgive your enemy maybe? I choose to believe it’s got no message at all purely because the surrealism is so wonderful and the fate of our characters too beautiful to be ruined by attempts at understanding it - it just happens and it’s a great ending. Not everything needs a meaning, sometimes the imagery alone is enough.
Fup is a masterfully-written, totally engaging and enormously fun read by one of America’s best kept literary secrets, Jim Dodge. At little over a short story’s length Fup’s a very quick read but it’ll stay with you for years. Highly recommended to everyone who likes their stories humorous and spiked with a lil magical realism!
Jim Dodge’s novella is an absolutely delightful read and I’m pleased to say it holds up nearly 15 years after I first read it. Dodge’s writing is hard to describe but it’s unique and genius - this guy is a master and reading his sentences sets my brain on fire in ways few writers have ever done. This is someone who could describe next to nothing happening and hold you entranced the entire time! I’ve never read a writer like him.
The characters are charming and sharply realised from Grandpaw Jake to quiet Tiny and the irascible Fup. It’s a very short read but Dodge firmly entrenches his characters into your mind. Jake in particular is a charismatic old coot - like the characters in Dodge’s best novel, Stone Junction, he’s a gambler and a storyteller with a potty mouth (the best kind of storyteller). Fup’s name for example - Fup, Duck = Fucked Up. Silly but kinda funny and perfectly in keeping with the character.
If there’s a criticism it’s that the narrative doesn’t go anywhere once Fup is introduced. It’s basically Tiny, Fup and Jake hunting Lockjaw but they don’t do it the whole time and meander around doing cutesy things with Fup like take her to the drive-in or try to teach her to fly.
The fable part of the story is one of the last things to happen. Without spoiling it, I’m not entirely sure what the message is besides something weak like learning to forgive your enemy maybe? I choose to believe it’s got no message at all purely because the surrealism is so wonderful and the fate of our characters too beautiful to be ruined by attempts at understanding it - it just happens and it’s a great ending. Not everything needs a meaning, sometimes the imagery alone is enough.
Fup is a masterfully-written, totally engaging and enormously fun read by one of America’s best kept literary secrets, Jim Dodge. At little over a short story’s length Fup’s a very quick read but it’ll stay with you for years. Highly recommended to everyone who likes their stories humorous and spiked with a lil magical realism!
May 10, 2019
I like goodreads very much because it helps me to find something good to read, books that I would never have heard of otherwise. In this case a fellow user of goodreads recommended Fub to me, and from the blurb I could see it might be an interesting read. Thanks. It was.
I’m a big fan of the late Richard Brautigan, and Fup feels quite similar to his work. Both Brautigan, and Dodge were poets before writing fiction, and it shows. There is a poetic quality there, reality in their works is flexible, and unexplainable things happen. It’s a world that I like visiting.
But the other thing they have in common is humor. You can kind of see it straight from reading the blurb. I mean, a novella about a 99 years old gambler who has been told he is immortal, his giant grandson that likes to put up fences, and a duck is not going to be terribly serious. And it wasn’t. It’s actually funny. In fact, I thought it was laugh out loud funny at times.
It’s a book that I will most likely revisit sooner or later. I just liked it that much.
I’m a big fan of the late Richard Brautigan, and Fup feels quite similar to his work. Both Brautigan, and Dodge were poets before writing fiction, and it shows. There is a poetic quality there, reality in their works is flexible, and unexplainable things happen. It’s a world that I like visiting.
But the other thing they have in common is humor. You can kind of see it straight from reading the blurb. I mean, a novella about a 99 years old gambler who has been told he is immortal, his giant grandson that likes to put up fences, and a duck is not going to be terribly serious. And it wasn’t. It’s actually funny. In fact, I thought it was laugh out loud funny at times.
It’s a book that I will most likely revisit sooner or later. I just liked it that much.
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September 2, 2024FUP, de Jim Dodge
“Fup� é um livro nada convencional, daqueles que tem uma história que fica até difícil de explicar para outros leitores. Como um senhor, uma criança e uma pata de estimação � sim, você leu direito - podem, em pouco mais de 120 páginas, construir uma narrativa gostosa e, ao mesmo tempo, inteligente? Talvez seja essa peculiaridade que faz de “Fup� um queridinho de muitos, desde a sua publicação, em 1983.
Com o falecimento de sua filha, Jake assume, prestes a completar 100 anos, a tarefa de criar o seu neto. O personagem tem pensamentos excêntricos e acredita que descobriu o segredo para a imortalidade: um whisky fortíssimo que ele mesmo produz. Cabe ao leitor decidir se acredita naquele senhor ou se ignora a desculpa utilizada pelo personagem para justificar a sua paixão pela bebida.
E quando Fup, a pata, chega para participar das aventuras do neto e de seu avô, todos se mobilizam para caçar um porco selvagem gigante que destrói as cercas da propriedade onde moram. Aliás, Miúdo, o neto, é ficcionado por construir cercas. Toda essa descrição deixa claro que essa é uma fábula que precisa ser lida, já fica difícil convencer o leitor com a mera descrição dos acontecimentos.
E a impressão que fica é que a história tem um significado maior, ainda que essa compreensão não seja tão evidente ao leitor. Amizade, morte e paciência são temas abordados, de forma sútil e bem humorada, ao longo das páginas. Terminei a leitura com uma sensação boa, sem conseguir entender exatamente o que da narrativa mais me agradou. E, no final, é isso que mais importa ao leitor: os bons sentimentos que os livros deixam em nós. Uma fábula original e cheia de magia nos pequenos detalhes.
Nota 9/10
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Site:
“Fup� é um livro nada convencional, daqueles que tem uma história que fica até difícil de explicar para outros leitores. Como um senhor, uma criança e uma pata de estimação � sim, você leu direito - podem, em pouco mais de 120 páginas, construir uma narrativa gostosa e, ao mesmo tempo, inteligente? Talvez seja essa peculiaridade que faz de “Fup� um queridinho de muitos, desde a sua publicação, em 1983.
Com o falecimento de sua filha, Jake assume, prestes a completar 100 anos, a tarefa de criar o seu neto. O personagem tem pensamentos excêntricos e acredita que descobriu o segredo para a imortalidade: um whisky fortíssimo que ele mesmo produz. Cabe ao leitor decidir se acredita naquele senhor ou se ignora a desculpa utilizada pelo personagem para justificar a sua paixão pela bebida.
E quando Fup, a pata, chega para participar das aventuras do neto e de seu avô, todos se mobilizam para caçar um porco selvagem gigante que destrói as cercas da propriedade onde moram. Aliás, Miúdo, o neto, é ficcionado por construir cercas. Toda essa descrição deixa claro que essa é uma fábula que precisa ser lida, já fica difícil convencer o leitor com a mera descrição dos acontecimentos.
E a impressão que fica é que a história tem um significado maior, ainda que essa compreensão não seja tão evidente ao leitor. Amizade, morte e paciência são temas abordados, de forma sútil e bem humorada, ao longo das páginas. Terminei a leitura com uma sensação boa, sem conseguir entender exatamente o que da narrativa mais me agradou. E, no final, é isso que mais importa ao leitor: os bons sentimentos que os livros deixam em nós. Uma fábula original e cheia de magia nos pequenos detalhes.
Nota 9/10
Post:
Site:
August 22, 2024
As good as it ever is. One of my favourite books to re-read.
February 6, 2017
I genuinely enjoyed this little book. A brief, occasionally hilarious, sometimes poignant story set in the Northern California of the mid-twentieth century. There is not much traditional action. There is Granddaddy Jake - who makes and drinks a whiskey called Death Whisper - and his grandson Tiny. There is a duck. There is a wild boar. There are short philosophical forays regarding stillness and action, fences and openness, then life and death.
The writing is simple....and yet not. Despite the directness of the prose, there is an intuitive depth that I ascribe to exceptional observation of the natural world and the human character. Jim Dodge seems a mix of Mary Oliver and Mark Twain. The animals and the land reverberate with significance, and the wild pig - nicknamed Lockjaw - becomes the enemy of the big-hearted Tiny, a kind of porcine white whale. It's funny that Lockjaw is always rooting in the earth, destroying what he can, while the duck, Fup, has wings but will not fly. I've not quite sussed out what that means.
This was a good story, well told, and I think I'll remember it along with a few beautiful lines that I wrote down for keeps.
The writing is simple....and yet not. Despite the directness of the prose, there is an intuitive depth that I ascribe to exceptional observation of the natural world and the human character. Jim Dodge seems a mix of Mary Oliver and Mark Twain. The animals and the land reverberate with significance, and the wild pig - nicknamed Lockjaw - becomes the enemy of the big-hearted Tiny, a kind of porcine white whale. It's funny that Lockjaw is always rooting in the earth, destroying what he can, while the duck, Fup, has wings but will not fly. I've not quite sussed out what that means.
This was a good story, well told, and I think I'll remember it along with a few beautiful lines that I wrote down for keeps.
June 27, 2020
Βαθμολογία: 9/10
Τι υπέροχο βιβλιαράκι ήταν αυτό! Το έψαχνα για πάρα πολλά χρόνια (ούτε ξέρω πόσα), μέχρι που το βρήκα μέσω ιδιώτη και επιτέλους το έπιασα στα χέρια μου. Από άποψη χιούμορ, εικόνων, γενικότερης ατμόσφαιρας και τρέλας, το "Φαπ" μου έφερε στον νου τον αγαπημένο μου Ρίτσαρντ Μπρότιγκαν, οπότε τα πολλά λόγια περισσεύουν. Η ιστορία είναι πάρα πολύ όμορφη, ευχάριστη και κάπως γλυκόπικρη, η αφήγηση υπέροχη και χειμαρρώδης, οι χαρακτήρες ιδιόρρυθμοι και τόσο συμπαθείς, η ατμόσφαιρα φοβερή. Αν μη τι άλλο, με τις περιγραφές και τις εικόνες που δημιούργησε ο συγγραφέας, ήθελα να βουτήξω στην κυριολεξία στον κόσμο της ιστορίας, να βρεθώ δίπλα στους χαρακτήρες της, μακριά από την πεζή πραγματικότητα. Αλλά δυστυχώς δεν γίνονται αυτά, οπότε μου αρκεί που διάβασα μια τόσο ωραία ιστορία και ξεχάστηκα για λίγο.
Υ.Γ. Μακάρι να μεταφράζονταν κάποια στιγμή τα "Not Fade Away" και "Stone Junction", τα οποία φαίνονται άκρως ενδιαφέροντα και απολαυστικά. Ειδικά το πρώτο, εδώ που τα λέμε. Αλλά δεν το βλέπω πολύ πιθανό...
Τι υπέροχο βιβλιαράκι ήταν αυτό! Το έψαχνα για πάρα πολλά χρόνια (ούτε ξέρω πόσα), μέχρι που το βρήκα μέσω ιδιώτη και επιτέλους το έπιασα στα χέρια μου. Από άποψη χιούμορ, εικόνων, γενικότερης ατμόσφαιρας και τρέλας, το "Φαπ" μου έφερε στον νου τον αγαπημένο μου Ρίτσαρντ Μπρότιγκαν, οπότε τα πολλά λόγια περισσεύουν. Η ιστορία είναι πάρα πολύ όμορφη, ευχάριστη και κάπως γλυκόπικρη, η αφήγηση υπέροχη και χειμαρρώδης, οι χαρακτήρες ιδιόρρυθμοι και τόσο συμπαθείς, η ατμόσφαιρα φοβερή. Αν μη τι άλλο, με τις περιγραφές και τις εικόνες που δημιούργησε ο συγγραφέας, ήθελα να βουτήξω στην κυριολεξία στον κόσμο της ιστορίας, να βρεθώ δίπλα στους χαρακτήρες της, μακριά από την πεζή πραγματικότητα. Αλλά δυστυχώς δεν γίνονται αυτά, οπότε μου αρκεί που διάβασα μια τόσο ωραία ιστορία και ξεχάστηκα για λίγο.
Υ.Γ. Μακάρι να μεταφράζονταν κάποια στιγμή τα "Not Fade Away" και "Stone Junction", τα οποία φαίνονται άκρως ενδιαφέροντα και απολαυστικά. Ειδικά το πρώτο, εδώ που τα λέμε. Αλλά δεν το βλέπω πολύ πιθανό...
September 16, 2017
A part la fin qui m'a laissée franchement perplexe, j'ai tellement aimé ce petit roman ! Comme tous les romans chouettes et ultra courts, je l'aurais aimé plus long, mais il file une de ces patates ce petit livre ! J'ai rigolé toutes les 2 pages, et l'histoire de ce vieux papy, de son petit-fils et de l'oiseau Canadèche vous laisse une merveilleuse impression de sérénité.
October 4, 2015
A fantastic little gem of a book about two men and a duck in the American west. Jim Dodge is the king of modern-day rock and roll tall tales.
May 16, 2018
I was told that I would need maybe an hour for this extremly funny book. None of that became true. I needed way longer than I should have for this little bit of text and the book wasn't "extremely" funny (but there were two scenes at which I laughed out loud). Instead, I thought it was really tragic.
February 6, 2016
Charming, funny and fantastic tale by the Stone Junction author about an old man, his giant grandson and a duck. Not just any old duck. But whiskey guzzling Fup duck.
May 24, 2017
As a child I loved Mark Twain's short stories. If Twain would have had the liberty to use the F-word(just a little),his stories might have resembled this 94 page delight. Friends of: Storytellers, Fence builders, Moonshiners, Hog hunters, People with or yearning for Open country with space to breathe, or Anyone that ever owned a Pet Duck, I give you FUP. Fup-Duck. Right! You caught that didn't you? A Story of a Boy , a Duck, and his Grandpa.
FUP is about to be placed on my shelf in the sacrosanct spot between my two favorite humorists, Tom Robbins and Christopher Moore. Or maybe next to Charlotte's Web, but that places her next to outrageous company. FUP is a wonderfully drafted Short Story. I should have finished it in one night, but(*Dam*)sleep prevailed.
This Is Not Your Mama's Short Story! Jim Dodge tells a story with flinching shock value and glorious panache. The belly laughter that is likely to occur in the last fourth of the book could sustain you for weeks.
From FUP, "At the most marginal of opportunities,(Grandpa)Jake was fond of telling anyone within earshot, the three great secrets of how to proceed when you don't have the vaguest idea what you're doing. The secrets,in the order he invariably listed them, were intuition, reason, and desperation. His intuition as a flight instructor persuaded him that it would be best to simply seize Fup(a large female mallard), take her out in a nice open spot, and fling her up in the air. She would probably be startled at first, but instinct would no doubt make her open her wings, and from that point she would surely get the idea. -- Fup, without the slightest flap of her wings, hit the earth like a sack of cement, flopped once or twice weakly, then lay still. Sweet Jesus I killed her Grandaddy thought." Read up Friends! but beware the wrinkles and laugh lines you may acquire! You were warned...
FUP is about to be placed on my shelf in the sacrosanct spot between my two favorite humorists, Tom Robbins and Christopher Moore. Or maybe next to Charlotte's Web, but that places her next to outrageous company. FUP is a wonderfully drafted Short Story. I should have finished it in one night, but(*Dam*)sleep prevailed.
This Is Not Your Mama's Short Story! Jim Dodge tells a story with flinching shock value and glorious panache. The belly laughter that is likely to occur in the last fourth of the book could sustain you for weeks.
From FUP, "At the most marginal of opportunities,(Grandpa)Jake was fond of telling anyone within earshot, the three great secrets of how to proceed when you don't have the vaguest idea what you're doing. The secrets,in the order he invariably listed them, were intuition, reason, and desperation. His intuition as a flight instructor persuaded him that it would be best to simply seize Fup(a large female mallard), take her out in a nice open spot, and fling her up in the air. She would probably be startled at first, but instinct would no doubt make her open her wings, and from that point she would surely get the idea. -- Fup, without the slightest flap of her wings, hit the earth like a sack of cement, flopped once or twice weakly, then lay still. Sweet Jesus I killed her Grandaddy thought." Read up Friends! but beware the wrinkles and laugh lines you may acquire! You were warned...
October 24, 2020
A couple of years ago, I stumbled across Sombrero Fallout at the local library; so began an obsession with the absurd comic genius of Richard Brautigan. Ever since, I've kept an eye out for someone I thought may write in a similar way - unsurprisingly there were few (no) candidates and I'd kind of given up finding anyone. Until now.
Jim Dodge's Fup is a glorious piece of writing; hilarious, touching and totally off the wall.
Grandpa Jake is pushing 100 and, after a lifetime of gambling and drinking, has settled on his ranch with his huge grandson Tiny. He brews his own super-strength whiskey, watches his grandson put up fences they don't need and spends a great deal of time mastering the art of staying still. That is, until the pair find a strange duck one day - duck with a taste for pound after pound of sausages (and just about anything else it can get its beak on, including the liquor).
Told in the deadpan style of the great American yarn-spinners - a tradition that stretches from Mark Twain, through Larry McMurtry to Annie Proulx - but with that Brautigan-esque splash of insanity, it is a glorious fable and a magical reading experience.
Jim Dodge's Fup is a glorious piece of writing; hilarious, touching and totally off the wall.
Grandpa Jake is pushing 100 and, after a lifetime of gambling and drinking, has settled on his ranch with his huge grandson Tiny. He brews his own super-strength whiskey, watches his grandson put up fences they don't need and spends a great deal of time mastering the art of staying still. That is, until the pair find a strange duck one day - duck with a taste for pound after pound of sausages (and just about anything else it can get its beak on, including the liquor).
Told in the deadpan style of the great American yarn-spinners - a tradition that stretches from Mark Twain, through Larry McMurtry to Annie Proulx - but with that Brautigan-esque splash of insanity, it is a glorious fable and a magical reading experience.
October 1, 2007
Contrived and overly mannered little fable. I must be missing something, as the Amazon & ŷ reviews are uniformly raves, and it came highly recommended. But I thought the level of cleverness never rose above naming the main character Fup Duck.
January 30, 2019
It had that manic humor of the era, sort of Cowgirls-get-the-bluesy brashness and a willingness to be ridiculous, that made me nostalgic for that time, and made me wonder about how dated some books feel compared with others. Somehow some books manage to be both rooted in their times and to also feel contemporary in their approach to language. This isn't one of them. Maybe humor is something that dates a book sooner? But, "Candide" had me laughing out loud.
So now I end this review, in a blather of confusion and no real answers.
So now I end this review, in a blather of confusion and no real answers.
October 11, 2021
I love a book about a big, angry, petulant bird.
December 31, 2024
A most unusual tiny novel from 1983, involving a duck, whiskey, and fence building. My last novel of 2024!
April 21, 2011
A short fable, immaculately designed and packaged, with illustrations from legend . It's not particularly compelling until the oversized duck Fup turns up, and at 100 short pages, it reads like a whimsical McSweeney's story.
However, in the interest of full disclosure I should explain I am a heartless swine, and magical ducks and grandpas do not break my heart, no matter who dies at the end. And "Jim Dodge" is what I called bunking off Physical Ed lessons in school. Fact.
However, in the interest of full disclosure I should explain I am a heartless swine, and magical ducks and grandpas do not break my heart, no matter who dies at the end. And "Jim Dodge" is what I called bunking off Physical Ed lessons in school. Fact.
May 12, 2009
Trying to decide what makes FUP a good or great book. It is like chocolate. Satisfying sweet but with a hidden depth. Seems to have everything you need in the moment and yet unforgettable. There are great quotes, a good outlook on life. It is over before you know it, yet you want to go back for more. Read it.. you'll see.
October 5, 2016
The humour is what I liked best about this novella. The old man was rude and funny, and Fup was a source of humour, as well. The ending left me wondering whether it was suppose to be profound or not? Was there some kind of spiritual message to it that I wasn't getting? Or, as another reviewer suggested, perhaps the author was yanking our chain.....just like Granddaddy would have. Hmmm....
January 13, 2024
If I said this book was “cute,� that would be pretty Fupduck. A mystical blend of tall tale, folklore, and memoir; redefining family; giving us permission to be our porch-settin, whiskey-lapping, all-day-pondering, late-sleeping, fence-building, dick-joking, white-whale-hunting, immortal selves, without excuse.
—Ĕ�-
Also, I grew up near the Russian River, so it was fun to see Home in a book.
—Ĕ�-
Also, I grew up near the Russian River, so it was fun to see Home in a book.
January 21, 2025
Fupping loved that.
June 25, 2022
Перечит в оригинале расставил точки над всеми странными местами в переводе))
А повесть по-прежнему отличная.
А повесть по-прежнему отличная.
October 2, 2010
I knew I would give this four stars, but had to let it settle with Me a minute before finally deciding on five. A very well written, poignant story of an old man's love for his grandson, and a mallard duck who becomes a part of their family. I'd heard from others that they were moved to tears by the story, and I can see why some might be. It didn't get Me quite to that point, but the fact that I'm still thinking on the story a day after completing it suggests that it had a definite impact. There's such depth to the story, and complexity to the characters. The fact that that could be accomplished in less than 60 pages is remarkable in itself. Highly recommend reading this.
January 7, 2017
If you come across this little gem, don't pass it up.
It's hard to classify this book, but the author Jim Dodge just calls it a story. It's reminiscent of the California stories of Mark Twain, but a little saltier and stranger. It's 96 pages, part yarn, part fable. It's a story of love, loyalty, redemption, and weirdness. I'll just leave you with a quote from the book: "It just ain't possible to explain some things, maybe even most things. It's interesting to wonder on them and do some speculation, but the main thing is you have to accept it � take it for what it is, and get on with your getting."
It's hard to classify this book, but the author Jim Dodge just calls it a story. It's reminiscent of the California stories of Mark Twain, but a little saltier and stranger. It's 96 pages, part yarn, part fable. It's a story of love, loyalty, redemption, and weirdness. I'll just leave you with a quote from the book: "It just ain't possible to explain some things, maybe even most things. It's interesting to wonder on them and do some speculation, but the main thing is you have to accept it � take it for what it is, and get on with your getting."
August 15, 2014
Funny little story!
Surprisingly entertaining, and a book a would definitely recommend. If you've just read a massive book and you want something light and quick to read before going onto another big book this is perfect.
Granddaddy Jake is really funny and so is Fup the main character. Your heart melts for Tiny though.
Overall it was quite enjoyable!
Surprisingly entertaining, and a book a would definitely recommend. If you've just read a massive book and you want something light and quick to read before going onto another big book this is perfect.
Granddaddy Jake is really funny and so is Fup the main character. Your heart melts for Tiny though.
Overall it was quite enjoyable!
November 27, 2017
Le style de l'auteur est bien particulier mais j'aime beaucoup, ce pourquoi j'ai mis trois étoiles. Néanmoins la fin paraît tirée par les cheveux. Elle se précipite et on reste un peu sur notre fin. C'est le problème avec les nouvelles, même si les personnages sortent du lot, on a pas vraiment le temps de s'attacher à eux...
September 22, 2007
Marvellous, short, unmissable.
August 18, 2010
This book is so wonderful. I'm surprised more people don't know it's out there.
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