Book Reviews: "The Reivers" By William Faulkner

"The Reivers" By William Faulkner

Vintage, 1992 

(Random House 1963)

I saw Steve McQueen play Boone Hoggenbeck in the 1969 film version of the Reivers and I can't understand why it took me so long to read the book. The movie was great, but the book is better because of Faulkner's dictionary-sized vocabulary and his skill to select just the perfect words to describe a scene.

Lucius Priest, a grandfather now himself, relates a life-altering tale of an adventure that occurred just after the turn of the century when he was 11 years old. His grandfather "Boss" purchased a new 1904 automobile, not because he especially wanted one, but because he was a banker and wanted to show off to the competition. Mostly the car was left in the garage but would come out on a Sunday when Boss had Boone Hoggenbeck chauffeur him and his family around. Boone loved that car and so did Lucius so when Boss and his family left town for four days to attend a funeral and left Lucius behind, Boone could not resist. He convinced Lucius to join him on a ride across the Mississippi state line to Memphis. Boone's secondary plan was to visit Miss Corrie, a prostitute in a local house of ill-repute.

Halfway to Memphis they discover that Boss' "servant," a distantly related, Afro American, named Ned McCaslin, has stowed away in the back of the car. When they get to Memphis the fun begins.

Faulkner's sometimes hard to read. His writing is complex and beautiful and I think if you ride with those Rievers all the way to Memphis you'll be stuck in the story and happy about it.

- Ned Lord

Sneakaboard Press

"Sixkill"(Spenser Mystery)

By Robert B. Parker

Putnam Adult

Well here is a surprise for Spenser fans. A novel by Robert B. Parker that surfaced after his death was apparently a finished manuscript. And that may not be the end. Surprisingly, Parker's estate and the publisher have agreed to keep two of Parker's characters alive. The Jesse Stone series will be written by Parker's longtime friend and collaborator, Michael Brandman, and Spenser will live on through the pen of Ace Atkins.

"Sixkill" features a fictional movie star character named Jumbo Nelson whose appetite for booze, sex, and food far outweigh his name. Jumbo may be funny and bigger than life on screen but in real life he is nasty jerk.

Jumbo is the only suspect in the possible rape and death of a young girl who was found in Jumbo's bed in a fashionable Boston hotel. The only other person in the suite was Jumbo's bodyguard, Zebulon Sixkill, a tough alcoholic, Native American ex-football player-turned-body guard to the stars. Everyone, including the press, likes Jumbo for the murder but the state police think the whole case is fishy and ask Spenser to look into it.

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