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Combining visceral violence, dark humor, and an eye for characterization, Joe R. Lansdale's "cult classic" SAVAGE SEASON introduces readers to Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, two down-and-out East Texas good ol' boys with nothing much but each other. Despite their loneliness - Leonard is a solitary gay man who gleans most of his affection from three fiercely loyal bird dogs, and Hap is perpetually hung up on his conniving ex-wife Trudy - both men are relatively satisfied with, or at least accepting of, their workaday existence. And everything's quiet until - you guessed it - a woman shows up and complicates everything. When Trudy sweeps in one day offering the men an opportunity to earn $100,000 each in cash, Hap and Leonard are skeptical, but eager to exchange their jobs as day laborers in the local rose fields for lives of luxury spent sunning on an exotic beach. Inevitably, events spin quickly out of control, pitting the pair against a group of would-be radicals and a couple of sadistic drug dealers who are also bent on finding the cash. SAVAGE SEASON is very much a product of its setting, creating for readers a tangible picture of impoverished, rural East Texas with a local specificity recalling Charlie Huston's evocation of New York City's East Village. Though entertaining and written with an apt ear for dialogue and one-liners, however, the novel definitely reads as a primer, an introduction to two cynical but sympathetic characters whose adventures and relationship will likely be fleshed out more as the series continues. The main action of the plot occurs in the last third of the book, leaving the majority of the story to exploring Hap's past as a young and promising idealist. It's this character exploration that really sets SAVAGE SEASON apart - Lansdale uses his convoluted plot and eccentric characters to develop a genuine (and genuinely complicated) protagonist. Hap's quasi-redemption at the novel's close puts a hopeful spin on what might otherwise seem a rather hopeless conclusion. Although originally published eighteen years ago, SAVAGE SEASON still feels fresh, not the least because the book's primary themes still feel very pertinent to our present time. Hap and Leonard are both products of a chaotic time and an unpopular war, and each bears the scars of the turbulent experiences of their youths. It requires little imagination to recast both against the backdrop of our contemporary conflicts - both men still jaded, still struggling, and still caught in the timeless pursuit of fortune.
Reviewed by Larissa Kyzer, February 2009
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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