Budding Prospects: A Pastoral

From the first sentence I was hooked. It was the first time in a long long time that I almost pissed myself laughing simply by reading a book. As soon as I finished, I went to the bookstore to buy up all his other books, and man, I was not disappointed. In my opinion, TC Boyle is the finest living writer, and one of the best ever. Most of the reviews I've read on his work focuses on the story and the characters, the loony, the obcessed, the psychotic - but they're missing the point. The writing is simply the finest construction of genius that you'll ever have the good fortune to witness. How does he do it? I don't know and frankly I don't care. I'm just happy to absorb.

"Budding Prospects" is T. Coraghessan Boyle's first novel, published in 1984. It tells the story of Felix, a 31-year-old directionless self-proclaimed quitter who joins up with a handful of ne'er-do-wells to grow marajuana in a "Little Appalachia" in California's Mendicino County. The get-rich-quick scheme soon goes awry. Felix finds himself at odds with a sadistic rural sherrif. The man who bankrolled the operation, a shady smooth-talking Marin County huckster, is not the man Felix thought he was. His hillbilly neighbors all seem to know what he's really up to on the isolated farm. Felix and his farmhand friends live in a permanent state of paranoia and fear. I came to this book after reading Boyle's "Drop City," a comic masterpiece. I wanted to read more Boyle so I took up "Budding Prospects." I greatly enjoyed it. I was surprised to discover that "Prospects," although it is Boyle's first novel, mines the same themes as his later novels: the vast indifference and occasional ruthlessness of nature, the pleasures and occasional terror of altered states of consciousness, the insolence of office and the proud man's contumely. In common with his other novels, there is a strong beautiful woman in this one -- Petra, who comes to the rescue of the hapless Felix. I lived in Northern California and the Bay Area for many years, and I can attest to how spot-on the characters and landscape descriptions are. The dingy cafe in Willits where some of the action takes place is sickeningly realistic. I hope that Boyle will revisit Vogelsang in another novel or a short story. ("Vogelsang lived in splendid isolation in the hills above Bolinas, making money nefariously, practicing various perversions, collecting powertools, wood carvings, barbers' poles and cases of dry wine from esoteric little vineyards like Goat's Crouch and Sangre de Cristo.") The rich Marin County huckster was just perfect. And, a little grayer, I'm sure he's still living near Bolinas, waiting for Boyle to revive him.

A wonderful, quick read. T.C. Boyle's style reflects that of the whimsical, descriptive and casual ways of Hunter S. Thompson, yet with a unique flavor of its own. The characters are very well-developed; written as an imperfect, yet sympathetic (and, no matter how much one may want to deny it, EMpathetic) bunch. The story is extremely engaging, the action consistant, the humor non-stop. It is, perhaps, the best contemporary fiction I have read in ages. I HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone looking for a little pick-me-up at the end of a stressful day.

The thing that keeps me coming back for more titles by Boyle is how his stories so accurately capture the weaknesses and foibles of the human spirit. He's so dead on with his descriptions, and that's what makes it all so funny for me. The chapter-opening paragraph on dirt is a masterpiece.

T. Coraghessan Boyle uses his mastery of the English language to bring his readers into the life of Felix, a San Franciscan who was a quitter. If you still believe that the life of a pot farmer is one of discrete posh and lavishness, please allow Mr. Boyle to argue otherwise. What a deal: Felix and a couple of his buddies are chosen to farm a crop of top grade cannibis, for a piece of the glorious fortune, along with the financier and the botanist, in a descrete part of California's infamous "Emerald Triangle." Place your trust with Vogalsang, the financier and fishflake eater, and expect a bountiful yield of laughs and intrige from this obscure American classic