A terrific Booklist Starred review for Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? by Stephen Dobyns Award-winning poe
A terrific Booklist Starred review for Is Fat Bob Dead Yet? by Stephen Dobyns Award-winning poet Dobyns also writes literary thrillers and the beloved Charlie Bradshaw comic mysteries. Here he melds the two in an uproariously entertaining comic thriller that evokes Elmore Leonard and Donald E. Westlake but adds several layers of absurdity and a narrative voice that suggests metafiction meets a Greek chorus meets Jane Austen. Now that’s special! First the title: a Fat Bob is a kind of motorcycle, and in this tale, a portly gambler named Bob happens to own several of them. One of his enemies decides to kill Fat Bob (the guy not the bike) while he’s riding his Fat Bob, but Fat Bob happens to loan that particular Fat Bob to another guy on the fateful day, resulting in the wrong guy getting killed.This mishap kick-starts a Marx Brothers–like comedy of errors in which reluctant scam artistConnor—passing by when Fat Bob’s Fat Bob gets crushed—finds himself trapped, threatening the racket his gang of lovable wackos has devised: phone solicitations for such dubious causes as Free Beagles from Nicotine Addiction, Inc. So where does Jane Austen come in? In classic “Dear Reader,” fashion, Dobyns interrupts the goings-on for authorial commentary (“Surely the god of capriciousness and whimsy looks down from a cloud and rubs its paws”). Readers willing to loosen the reins of realism will be rubbing theirpaws, too, eagerly anticipating the next mention of “Fat Bob’s Fat Bob.” Yes, it’s absurd; yes, it’s outrageous; but here’s the thing: somehow, amid all the craziness, there’s a beating heart, too.— Bill Ott -- source link