Mad Dog Summer and Other Stories

Rating:
Summary: Yet another great place to start....
Review: Just received this book yesterday and sorting my way through
some familiar and the off the wall gems. When you pick up Joe R.
Lansdale short stories you won't find the same old stories,
you'll find some good life lessons and hard luck, some shock
and laughs and down home tales, usually from a very twisted perspective at times. Always top notch stories. I especially
enjoyed joe's expanded novel several years ago, "THE BIG BLOW", with everybody's eyes wide open to hurricanes(this year) this is a good time
to read Joe's take on the most massive early century hurricane and the story of a boxer's inner battles. The combination is a knockout! Also included is one of my two very favorite Lansdale
yarns, (novella size also) called "Mad Dog Summer", which is about as good a story to read as they come by, Lansdale style.
This is a newer turn Joe's taken off the path over the past several years. Stylized from a generation or two once removed, writing in a vein much like the great Lee novel, "To kill a mockingbird" yet purely all Lansdale, this is an award winning novella(as was the full length fully realized "The Bottoms"(Edgar Award winner) from which this was spawned, a story that you won't soon
forget and I'm glad its the title tale and back out. This should be standard reading in all schools across this country,
its that good,(should have won a Pulitzer for such a compeling
piece of fiction). Even though Joe's moved away from some of his earlier shock and awe tales, he never quite lets us off
the hook when it comes to in your face gritty reality and that to me
has always been one of his greatest gifts, he know how to pack a big punch with his words without going overboard with 1000 page novels (and short stories). These stories are made to be savored and read
many times over the years, enjoy them, I sure am. Its also nice to see Joe pay tribute to his mother and share his views at the
same time. Joe's a BIG supporter of children and it all starts
with good parents-teachers and values, another reason I've always found
his stories to be REAL, regardless of their style.