The Bottoms

All I can say is, READ IT!

This is a really good book. I am giving it five stars here, but there is something that niggles at the back of my mind that refuses to equate this book with the very best I have read. Perhaps it is that `The Bottoms' plays a little too closely at first with `To Kill A Mocking Bird'. In the end this book has little to do with Mockingbird, but it really pulls up affiliations with Harper Lee's classic in its overall tone. Maybe also, Lansdale did not quite evoke enough of a sense of place or time for me. And lastly, the character `Goat Man' lost a little something because he was never built up as a terrifying figure after the first nights chase, little innuendo's are bandied about by Lansdale that lead one to know the truth about him long before the protagonists. But this is all nit picking. The book is first rate in every other respect. I strongly recommend this book, `The Bottoms'. I think that you will find here a page turning mystery/thriller/period piece that satisfies in a large degree anyone's appetite for a well-crafted book. It's also unusual enough that if you have read too many mystery/thrillers like I have, that you will be grateful for a change of pace. The ending is pretty much unexpected and Lansdale offers up enough red herrings that you will be lying if you say that you were %100 sure of the ending before you got there.

I have been struggling with this review. I think that is because "The Bottoms" was such a personal experience that trying to find the words to share my thoughts with others is a bit difficult. However, I believe this deserves telling because "The Bottoms" is a very special book and I wish to share the experience with others. This is the tale of Harry, a boy grappling with bridging that difficult gap between childhood and manhood. Along the way he confronts the search for a serial killer, race relations and his love for his parents with all their faults that we are loathe to accept in our parents. The story takes place in Eastern Texas during the Depression. Although this is not a time and place I am familiar with, I found myself meandering through the woods, creeks and rural roads without feeling like a stranger to this part of the country. Mr. Lansdale made it so real to me that I could feel the heat, smell the air and want to swat at flies or scratch imaginary mosquito bites. It was as if I were hiding in the woods, in the barn or behind a chair in the farmhouse watching the story enfold before my eyes. Mr Lansdale has a wonderful talent for bringing you into the pictures he creates. His ability to do this reminds me of Stephen Booth's writing in "The Black Dog." Although I figured out who the murderer was early in the book, that didn't detract one iota from my pleasure in reading this book. I was so caught up in lives of a family that I had come to love that catching a serial killer became superfluous to their story. Of all the characters in the book, I was most drawn to Jacob, Harry's father. Aside from the fact that I wished I had grown up with a father like Harry, I suffered with him during his crisis of faith in his core moral beliefs and the very purpose for his existence. This book will hold you in its grip until the very last page. The last chapter lulled me into a sense of complacency only to find myself in tears when reading the last few paragraphs. I would urge you to read "The Bottoms" and experience your own personal trip.

Edgar first prizewinner Lansdale delivers the goods. He is a masterful storyteller nailing time, place, and people with bulls-eye accuracy. The narrative and dialogue flow, and the pace never flags. He captures the child's eye view with all the authority of Stephen King or Harper Lee.Harry is an honorable boy caught in a dark story of racism, death, and folklore. The events gradually close in on him and his family creating an almost unbearable suspense. The characterizations are sharp and multi-layered. I particularly liked the non-message in dealing with racism. Mr. Lansdale is an unblinking recorder; all the indignities and intricacies are out there with no apology; for we are hearing a story as it was, not as we would like it to be."The Bottoms" transcends the mystery genre. It is a particularly fine coming-of-age story. Yet mystery-thriller fans will not be disappointed. Harry's and sister Tom's search and confrontation of the killer stretch the suspense until you feel as if you are humming like an overtaxed wire.I would rate this book the best I have read this year, and it has a permanent place on my bookshelf. Highly recommended.

I've been reading Joe Lansdale for just over ten years now, and I think this is just about the best book he's ever written. I picked up "The Drive In" when I was about sixteen, and I've been hooked by his terrific writing and his great senses of humor and story ever since.If you've never read anything by Joe Lansdale, you're missing out on a truly unique, authentic American writer. It's true you probably need a strong stomach to make it through an average Joe Lansdale novel, but I think it's also true that you need a sharp sense of humor which enjoys being tickled, a sensitive soul and a hightened appreciation for the poetic in everyday life. Joe delivers on all of these fronts. He's like no other author I've read. He's a little bit like Mark Twain, he's a little bit like Stephen King, and something like Harper Lee. But that comparison only works if you put all of those in a blender and hit puree.In "The Bottoms," Lansdale, who is a master of the folkilsy-gruesome character-driven story, charts some new territory. Not geographically--this one takes place, like most of his other tales, and like his real life, in East Texas--but rather stylistically.Ever since reading my first Lasndale book I've been a huge fan. His writing is always exretemely fluid. It just makes you feel like writing must be one of the most natural human activities, like walking or breathing or taking a long drink of water when your throat feels like sandpaper. But in this book, Lansdale seems to have tightened the linguistic screws a few notches. Not only is the writing fluid and fun to read, but it is of a consistently excellent quality. Before "The Bottoms" I probably would have only recommended Joe Lansdale to people who have a taste for the weird. If you've seen "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2" more than once for example, I know you'd like Joe Lansdale. He's an excellent writer, but that's the kind of taste you have to have, at least on part of your palate, to appreciate him.The style and characterization in "The Bottoms" just blew me away. There are four excellent books that I was reminded of while reading this: "To Kill a Mockingbird," by Harper Lee, "The Green Mile," by Stephen King, "Huckleberry Finn," by Mark Twain and "Montana 1948" by Larry Watson. If you've read and enjoyed any of those books, please do yourself a favor and read Joe Lansdale's "The Bottoms." Even if you haven't read any of those others, read this one (and then go read those also).The only real complaint I had about this book was that the mystery was a little too easy to figure out. That almost didn't matter, though, because I was having such a good time with the writing and the characters.One other thing was that all of the narrator's similies are mouth-wateringly food related. This become a little trying after a while, especially if you haven't eaten for a few hours. I half expected to find out at the end that the young protagonist had grown up to be a chef. I thought that woul

I've read all of Joe Lansdale's novels, and a significant percentage of his short stories. I believe that "The Bottoms" may be his best book yet. This novel finds Lansdale exploring new narritive and stylistic territory while staying within many of his traditional themes. This may also be his most accesible book to date, and should gain him some new readers whose sensibilities might be too fragile for some of Joe's earlier horror novels. "The Bottoms" is indeed a horror novel, a genre that Lansdale has not explored for a number of years. Really though, it might be more proper to call this a hybrid of the mystery/crime/detective, horror, and traditional literary forms. There are elements of all of these, but no single aspect is overemphasized.The story is set in 1930's East Texas and centers around a family living in a small town called Marvel Creek. The narration is from the point of view of an old man, near death, telling the story from the point of view of himself as a teenager. The author's narrative execution is truly masterful. Lansdale manages to capture both the point of view of the teenage boy and the elderly man, so that we see everything through both aspects of the same person.The story itself is also constructed with a master's touch. This is a longish novel (more than 400 pages), and the gradual buildup, climax, and denouement are perfectly paced and executed. Many people are primarily familiar with Lansdale through his Hap and Leonard books, but "The Bottoms" is a much different animal. The pacing is much slower, and there is an innocence and wonder that pervades the whole book. As always, though, the best thing about a Joe Lansdale novel is the characters. I feel like I know these characters. It's the characters that will grab you and keep you there for the whole book. "The Bottoms" is some of Lansdale's best writing to date. Don't hesitate.