Branches

Rating:
Summary: A wild ride
Review: Branches is one of those books that haunts you long after you have read it. Besides being a great yarn, it contains many things to ponder, particularly, what can go wrong between a father and a son, and where does responsibility lie? I loved this book so much that I picked up the option to produce it as an independent feature film. Turning a book into a film is a very collaborative effort, so if you have read the book and would like to be involved, please let me know. Either way, please read this book. It is not only entertaining, but I guarantee it will make you think in many ways about life's rich pagaent.

Rating:
Summary: Well, how was your day, Sheriff?
Review: Clearly a one sitting read, this versified monologue careens between present and past with abandon, leading the reader through the bizarre mind and adventures of a lawman of the new West. The style of writing is riveting, with fascinating contrasts between the sometimes revolting episodes and the beauty of language and landscape. While quite different from Cullin's first novel, Whompyjawed (a more peaceful delight), this short exploration of misused authority is captivating and chilling, and continues the author's insights into the foibles of the characters of West Texas.

Rating:
Summary: Cross-Pollinating Evils; Novel Idea.
Review: Originally I had trepidations when I thumbed through Mitch Cullin's second novel, Branches, because it is in prose poem form. Having read Cullin's first book, Whompyjawed, I was looking forward to another novel, not a poem. But soon after digging in for an evening with Branches, I discovered it is a novel in every sense of the word, despite its form. Considering all the cross-pollination of literary forms these days, it only seems a fitting contemporary form to tell the story of Sheriff Branches, a minor character in Whompyjawed.

Again, as in Whompyjawed, Cullin describes the vast West Texas landscape surrounding the town of Claude with the masterfulness of a sorceror, knowing to use just the right words to evoke feelings of loneliness and desolation inside the reader. And these feelings, alongside the strange black and white illustrations of Ryuzo Kikushima, are a fitting background for the eerily complacent voice of Sheriff Branches. Cullin strips away conventional morality and lets Branches loose, like a sinister storm bubbling to life over the horizon. Through memories, we learn about the forming of Branches and his version of the law. Cullin uses this past to parallel Branches's stepson, Danny. And even though Branches and Danny are brought up differently, like a vicious circle, a similiar conclusion is reached between them, ending in a spooky showdown. Leaving one wondering, "Which one is the lesser of two evils?"

Eery in its matter-of-fact violence, Branches is original and a great follow-up to the coming-of-age Whompyjawed.