Wolf Whistle

Whew! What a book! I've never read anything like this before. Loosely based on the lynching of 14 year old Emmet Till in 1955 (for whistling at a white woman), Nordan's novel is as far away from a crime novel as you can get. A grim and bizarre comedy of callous, drunk, and stupid people, the telling of this tale took me to new destinations in odd but often hilarious ways of telling a story. From the fourth grade teacher who takes her students on a field trip to a mortuary to watch an embalming, to the drunk, befuddled, savvy, vicious, and remorseful Gregg who decides to murder his family except for his eldest daughter (lest she miss her wedding), the residents of Arrow Catcher, Mississippi abound in eccentric, twisted, and macabre individuals (most of them drunk most of the time).The hard realities of racial segregation and deep poverty and ignorance keep one foot of the novel in reality. The murder of fourteen year old Bobo is just barely made tragic. It's striking and believable, in spite of a certain bizarre style of narrative. Overall the narrative holds the reader tightly to itself, but there were a couple rare places where a savvy editor could have lopped off an entire page and spared the reader from an authorial excess.There's no mystery here: you know who commits the crime. There's no forensic story at all. This is a novel of who did it and what they were thinking and how the different residents of the small community were effected by the impact of the tragedy.

This book tells an often retold tale in such a dramatic way that you feel you are living it and remembering the murder, the southern town racism, along with the author. I read it and read it again. Then bought it for my collection. Then went and read another title by the author...which didn't live up to this one, but how could it?

Down-home magic realism, a book that sings, treats with stuff that is tough and hard but never turns bitter ... teacher Alice with her troupe of fourth graders, spnning them into her own perceptions of the world, taking them to abbatoirs and murder trials, is a classic ... it's a long while since I've discovered so fresh a masterpiece ... loved it!

I found this book to be very powerful and emotional. There is so much humanity here. The writing is excellent, the images evocative. Even though I knew (and so will you) early on that things won't turn out all right, I was strongly drawn to the characters, especially the ones who were 'centered' in the midst of the horror. Read this gem and then pass it on to someone else who appreciates truly good writing and important issues.

it's crazy, it's cool, it's unusual. you'd feel a a strange gallimaufry of emotions that would toss you in all directions.