looks like this will be the 18th from leonard for me.kindle...looks like a charlie hoke story...and this is unusual...a contents page and each chapter heading has the first sentence...i miss all those old cold-war cartoons...bullwinkle & rocky...that narrator's voice providing the title and an alternative title...heh! but the contents set-up reminds me of those glory days...big sigh.dedication...for christineepigraphi'm going to tishomingo to have my ham bone boiled,i'm going to tishomingo to have my ham bone boiled,these atlanta women done let my ham bone spoil.performed by peg leg howellatlanta, georgia, november 8, 1926looks like we're going to get our ham bone boiled...story begins:dennis lenahan the high diver would tell people that if you put a fifty-cent piece on the floor and looked down at it, that's what the tank looked like from the top of that eighty-foot steel ladder.hoo-rah...onward & upward.for those interested...leonard's start here reminds me of another writer whose stories are great yarns...maybe you haven't read him yet:Harry Crewstime & place...scene/setting(s)*time is '96+ some...vehicle noted below*dirt-cheap motel rooms*the setup truck*resort hotels in florida*the cliffs of acapulco*tunica, mississippi..."the casino capital of the south*tishomingo lodge & casino*a room at the fiesta motel, panama city, florida...near the*miracle strip amusement park*harrah's, bally's, sam's town, the isle of capri*birmingham, alabama*corinth*tunica...trailer park called southern living village*robert's black jaguar sedan*'96 dodge stratus*a honky-tonk called junebug's...down by dubbs, just south of here*the tunica civil war muster...a reenactment *the famous crossroads...where highway 49 crosses old 61...where the great robert johnson sold his soul to the devil...and i'm reminded of o brother, where art thou?...brice's cross roads...also to-do w/the battle of corinth/civil war*the hotel patio*and of course, dennis's diving set-up, tank of water, 80' ladder, w/a board & other platforms set at other heights*the office of american dream, inc...kirkbride's manufacturing company*billie darwin's outer office*memphis*downtown tunica--where small-town friendliness was still a way of life*fish's black chevy pickup*jarnagin's...in corinth...to buy uniforms*the bungalow that vernice owns where charlie & dennis have a room*the reenactment place...a farm...they cannot use the actual site...the 'first annual tunica muster' & various settings therein...a sutler's tent...a row of food vendors*traci's trailer where she entertainscharacters*dennis lenahan, the high diver, a professional exhibition diver, turned pro in '79, went to dealer's school in atlantic city, got a job at spade's same time billy darwin was there, won the world cliff-diving championship in switzerland*summertime girls...girls who hung out at amusement parks*billy darwin, manager at the tishomingo lodge & casino, a 7-floor outfit in tunica, mississippi, has robert redford hair, from new orleans originally, family and ex-wife still there, or in virgina...worded funny, the way he speaks*chickasaw charlie hoke, works at tishomingo as a host, spent 18 years in organized baseball, pitched for detroit in the '84 world series, works a weird attraction at the casino, chickasaw charlies's pitching cage, 56-yr-old, descendent of the old chief chickasaw*a contractor*vernice...dennis's...landlord kinda...a redhead, owns the house where dennis stays, a 3-bedroom bungalow...and she is a waitress at the isle of capri...& the bungalow is in tunica...& she begins working at tishomingo--charlie put in the good word for her*a rigger hired by charlie for dennis: floyd showers, from biloxi, a skinny guy in his fifties with a sunken mouth and skidrow ways about him, went to parchman on a burglary charge*the kid w/the shoulders, wearing his john deere cap backwards*salazar...wiggins...tony gwynn...al oliver, gorman thomas...jim rice...darrell evans, mike schmidt, bill madlock, willis mcgee, don mattingly, wade boggs...guys that charlies pitched against*two guys in shirtsleeves, one wearing a hat*chief tishomingo and his chickasaws...some local color/past*a dive caller, a cute girl in a bathing suit*a black guy standing on the patio...robert taylor, came down from detroit*walter kirkbride, man has a business over in corinth, makes those mobile homes aren't mobile*security man at the hotel...a brother...robert talked to him...he use to be w/the memphis police*mr. kirkbride's grandpa, the first walter kirkbride, owned land over in tippah county*had sharecroppers working for him, one of them robert's great-granddaddy...*his wife and children, five little girls and two little boys, robert's granddaddy being number seven,*douglas taylor*a man from newspaper...to take pictures*white trash people*arlen novis...dixie mafia...a gangster...the cornbread cosa nostra...same one that made bill clinton rich, and is head of security at southern living village, ex-con*a sheriff...former sheriff..as he is doing 30 years based on arlen's testimony*a tunica deputy at parchman same time as arlen*prostitutes, girls in trailers out back of the place (junebug's)*waitress from harrah's was stabbed to death in her trailer, up in robinsonville*sheriff's deputies...couple of detectives...crime-scene people...medics*john rau, crime scene investigator, from the cid, criminal investigation bureau of the mississippi department of public safety**junior owens, they call him junebug*ugly people giving us dirty looks*the hotel electrician*carla, billy's assistant, a knockout, tan, dark hair*one of the heroes of brice's cross roads was a colonel of the second texas, william rogers, kia, shot seven times*thirty-eight people gathered on the lawn...local residents*the black man in the photograph was hanging naked less than ten feet above the river...lining the rail of the bridge...fifty-six people*he molested a white woman--tippah county, miss.--1915*mr. germano "jerry" mularoni, from detroit, big-time money, heavyset guy in his 50s, neatly trimmed beard, sunglasses & his wife:*anne, a real looker...will be a quadroon camp follower for the re-enactment...robert calls her annabanana*driver of the stretch limo for the casino...carlyle*a desk clerk*the tv woman, diane corrigan-cochrane, the anchor lady at channel five, the eyes and ears of the north delta*bobba, arlen novis's grampa*lawrence novis, foreman at the mayflower plantation, tippah county...arlen's great-grampa, born in holly springs, marshall county, 1874*one of the whores at junebug's, traci*the bartender at junebug's, an old guy in an undershirt hanging from his frail shouldres...sour undershirt...wesley*jim rein...arlen met him at parchman, the best do-anything man, also known as "fish"...in parchman..."big fish" when he left*two regiments of u.s. colored infantry, the 55th and the 59th under a colonel bouton, at brice's cross roads...local color/history*an uncle of jim rein's, earl, coming-home...18 years he was in*aunt noreen...married to earl*rosella...must be ex of junebug....she left him and took the kids*eugene dean...babysits the dog...eugene was at delta correctional...and the dog*the dog...is a farm dog, kinda white and brown, has some setter in her...rose*the hack who took jim's picture in the shower...otis*one of the boys does the sex show, eyetalian kid, hung like a goddamn horse*...sent 'em to the old homos...(for $)*bob hoon*tonto...antonio rey...related to geronimo going way back to when geronimo raped his great-great-grandma in oklahoma*young boys, incorporated...drug business in detroit where robert worked, making good money...he also worked for pony down...another gang*at shiloh...robert tells of ranger diana, a cute girl...uniform, smokey the bear hat*david jarnagin...owner of jarnagin's...uniforms purchased*loretta...at the reenactment...she's making a pie called 'naughty child'...why is it called that?..."you find out, let me know. i never made it before."...and her husband is w/the 7th tennessee...and as you read along, you find out she is married to arlen novis...small world, hey?*cedric...from virginia*groove, from the motor city (detroit, may it do ya fine)*diane's crew (and her), interviewing a couple in mid-nineteenth-century civilian dress, the woman holding a parasol...the man w/a cane, white gloves and a tall beaver hat*drummer boys in gray kepis*a confederate shouldering a musket*a girl at a table, taking money...ten bucks and you're a reenactor*the hotel operator, helene*private albert cashier, 99th illinois, her real name was jenny hodges, local color/history (actual fact, or not?)*john morton...artillery commander, 21-yr-old*hector diaz...from detroit*country dudes at the bar...a few women among the beer drinkers*newton hoon, brother of bob hoon*miz mary jane ivoery...wins the pie contest during the reenactment...with her...stop reading here at this is a spoiler...with her yankee doodle double-crust concord grape pie...i bet it was the double-crust did it*patti...is a desk clerk...blond, semi-big hair?*myrna...newton hoon's wife*abner doubleday...a footnote from charlie...local color...civil war soldier, invented baseball...baseball played at confederate prisons...brought to the south that way and so it goes.some words*"dillies"...comedy dives*"hy ciditty"...as in: from that shemekia copeland song, "miss hy ciditty"...means a person puts on airs, fakes it.*"farb"--a farb is a participant in reenactments that does not go all the way...is wearing the wrong underwear or something...a t-shirt under his polyester uniform*"e-tards"...ecstasy lovers*"shebang"...like a lean-to, the weather side made of brushmore than a few...musicians...are noted*john lee hooker*son house*charley patton*robert johnson*howlin' wolf*t-bone walker*b.b. king, stevie ray vaughan, john lee*marvin pontiac...afro-judaic blues*little walter*jimmy reed...elmore...sonny boy williamson ii, and the poet of the blues, willie dixon*broom taylor...who may be a pigment of robert taylor's imagination...old grampa...but he cut his big record, "tishomingo blues" in detroit*johnny yard dog jones...alberta adams...robert jones...johnnie bassettsome song lyrics includedi got a bone for youi got a bone for youi got a little bone for you.i got a bone for you 'cause i'm a doggyand i'm naked almost all the time.i'm a doggy.i stink when i'm wet 'cause i'm a doggy.--marvin pontiac and his hit song, "i'm a doggy"update, finished, sunday morning, 9:14 a.m. e.s.t. 30 dec 12ta-da...good story...nice interaction between robert and dennis early on, them getting to know each other, feel each other out, nice exchanges between them...same w/charlie and dennis, charlie a hoot, his glory days past but him not wanting to give them up...bragging on himself every chance he gets...pitching for the tigers.and leonard uses this civil war reenactment...seems like the wrong word to use but whatever, that's what they do...and leonard uses it to move the story along, you get some of that local color with it, historical local color...only thing is, maybe he had to bring in some additional characters and they all face off on their own, over in the thicket, all wrapped up and tied with a bow.good read...all things are well and all manner of things are well.charlie hoke is a character in...that collection of shorts (and possibly others) from leonard...the story mentioned briefly here in this story...how he came to get his job at the tishomingo...When the Women Come Out to Dance
Dennis Lenahan has an odd way of making a living. Several times a day he climbs an eighty-foot ladder and then dives into a tank filled with nine feet of water for the entertainment of tourists. His latest gig is at a hotel/casino in Tishomingo, Mississippi, but while Dennis is on top of the ladder setting up for his next show, he witnesses a couple of good ole boys murdering the guy who had been hired to help him.Dennis is advised that the killers are members of the local Dixie Mafia so he’d best keep what he’s seen to himself unless he wants to be next to go, but rumors are everywhere that the high diver saw the murder. Dennis is caught between a smart cop and the killers, but he’s made a new friend to help him out. Robert Taylor is a smooth talking black man from Detroit who likes to brandish a picture that he claims shows his great-grandfather being lynched by the great-grandfather of a prominent local business man, and he instantly inserts himself into Dennis’ situation. But he’s not doing it out of the kindness of his heart since it’s obvious that Robert is playing some kind of angle that involves the upcoming re-enactment of a Civil War battle.Elmore Leonard claimed to not know how a book would end when started writing it, and this is probably the main reason that his plots often went off in unexpected directions and the focus might shift from one character to another in the middle of the story. That’s usually something I very much liked about his books, but it doesn’t seem to work quite as well in this one. I’d be willing to bet that his original idea had something to do with the picture of the lynching and the Civil War reenactment, but he couldn’t figure out a way to fit it all together so he eventually dumps the picture idea and goes in a completely different direction with little explanation as to why Robert had it in the first place.And while people meeting under strange circumstances and then forming some kind of unlikely bond or partnership was a common trait in Leonard’s books, the instant bromance between Dennis and Robert doesn’t work as well as others that he wrote. It’s more than a little odd that smart Robert would decide to bring Dennis into his plans just because he admires the guts it takes to high dive, and considering that he knows Robert is working some kind of scam, Dennis going along with him without knowing his agenda also seems off. Plus, while he provides one subplot involving the rednecks and a badly behaved dog, he never gives us much of the point of view of the main bad guy so it seems like we’re only getting half the story. He also saves the introduction of a key character to the last act while letting others do little or vanish from the story. Again, a Leonard book usually doesn’t end anywhere close to how you thought it would and the hero in one chapter may be the villain by the end of the book, but he spent a lot of time developing the character of Charlie Hoke, a former professional baseball player who manages to mention his career in every conversation he has, only not to do much of anything with him.You still have to give points to any story that manages to work in high diving, the Dixie Mafia and Civil War reenactments, but there’s a lack of focus that keeps this one down in the rankings of Elmore Leonard books.
What do You think about Tishomingo Blues (2003)?
This was my first Elmore Leonard book. By all accounts, Leonard appears to be a pretty old, famous murder mystery writer. Notoriety and all, I just didn't like the book, but didn't dislike it enough to put down. He is very good at building interesting characters that make you want to follow their lives, but the plot itself wasn't catchy for me, or maybe I didn't get it. The setting of a civil war reenactment was entertaining for a murder plot, but I thought he involved too many characters and should have built a stronger story with the main ones, leaving out the rif-raf. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll read any more Elmore Leonard novels unless someone points me to the better books. I believe he has 100 or so to his credit including some made into famous movies (Get Shorty), so perhaps it's that I didn't start with the best.
—Jessica
A bit disappointing as an Elmore Leonard story, but still full of the witty dialogue and quirky characters that fans will appreciate. If this is your first exposure to Leonard, you should probably move on to something more engaging and impressive, such as Rum Punch or The Hot Kid. But if you're an Elmore Leonard usual, this is familiar territory.However, I think the familiarity is why I only give this book 3 stars. It does nothing exceptional other than offer Leonard's usual unique style of writing, very simplistic and forward, and I felt as if I could just change the characters' names to others from other Leonard novels and they could possibly be the exact same character.Regardless, I enjoyed the story, laughed out loud more than once, held my hand over my mouth a few times, and might even recommend it to other Elmore Leonard fans.
—Jason Lilly
I don't think you can ever really go wrong with Elmore Leonard. As long as you like his style, this book does not disappoint. Much of the plot centers around the world of contemporary civil war reenactments in the deep south -- that alone is a subject ripe for Leonard's scrutiny, and he does it in his usual lyrical style. Violence abounds of course -- I felt perhaps more so than what I'm used to, but as long as you can tolerate that (as well plenty of off-putting language and some mild sex) this book is a fun ride. It lost a star for me as some of the reenactment battle scenes get a bit over the top and I didn't think were especially relevant to the plot.One fun little aspect of this book was seeing the characters discuss musician Marvin Pontiac! That was a fun surprise. Marvin Pontiac's "Greatest Hits" CD is well worth a listen. If you don't know Marvin's work already, you'll likely be inspired to hear it when Elmore Leonard's characters reference it on the page.
—Peter
