Honeymooners: A Cautionary Tale

A raunchy, raucous romp by America's King of Rockabilly writers. It's about the desperate sweetness of artistic attempt and letting the dark angel out, something seemingly necessary in certain neighborhoods of life. Contains a lot of Chuck's trademark bluesy lyrical notes and some of the funniest writing I've ever read anywhere by anybody. The scene where our two heroes are held captive in their car by a dog is by itself well worth the price of a hardback or two. So, Good Golly Miss Molly, Great Balls of Fire, there's a Whole Lot of Shakin' Goin' On. Take a chance on this book. It's a rare treat.

It took a while to finish this one but I'm glad I did. The novel focuses on the perilously decadent lives of Ralph and Alice Anne. Crafted in the dialectical tradition of the "Honeymooners" television show of old, this contemporary story extracts the dark, vile, highly addictive nature of its characters and their friends. Ralph and Jim are best friends, college professors and writers, whose lives spirals from one disaster to the next as they move through life with no rules no boundaries and a very limited future. Kinder has written a story of drug induced drunken debauchery that is both comical and loathsome at once. His writing is well paced and clear. "Honeymooners" is an overall enjoyable read that highlights the irreverent imagination (or actual life) of a talented author. This is my first read by Kinder and I'm not disappointed.

Chuck Kinder turns the third law of thermodynamics, as applied to literature - the relationship between a writer's seriousness and the amount of humor in his/her novel is inversely proportional - squarely on its head. This is a serious piece of literature that is laugh out loud, pee your pants funny. Nicely done, Mr. Kinder.

This is not the sort of book I usually read. The author is male. The setting and time are ones that don't generally interest me. The characters (in their real lives) were obviously larger than life. So what else was there to say? In a word -- PLENTY. This book surprised me again and again. The women, drawn as bold and savvy as can be written. The setting and time intrinsic to the story, but not dated, for I was there -- right there -- as I followed this story along. And sure, the real life people from whom the characters were based were larger than life by the time I heard about them, but this book gave me a chance to meet and feel for them in a way I never could, reading about then in non-fiction. Gave me a chance to know them in a way. To suffer, to triumph, to cheer, to take comfort.

This book is simply hilarious. If you enjoyed the film "Flirting with Disaster," you'll have a good appreciation for this wonderful, touching, earthy novel. See the plot descriptions above for what happens in the book, but read it to enjoy the numerous moments of surprising lyricism, astonishing humor, and enough literary pot-smoking and alcohol consumption to put you into rehab. Too funny? Thankfully yes.