The Pecking Order

At once social satire, romping good farce, and touching human story, this novel satisfies on many levels. Set somewhere on the high plains of eastern Colorado, or perhaps the Texas or Oklahoma panhandle, or possibly western Kansas, this is a masterly portrait of a quirky American town, under very unusual circumstances. Whew, good stuff. Now I can't wait to see the movie.

Jim Phelps, who described himself to me as "America's foremost unpublished author" last year, as we were sunning ourselves in a sidewalk café in Oaxaca, Mexico, can no longer claim that distinction. About time, I say.Jim, no ordinary "good old boy", is an extraordinary practitioner of a fine old folk art: telling a good yarn. "The Pecking Order" is not his first novel: just his first published novel. One hopes that it is not his last. His is an extraordinary voice, and we should hear more from him.Stan Gotlieb, authorOaxaca, Mexico: An Expatriate Life

This is a funny and sage book that I had trouble putting down. The characters, in their first-person dialogue, came alive for me when they told of events that they viewed so differently from the other characters in the book. All the mini-chapters added up to a fine story, a good adult fable. Phelps created a different world in Frogly.

Memorable characters and great story idea. An excellent satire for grown-ups.