High Priest of California: The Novel and a Play

Charles Willeford had a long and checkered writing career. Unbeknownst to most, he wrote a few terrifc 'noir' crime novels some forty plus years ago. Thankfully they are now reprinted, as is the case with 'High Priest of California'.This book contains both a novel and play of the same story, ... something one rarely finds. The play is rather crude (read: not good) but the novel, albeit short, is quite effective. It is about a used car salesman and his relationship with married woman. Our leading made is a nasty S.O.B., and his lady friend is a bit ... unusual. Combine this with a very breezy early 1950s San Francisco setting and one is left to enjoy this novella. It reminded me very much of Goodis's 'Dark Passage' and Willeford's (better) 'The Woman Chaser'.Bottom line: a nifty little 'noir' crime story. A must read for Willeford fans.

The High Priest of California is Russell Haxby, a used car salesman, who meets a woman at a dance club. The plot revolves around Russell waiting to get her in the sack. If you've read Willeford, you're familiar with his a-hole characters. Haxby is the king of the a-holes! As usual Willeford takes a tired, well-worn plot and puts his sick and addictive 'english' on it. In place of the juicy tidbits of art history insight you get in other works like Burnt Orange Heresy, Wild Wives and Pick Up, you get Willeford's sentiments on Joyce and Kafka! If you're a fan of Miami Blues then you'll see the roots of "junior" frenger in Haxby as well. High Priest is Willeford 1st, and one of his best!

The best thing about Charles Willeford's stories is that the characters are always horrible people. The kind of people who live all around us (maybe you're even one of them.) High Priest of California was Willeford's first novel, and it sets the tone for his later works: an amoral protagonist is willing to do anything to get what he wants.