Mordecai of Monterey

I love this book! What a wonderful surprise of a story. Mordecai suffers from melanoia, which is the opposite of paranoia. He hears a "ping" in his head and feels compelled to follow people, and something good ends up happening. Mordecai hangs out at bars in the Monterey of the 70s, and his buddies are a collection of hippyesque misfits, all very colorful and tremendously endearing. His best homey is Buck, a Southern grifter who is constantly planning "get rich quick" schemes. One of my favorite lines by Buck is: "Portuguese bullfighter, that's like marrying the Studebaker of bullfighters. Jane was always trying to be different, English accent and all, but she's as middleclass as a goddamn box of Cheerios." The writing style is fresh, the adventures are all funny and engaging and real. The multiple characters have their day in the sun, there is a happy ending... What else do you want? This was a true discovery.

Mordecai polishes his translations of Chinese poetry, moves the junk & households of other Californians, and stays on various back porches & Big Sur getaways finding love and friendship in the 1970's of our memories. Along the way, we ourselves grow to love and appreciate the joys of these marginal characters, the heirs of Steinbeck's Mack and the boys of CANNERY ROW. A magical book!

Mordecai is a zen/bohemian who interacts with the entire social structure of the Big Sur and Monterey area through the moving and hauling business that he runs along with his irrepressible sidekick Buck. Between them they get into more trouble than his good luck (melanoia- the opposite of paranoia))can stand. A comic look at both the bohemian and yuppie foibles of the early 1970s.