Fat White Vampire Blues

What Fun!! A bumbling, insecure vampire with a conscience (or at least a semi-conscience) After Ann Rice vampire novels ad nausium I never wanted to hear the word "vampire" again.............but this is delightful, and funny, and imaginative! A wonderful tour through New Orleans neighborhoods,culture and food ("the neon sign across the street reflected in the layer of grease on her red beans") the tour guide being vampire Jules Duchon whom you can't help rooting for no matter how many victims he "fangs"........I can't wait to read "Bride of the Fat White Vampire" next, and hope there are more to come!...........Beryl Schindler

I've just finished this book, and it's a rip. It's neither as clumsily written as some of the other reviews would lead you to think (in passages, it amounts to an *hommage* to its acknowledged forebear, CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, and sometimes rises to the same headlong style) nor the grave social screed other readers describe. (I often wonder when reading reviews: did we read the same book?)Simply, it's one long misadventure, and like the larger-than-life Ignatius Reilly in DUNCES, Jules Duchon, obese vampire, is shoehorned out of a comfortable rut and confronted with one ghastly predicament after another. The stakes, you should pardon the expression, are life and death, and Fox manages to make the reader care what happens -- it's not just a comic diversion. But along the way, almost every cliche in vampire literature (and pulp thrillers generally) comes in for a spoof. If you transform into a mist, how exactly DO you cope with a stiff breeze? If you become a wolf, what are your feelings toward lady dogs? And if you're a vampire in overfed New Orleans, how the hell do you expect to end up looking like anyone but Paul Prudhomme? (Disappointed readers of the Yarbro Comte de Saint-Germain vampire series, which turned into a mass of repetitive and overwritten soft-pore corn, will especially appreciate the plus-size boff scenes. There are some things you should NOT pour in a vampire's hot tub!)After watching Anne Rice pull off one terrific novel and then grind out affectedly morbid, S & M-lite sequels on a lathe for years afterward, this was a long overdue guffaw.

Jules Duchon, native New Orleans vampire-a 450-lb, working class, underachiever-is not the kind of character that one might expect to like, to sympathize with, to agree with, to think of as moral, to think of as deep...but Andrew Fox makes the reader feel all of these things about Jules. When the book begins, Jules is a rather oafish, free-range type of vampire-one who hunts for victims on the street, rather than one who operates some sort of racket to receive blood. (Other vampires in the book have devised ingenious ways to receive easy, regular blood donations without hunting and killing victims.) Jules has been in a slump over the past decade-his world is changing; his neighborhood is going downhill; his favorite nostalgic places are disappearing; he has lost his convenient job with the coroner's office; and he has lost touch with his girlfriend. Jules does not seem to mind his existence, stagnant as it is. Then comes "Malice X," a truly evil, sharp-dressing, black vampire, who threatens Jules to stop preying on black victims, or else.... Jules' journey to claim his territory forces him to confront his (also morbidly obese) ex-girlfriend, Maureen, who seemingly detests him for his obesity and his lack of suavity; and his old vampiric side-kick, Duddlebug, estranged by Jules since becoming a cross-dresser. Jules also is forced to face his feelings about his childhood in the Catholic church, his own vampiric killing, his weight and obesity, his preconceived notions on homosexuals (cross dressers), and his true views on racism, while leading the reader through a lively and accurate description of the up and downsides of New Orleans. Jules is a character that grows (emotionally) and brings the reader along with him on his journey of self-exploration. All of the book's characters, both main and supporting, are completely engrossing and real. The dialogue rings true for each character, and dialects are accurate. The book is very fast moving and hard to put down, with each ingenious plot twist spelled out in believable ways, all based on strong foundations laid down from the beginning of the book. Fat White Vampire Blues reads like mainstream fiction, with lovable characters, believable plot twists, snappy dialogue, and tons of New Orleans lore. Although the lessons Jules learns are serious and the reader takes Jules seriously, lots of laughs are scattered throughout the book. Anyone who has spent time in New Orleans will marvel at the accurate portrayal of the City. Those who have not spent time there will be forced to wonder if such a dichotomy of a place could truly exist. (It does!) I would recommend this book to a wide range of readers, from those who like vampires, to Sci-Fi/fantasy/horror fans, to plot/action-oriented readers, to readers who read character based fiction. Fox's timing, plotting, and character development are flawless. I love this book.

My wife's tastes run to Jan Karon and mine run to Robert Parker, and both of us love _The Fat White Vampire Blues_. As a near New Orleans resident and aspiring writer, few things fascinate me more than a book that can capture not only the New Orleans scene and characters but somehow the feel of life down here. The intentional similarity to _A Confederacy of Dunces_ resonates well, but the freshness of Fat White Vampire makes it more fun for me. I especially like the way Jules never quite manages to get his shape-changing right. How many books on the supernatural really deal well with this problem in life, the fact that bad things happen when we try something new? I can't wait for the sequel.

Because of his nightly eating habits, Jules Duchon is very obese, weighing well over four hundred pounds. He knows he must cut out the fat rich blooded blacks that he enjoys because Jules concludes that over eight decades of this delicacy has led to his being one way overweight vampire needing to be on a strict low fat blood diet.However, Jules has a new problem to face besides his weight problem as a black vampire has threatened him if he does not change diets to all white meat. Frightened Jules turns to the vampire that converted him, Maureen, also overweight, for help, as he cannot resist the call of fat laden blood.FAT WHITE VAMPIRE BLUES is an amusing supernatural tale that pokes fun at the diet industry, race relations, and taking a bite out of the nosferatu legend. The story line never quite takes itself seriously even when it appears Jules might receive a stake through the heart yet still provides a strong message. However, the rich blood jokes do turn a bit stale after awhile, but readers who enjoyed Love at First Bite will want to read this humorous tale.Harriet Klausner